Not quite as fine as Clarke and Elizabeth, a traitorous little part of her brain whispered, as her gaze skimmed over the small group pulling on gloves and dabbing sunscreen on their noses as they prepared for a day on the slopes. Audrey’s eyes found Clarke almost immediately, and she was unsurprised to see that Elizabeth was glued to his side.

Audrey looked away, wising she’d have found a way to get out of the ski-trip invitation she’d accepted weeks ago. The worst part was that even as of last night, Audrey had been looking forward to the weekend. She’d figured it’d be the opening she and Clarke needed to resolve things after their fight.

When Erin had picked Audrey up at the crack of dawn, Audrey had all but skipped to the car, her stomach aflutter at the thought of seeing Clarke again. She’d missed him and had run to open the door of the SUV, only to find the back seat full, all three seats taken.

By Erin’s cousin. By Clarke. And by Elizabeth Milsap.

The worst part hadn’t been seeing Elizabeth’s thigh pressed familiarly against Clarke’s. It had been the fact that Clarke had barely looked at Audrey. And they hadn’t spoken even once.

She looked back toward Clarke and Elizabeth again, watching as a laughing Liz reached out and swiped a glob of sunscreen onto Clarke’s nose. Audrey felt like throwing up as Clarke smiled in response, tugging off his glove to rub in the sunblock.

“You’d think she could be a little more subtle,” Erin said loyally, under her breath.

Audrey forced a smile. “Oh, it’s fine. We’re all friends.”

Though at the moment, she wasn’t quite sure what she and Clarke were. They’d gone a week without talking or texting before, when they were busy with work or on vacation, but this felt different. There was a gap between them that they’d never experienced before, and Audrey didn’t have a clue how to bridge it. Somewhere in the past couple of weeks, things had started to skid out of control, and she was terrified that even if and when they did manage to get things back on track, everything would feel different.

“Everyone ready to head out?” Erin’s cousin Mike asked the group.

He was met by an enthusiastic chorus of yeses as they began filing out the door.

Erin gave Audrey’s arm one last squeeze. “I’ll come check on you in a couple hours?”

Audrey rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. I promise. I brought reading supplies.” She held up her e-reader.