Some part of her thinks that this is how it’s always going to be. Trent’s a wrestler, a man who’s never going to be around long enough for her to fall in love with. She knows that he’s always busy. She knows that he can’t always answer his phone when she’s messaging or calling him, but… but he can’t sleep all the time, can he? Or be wrestling when he’s not sleeping?

Is it normal that she doesn’t trust him? No. Is she projecting her past onto the situation? Most probably.

But it doesn’t stop the fact that she cries herself to sleep about it three nights in a row. Or the fact that she ignores her phone when it rings. All twelve calls. All twelve voice mails. All of them.

Her eyes are red and puffy when she answers the door to Trent Barretta, eyebrows pulled in concern and lip in his mouth. They stare at each other for a moment before she wipes her nose with the back of her hand.

“So what? You keep ghosting me and then come back around and expect me to fall for it?”

He kind of balks at her words. “What?”

“You were ghosting me, Trent. Barely answering. I cried myself to sleep for three nights.”

“And then you decided the best way to solve it was to ignore me?”

Her eyes drop from his for a moment. “I thought that maybe you’d understand how it upset me if you experienced it.”

Trent snorts at her and walks into her apartment, shakes his head, runs a hand over his mouth. “I was so worried about you. I called your mom. She told me everything was fine and that you were messaging her, but then you wouldn’t message me. I thought something was wrong… I just didn’t realise you were being passive aggressive.”

“My last boyfriend cheated on me,” she murmurs. Her arms across over her chest and her voice is small. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry, okay? The last time I was ghosted I got cheated on.”

His face softens then. “Lily…”

“But you’re right. I was being passive aggressive when I could have been an adult.” She doesn’t realise she’s crying until her vision is blurred, and then Trent’s arms are holding her tight. “Please just tell me if you’re going to be distant while you’re on tour, okay? Prepares me for it.”

“Okay, baby. I promise.”