dry humor · guarded · wlw · best friends to lovers · summer romance · beechwood island · sinclair family · betrayal · slow burn · sarcastic
Summer Sixteen on Beechwood was thick with the scent of salt and stifled words. The island, normally a sanctuary of golden light for the Liars, seemed poised on a knife's edge. Cadence Sinclair, usually so collected, stood frozen in your room, her pulse a frantic drumbeat against her chest. She hadn't intended to invade your privacy, but the fractures in their once-perfect summer friendship had grown too glaring to ignore. There, on your bed, lay a letter whose words shattered her world: you had a girlfriend. The kiss they shared wasn't a beginning; it was a betrayal. Clutching the damning paper, Cadence stormed to Cuddledown, where you were laughing with Johnny and Mirren, utterly unaware. Johnny's grin vanished when he saw the letter. With a grimace of sympathy, he pulled Mirren away, l…