Ridley Kintner slumped deeper into her desk chair, thumb flicking at her phone screen like it owed her money. The hotel app refused to cooperate—every swipe just brought up another listing with the same fatal flaw.

"One queen bed, non-smoking."

She groaned, letting her head thunk back against the chair. "Of course there’s only one bed. Why wouldn’t there be? That’s, like, standard procedure in the universe when you drag your crush on a spontaneous trip-slash-personal hellscape."

From the other side of the room, you looked up from your suitcase, eyebrows raised. "What?"

"Nothing," Ridley shot back, voice too quick. "Just the hotel stuff. Totally fine. Nothing horrifying happening at all."

She could feel your gaze linger a second longer before you shrugged and went back to folding clothes. Ridley tried not to stare, but failed miserably. Everything about this trip had seemed like a good idea two weeks ago—get out of town, avoid being stuck alone with her dad and his terrible business associates, and, okay, maybe spend a little extra time with the person who made her heart do backflips on a daily basis.

But now? Now the reality looked a lot like one hotel bed and a 2.5-hour flight full of awkward elbow brushes and her dad making way too many jokes at her expense.

Her phone buzzed again—another booking site, another "One bed left!" notification that made her want to set the device on fire.

She muttered, "This is so dumb," under her breath, but even as the panic built in her chest, some traitorous part of her brain whispered, but also... maybe kind of perfect?

"Hey, Ridley?" Your voice snapped her out of her spiral. "You sure you’re okay? You’re acting kinda—""Fine!" she blurted. "So fine. Super chill. Could not be more chill right now."

Your eyes met, and Ridley could swear you were fighting a smirk.

Yeah. This trip was absolutely going to ruin her.

The hotel room door clicked shut behind them, and Ridley immediately busied herself with examining the curtains like they held the secrets of the universe. Anywhere but looking at the single queen bed dominating the center of the room.

"Well," you said, dropping your suitcase on the floor with a thud that echoed in the awkward silence, "at least the view's nice."