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Aster appreciated Dom’s concern, but she was okay. That wasn’t strictly true, but her friends didn’t need to worry about her. She’d always figured life out by herself.

A: Good, yeah.

D: Are you sticking with that story?

A: Really, I’m okay. I’m leaving the city for a few days. I have to visit my dad.

D: Eden wouldn’t appreciate you running away.

A: I’m not running away. I’m visiting my sick dad. Stop trying to make me feel guilty for something I had no knowledge about, Dom. I’ll speak to Eden about all of this when I’m ready to.

D: Sorry, mate. Give me a call if you want to talk.

Aster shook her head, locking her phone. She didn’t need people to be nice to her today. She needed her camera kit, her phone charger, and then she would be driving away from Liverpool. It was that simple.

As the lift arrived, Aster’s knees weakened. She knew she needed to do this, but it suddenly didn’t seem like a good idea. Eden was a private person. Showing up here was going to anger her.

Too late. You’re here now.

The lift whooshed to life, shooting Aster up to Eden’s floor far too quickly. But maybe that was for the best. She’d planned to arrive here over two hours ago, but she’d talked herself out of it. As Aster stepped off the lift and moved towards Eden’s apartment, she froze.

The sweetest sound filtered through the tiny gap at the bottom of the door, the strum of a guitar taking Aster’s breath away. And then Eden started to sing, her voice husky and enticing.

She curled her hand and lifted it, only to refrain from knocking on the door. Instead, she placed her palm flat against the wood. “Oh, God.” Aster rested her forehead beside her hand, her eyes closing as she listened to Eden serenade her. The swell of emotion that rose in her throat was difficult to curb, but she managed to block the sob that desperately wished to escape. Tears fell, but the silence of the hallway kept her grounded.

Eden’s choice of song was both beautiful and heartbreaking, and Aster immediately recognised it as Sara Bareilles Send Me the Moon. The lyrics, the pain in her voice…Aster could barely contain herself. She needed to be on the other side of the door; she needed to be with Eden.

But everything felt so uncertain, and Aster had no idea the kind of welcome she would receive. Last night, she’d asked that they didn’t make a big deal out of Eden’s sudden attempt at a kiss. She’d shrugged it off so she didn’t hurt Eden’s feelings, but deep down Aster knew she’d done exactly that. The thought of Eden blowing her off left a heavy dread in her belly, so she couldn’t imagine how Eden must have felt last night.

As the song started to near the end, Aster cleared her throat and knocked on the door. The guitar stilled, and Aster’s heart rate shot up to an unimaginable tempo. Her mouth ran ridiculously dry.

The lock on the door clicked, and then Eden’s face came into view. Eden frowned, opening the door a little further. “How did you get in here?”

Okay, this was awkward. How did she explain to Eden that she’d basically stolen the code for the door? She could lie and insist that the main door was unlocked but lying had never been her thing. And Eden didn’t deserve lies. Aster had hurt her enough already. “I knew the code.”

“You knew the code?”

“I saw you putting it in last week.” Aster chewed her lip, shoving her hands in her pockets. “But that doesn’t matter right now.”

Eden quirked a brow, her usually alluring eyes tired and puffy. “No?”

“Could I come in for a moment? I had some stuff I left last night.”

Eden stepped aside, holding the door open. “It’s there.” She nodded towards the small pile on the floor. “I was going to drop it off to you, but I hadn’t gotten around to doing it yet.”

“That’s okay.” Aster turned, studying Eden’s body language. She appeared uninterested, perhaps busy with other things. “H-how are you?”

“Fine. Why?”

Aster huffed out a breath. She knew exactly where this was going. Maybe she’d blown this all out of proportion in her own mind, because Eden didn’t seem to care about what had occurred between them. “Just…last night, you know?”

“Oh! That?” Eden barked a laugh, waving a hand between them. “I’m so sorry I threw myself at you. I was drunk.”

“You were?” Aster’s brows drew together. Eden hadn’t seemed drunk.

Eden nodded. “I was. I didn’t realise how much until I tried to kiss my lesbian employee. How embarrassing.” Eden’s cheeks didn’t heat, something Aster expected would have happened if Eden was embarrassed. “Thanks for pushing me away. Imagine if I’d actually gone through with it. We’d have been the talk of the office.”

“R-right.” This didn’t make any sense. Blair had told Aster that Eden was interested in her, but as she stood here this morning, she wasn’t getting that impression at all. “Well, so long as we’re cool?”