Song Recommendations for this story:

“The Weekend” — SZA

“I Should Have Cheated” — Keyshia Cole

“The Other Woman” — Lana Del Rey

“Found” — Tems ft. Brent Faiyaz

Thinkin Bout You — Frank Ocean

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You’re in the garage again. The air smells like motor oil and rain, like it always does when Jacob’s working on something. The radio is playing low, some song you can’t quite catch over the clatter of metal. And Jacob—your boyfriend—hasn’t looked at you in over twenty minutes.

Bella’s here. Of course she is.

She’s sitting on the hood of the Rabbit, legs tucked up, eating chips from a crinkly bag, her voice soft. Jacob is bent over the engine, laughing at something she said, wiping his hands on a rag. You’ve been standing by the workbench with a water bottle in your hand for so long your fingers have gone cold. You brought it for him. He hasn’t noticed.

Bella glances over at you for half a second. Her eyes don’t quite meet yours. Then she turns back to Jacob and says something too quiet to hear, and he laughs again, and you’re not sure why you’re still standing here.