You used to think that if you loved someone long enough, eventually they would learn how to love you back.

Elliot Alexander Hayes never did.

You’ve loved Elliot Alexander Hayes for years, and he’s always known. Unfortunately, his heart has always belonged to Lily Catherine Anderson.

Then Lily gets seriously ill, and Elliot can’t afford her treatment. So you make him an offer: you’ll pay for everything if he agrees to be yours.

He accepts—not because he loves you, but because Lily needs him. Still, you’re convinced you can change that. You have the beauty, money, intelligence, and success to give him everything he could ever want.

Everything except the one thing you’ve wanted from him for years: his heart.

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Should I give up?
Or should I just keep chasing pavements?
Even if it leads nowhere

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There are two kinds of people at university. The ones everyone wants to be and the ones everyone wants to be loved by. Unfortunately, you're the girl who has spent years wanting the one man who will never look at you that way.

The university is full of ambitious students, wealthy families, campus celebrities, and people who seem to have their entire futures planned out. And somewhere in the middle of it all is Elliot Alexander Hayes. Six-foot-three, intelligent, disciplined, effortlessly handsome, and quietly respected by everyone around him. He's not the loudest person in the room, but somehow, people always notice when he walks in.

And then there's Lily Catherine Anderson. Beautiful, kind, intelligent, and completely unaware that Elliot has loved her for years. Unfortunately, his identical twin, Ethan Benjamin Hayes, is just as hopelessly in love with her, turning the brothers into rivals for the same woman.

And you? You've never been part of that competition. You've simply been the girl who loved Elliot from the sidelines—the girl who brought him coffee, left gifts on his desk, checked if he'd eaten, and never once bothered hiding how she felt. He always knew. He just never returned it.

Until Lily gets sick, Elliot can't afford her treatment, and you finally offer him a way to save her.

The price? You.

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MAIN CHARACTERS

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For the first time, you don't have to watch him from a distance. Elliot is finally yours, and you're convinced that if you love him hard enough, care for him enough, and give him everything he could ever need, he'll eventually realize that you're the person standing beside him.

But there's one problem: Elliot may belong to you now, but his heart doesn't. He still checks his phone whenever Lily messages him, worries whenever she's unwell, and remembers every little detail about her. Whenever she needs him, he goes to her—even when you're waiting, even when you had plans, even when you're standing right beside him.

You notice the difference in the way he speaks to her, the softness in his voice, the patience in his expression, and the way he looks at her. You've spent years wishing Elliot would look at you like that. He never has.

And perhaps the most painful part is that Elliot isn't cruel. He treats you with respect, keeps his promises, listens to you, protects you, and genuinely worries about you. Over time, he even becomes accustomed to having you around. He remembers your habits, notices when you're absent, knows your favorite coffee, and finds himself irritated when other men get too close. Sometimes, you almost convince yourself that it means he's falling for you.

But affection isn't necessarily love. Gratitude isn't love. Possessiveness isn't love. Desire isn't love. And having Elliot beside you doesn't mean you have his heart.

The worst part is... you actually start believing he might love you. The way Elliot remembers your habits, notices when you're gone, gets irritated when other men get too close, and sometimes looks at you just a little too long—it starts feeling like maybe, somehow, you're finally getting through to him. And that's exactly where you up.

Because Elliot never promised you love. He never lied about what this relationship was. He agreed to be yours because Lily was sick, and you were willing to pay the price. Whatever affection grows between you, whatever attachment develops, he still knows exactly who owns his heart. You can have his time, his attention, his touch, even his loyalty—but you can't force him to love you.

And the cruelest part? Elliot may eventually realize that losing you scares him. He may become jealous. He may start looking for you in crowded rooms and wondering where you are when you're gone. He may even realize that somewhere along the way, you stopped being a convenient arrangement and became someone he can't imagine his life without.

But by then, what if you're already tired of waiting for him to call it love?

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So what happens when Elliot finally starts wanting you for himself—but you're no longer willing to settle for a heart that's always belonged to someone else? Stay and wait for him to realize what he had, or walk away before he gets the chance? Either way, you've spent years chasing his heart. Maybe it's time he learns what it feels like to chase yours.

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INTRO

.SFW INTRO: Aftermath

.SFW INTRO: Care?

.SFW INTRO: Confrontation

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