Taliana still felt guilty every time she looked at him.

She knew she was to blame for them not speaking, for their fight, for their inevitable and final ending. She'd been a shitty person, full stop. There was no other way to put it.

It was amazing that Sebastian could even look her in the eye now, considering the last time he'd seen her she'd been entwined with Brad, hands buried in her hair as both boys watched her come.

She and Brad had fought the week before, the kind of argument she thought would bring about the end of their relationship. She couldn't even remember what it was about now, although she had a feeling it was something petty and stupid, something she shouldn't have gotten upset over, but the stress of college and internships and long hours of work had turned her into someone she didn't recognize. So while Brad had suggested they spend a little time apart to figure out their priorities and individual needs, she'd gone to nurse her wounds.

Michael had been out of town at a swim meet that weekend, leaving her alone in the apartment. After a glass of wine, she'd called Laleh, but with the time difference it was far past midnight and the new mom needed as much sleep as she could get. After the second glass, she'd called Jude, only to be quickly hung up on when he told her he was currently on a date. By the third glass, she found her finger hovering over Sebastian's name, and she tapped the screen before she could think better of it.

They'd been broken up for two years at that point and he was still pining after her. She couldn't keep track of how many times she'd told him to move on, to find someone else who would love him more than she could. Besides, she had Brad now, why should Sebastian keep waiting for her when she wasn't coming back?

But he had waited and waited. She hadn't asked him if there had been any random hookups or other various dalliances, but what she knew from Jude—also a student at Yale with his cousin—was that Sebastian hadn't seriously dated anyone since the breakup. So when she called Seb that night, wine drunk and lonely, he'd answered on the second ring.

"I miss all of our friends," she'd said, wistfulness in her voice. "I miss how easy everything used to be. And I... I guess I miss you too. You should come visit."

He'd agreed to come down to D.C. that weekend for the Fourth of July, despite having already made plans with his new friends from school. But she was more important. She always had been.

He was supposed to be there Saturday afternoon, but traffic had delayed his trip by several hours. In that time, Brad had come to the apartment bearing roses and expensive chocolates, and had offered an apology even though the fight hadn't been his fault.

"I don't want us to fall apart over something so small," he'd said, gathering her into his arms and pressing a kiss to her hair. "I'm going to try harder from now on. I love you too much to give up on this."

She had dragged Brad off to bed after that, having forgotten all about Sebastian's impending arrival. By the time she remembered again, he was standing in the doorway to her bedroom as Brad's name lingered on her lips.

Taliana had dressed and gone after him, telling Brad to stay in her bedroom until she'd sorted everything out. She had meant to apologize when she found Sebastian pacing in the living room, almost bumping into Daniel Craig every time he turned, but when she'd seen the betrayal in his eyes something in her had snapped.

"You knew I had a boyfriend," she'd said. "What did you think would happen if you just walked in here?"

"Not that," he'd replied, still pacing. "Not you with him. Not after what you said."

Then she was shouting, the hurt she'd never fully gotten off her chest all those years ago finally breaking free. "I told you to move on! I don't know why you won't get over me!"

"You're the one who called me, Taliana! You're the one who can't let go!"

They'd both been screaming after that, a knock-down drag-out fight that ended with them agreeing to never speak again.

And they hadn't, until last night's phone call.

But as she'd told herself then, Michael was far more important than whatever bad blood was between them—even if was all her fault.

Zayna's babbling was louder now that there was someone new to focus on, fat little arms stretching out towards Sebastian like she already knew him.

"I know it's been a while since I last saw you, but," he began, almost as if he was unsure of what he wanted to ask. "That's not your kid, right?"

The question snapped her out of the daze his arrival had put her in, and suddenly she was shaking her head. "No! Jesus, no, this is Princess Zayna al-Haydar of Malikbahr."

"Ah. Got it." Then, to her amusement and surprise, Sebastian mock bowed to the baby. "Your royal highness."

Zayna gurgled happily and flapped her hands, as if attempting to wiggle off of Taliana's lap. Picking up on the cue, Sebastian reached out to take her, but stopped before they slid under the baby's arms.

"May I?" he asked, brow raised as he glanced to Taliana for permission.

"Um, yeah, sure, go ahead."

Sebastian lifted the baby like she weighed next to nothing and balanced her on his hip like a pro. Considering he had two younger sisters, it came as no surprise.

"Thank you," Taliana exhaled, brushing off her jeans as she stood. "Babies are surprisingly heavy."

He gave a murmur, his attention and genuine smile focused on Zayna. "Good thing you're cute then, isn't it?"

Zayna gave him a wet, gummy smile.

Both Taliana and Sebastian took a moment to laugh, but soon sobered up as her eyes met his.

"How is he?" Sebastian asked softly, neither one of them daring to say Michael's name yet, lest they make the situation any more real.

She shook her head. "Nothing has changed. We're all still waiting."

"Right." He paused for a moment, bouncing Zayna slightly to keep her entertained and probably keep his own nerves under control. "Not to be rude, but why are they letting you make decisions for him? You're not his family."

Taliana wasn't sure if the comment was meant to burn or not, but she tried to ignore the jab nonetheless. "I was his emergency contact, plus—" She held up her left hand to show Sebastian the diamond that had left more than its fair share of scars on him. "I told them I was his fiancée."

Sebastian stopped moving. "Are you actually his fiancée?"

"You know I'd rather commit ritualistic suicide than marry Michael." She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. "Okay, that sounded a little insensitive considering the circumstances, but—"

"No, I get it. He's not easy to be with."

"Tell me about it," she sighed. "I live with him."

Though she wasn't sure for how much longer that would be the case.

"Laleh's back there now," she quickly continued, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "When she comes out, you can go see him. I'm sure he'd like that."

"Great."

That seemed to be the end of the conversation, Zayna the only one filling a silence that was quick to turn awkward. She was cooing curiously over the hair that had fallen into Sebastian's eyes, stretching so that she could grab at it, but instead ended up slapping him a few times.

When Sebastian laughed softly, Taliana had to turn to hide her own smile.

With her ex-boyfriend occupied by his other ex-girlfriend's baby, she went to sit again, checking her phone to avoid more pained conversation. She had one missed call from Jude, then a joint text from him and Marcus saying they'd be there in two days. Even Jacob had confirmed he'd be there later today, having gotten permission to take some personal time from his internship. The only people she still hadn't heard from yet were Michael's parents. She'd left them countless messages by now, begging them to at least call her back, but they apparently hadn't listened to them.

She was tempted to ask Sebastian if he knew how to get in contact with them, but she couldn't bring herself to look up at him. The shame and embarrassment still burned too brightly behind her breastbone, and until she could get that under control, she was certain it would be difficult to say more than a few words to him.

Besides, he looked plenty entertained by Zayna. They were engrossed in what looked like a pretty deep conversation, Zayna animatedly slapping at his chest again as Sebastian asked if she liked being a princess. From that reaction, Taliana was taking the answer as a yes.

Ten long minutes ticked by before Laleh emerged from the ICU, and although she was a little distracted as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes, she let out a surprised laugh when she saw who was holding her daughter.

"Well this isn't a sight I expected to see," she said as she approached, eyes red and lashes damp from crying. It was clear she'd tried to compose herself before exiting, but there was only so much one could do after seeing their friend on the edge of death—especially a friend Laleh had so much history with. "Seb, I hope you're not planning to kidnap my daughter."

"I don't know," he said, grasping Zayna's hand in his own before she could slap him again. "She seems pretty smitten with me."

"Yeah, she tends to hit people she likes the most. I think she got that trait from her auntie Talia."

Laleh motioned for him to hand over the baby as a hot blush consumed Taliana's face. Leave it to Laleh to bring up the past.

"You can go on back now," Taliana mumbled to Sebastian, still not daring to look directly at him. "Stay with Michael for as long as you want. I'll be out here."

Sebastian nodded and promised a fussy Zayna he'd return before disappearing through the ICU doors. Once he was gone, Laleh and Zayna came to sit beside her again, the humor having gone from the room with Sebastian.

"You were right," Laleh mumbled. "Michael's in bad shape."

"Yeah. It's not... it's not good."

"No kidding. I was hoping you were exaggerating."

"I wouldn't, not about something like this."

Laleh gave a noncommittal murmur as she smoothed Zayna's curls back, the baby snuggling against her mother. "How'd it go with Sebastian?"

Taliana shook her head, the heat having finally faded from her face. "It was... awkward. I mean, I knew it would be, but I could barely even look at him."

"You can't keep beating yourself up over this," Laleh pointed out. "It's been a year, you've both moved on, and you're both in love with other people. Let it go."

"Believe me, I'm trying to."

The girls paused for a moment as the elevator doors opened and a few people stepped out, but Laleh was soon looking back at Taliana.

"You're going to have to actually talk to him," she said as if it was the most obvious thing. "As in, getting everything out on the table so you can move past what happened. You clearly need closure."

"But what if he doesn't?"

"Who cares?"

Taliana chuckled and shook her head. "You haven't lost a bit of your bluntness, your royal highness."

"My husband tells me that all the time." Laleh took a moment to adjust the still wiggling Zayna on her lap. "But don't change the subject. When are you going to talk to him about this?"

"Are you serious?" she scoffed, motioning to the hospital waiting room. "I don't think this is the right setting."

"No, it's not," Laleh agreed. "But when he comes out of there, you two are going to lunch and sorting this shit out before it goes any further."

"But what about—"

"I'll stay with Michael. If anything changes, I'll call you."

Laleh left no room for argument, as if she'd been planning this the whole time, but there was no way Taliana was about to sit down with Sebastian and try to hash things out again. It was best to let sleeping dogs lie after all. Besides, Laleh had pointed it out herself: the two of them had already moved on and were in love with other people, so why did the opinion of a silly ex-boyfriend matter so much?

Still, there was a weight on her chest that wouldn't seem to go away, and maybe – just maybe – having a talk with Sebastian would help ease it. And with Michael the way he was, it probably would have been a good idea for all of them to be on halfway decent terms again.

"Fine," Taliana sighed. "I'll talk to him."

To that, Zayna gave a gurgled cheer. Taliana couldn't say she felt the same.

An hour later, Taliana found herself sitting across from Sebastian at a small diner down the street from the hospital.

Laleh practically had to shove her away from Michael's bedside to get her to leave, but after changing clothes she and Sebastian piled into her car and made the short drive to the restaurant. They'd only exchanged minor pleasantries during the drive, commenting on the weather and how nice the nurses at the hospital were, and by the time they were sitting across from each other in a tight booth, Taliana trying and failing to scan the menu for something that looked appetizing, she was sure she was going to burst from the awkwardness of it all.

"How was India?" she finally blurted, something to break the silence. "You were in Mumbai, right?"

Sebastian nodded as he watched the waitress set down the cups of coffee they'd ordered, finally looking up again once the woman had left. "Yeah, that's where Hannah's grandparents live, but it was probably a mistake to visit at the start of monsoon season. I'm still feeling a little waterlogged, to be honest."

Taliana forced a smile to her lips, hoping it appeared at least vaguely genuine. "Must have been nice to spend time with her family though."

"It was. And God, the food. I thought Hannah's cooking was great, but her grandmother's?" He made a sound of pleasure as he grabbed his coffee cup and settled back in the booth. "Anyway, what have you been up to? How are things going?"

"Things are good," she said, and it wasn't exactly a lie. Things had been good. She'd been doing well in school, had a summer internship teaching underprivileged kids in D.C., and even had a perfect boyfriend on top of that. "I mean, barring everything going on with Michael, things are pretty great. I've been happy with the way my life's been going."

"Good. I'm really glad to hear that."

He really did sound glad to hear it, like her having a perfect life put him at ease. The fact that he could be pleased for her even after she'd wronged him was a testament to his character—and to the fact that he'd finally moved on. Still, the guilt was eating away at her stomach and surely wasn't about to subside until she got it all out on the table.

"Seb, I'm—" she began, but paused to take a steadying breath before she could continue on. "I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened last year. That was a really shitty thing for me to do, and I—"

"Talia, stop. You don't need to apologize."

Briefly taken aback by the interruption, she blinked a few times before continuing, unable to understand why he thought she didn't need to clear the air. "But I do. I was in the wrong, and I need to make amends for it."

"No, you don't," he chuckled as he shook his head, only adding to her confusion. "Look, if all of that hadn't happened, I probably never would have really moved on, and I never would have given Hannah a chance. To be honest, it was the kick in the butt I needed in order to do what you'd been telling me for years." Sebastian smiled then, and for a brief moment she could feel her heart slide into her throat. "Really, I should be thanking you for it."

"Thanking me?"

He was openly laughing now, the corners of his eyes crinkling in that familiar way. "Absolutely. And Hannah should thank you too. She got the catch of a century."

At that Taliana rolled her eyes and grabbed her own coffee cup. "All right, cool it, you're starting to sound more and more like Michael."

She caught herself just as she'd said it, and although she immediately dropped her gaze to the table, Sebastian's deep exhale made the pain knife through her chest again.

Our best friend could die, and I'm worried about an ex-boyfriend forgiving me for being stupid.

The thought made her look up again, searching Sebastian's face only to find the same worry written across his brow that was surely mirrored on hers.

"So, are we good?" she asked. She may not have been able to fix Michael, but maybe this was one old wound she could heal.

"Yeah," Sebastian said, giving her the smile that had once made her weak in the knees. "We're good."