“I got your text.”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SKjfruSAt
My head whipped around at his voice, pausing me in the middle of my uncomfortable pacing.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkTfu1iZnF
“What do you want to talk about?” He held his arms out impatiently.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKioRLNyid6
I froze, not knowing what to say. We were the only ones on the porch. Everyone else was inside enjoying the party.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vMfGjMxHt
But I couldn’t.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJAcHhX2Wa
“I leave tomorrow,” I reminded him.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDkNGD1Wos
“I know,” he responded quickly.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6L7tNCZVEX
I clenched my jaw, almost mad. “That’s it? After all these years? You weren’t even going to say goodbye?”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpr484eOd0
He leaned on one leg, looking anywhere but at me. “I don’t know what you want me to do.”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7KmHGQS5A
No. I wouldn’t cry. Not again.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8K3XGFqYl
He continued. “I was hoping you would leave and both of us could just forget.”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4Nv195Ehd
“You would want to forget? You want to forget all five years?” I stared at him in disbelief.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaVGljEEjc
He finally found the strength to look at me. “Maybe if we forgot each other we could forget the pain.”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTGAQGbNEL
I closed my eyes, breathing deeply, then opened them again. I decided to approach the conversation differently. “How were you hurt?”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1OQssyOTR
“You led me on.” He answered so quickly I’m sure he has had this conversation in his head just as many times as I have. “You acted as if you liked, maybe even loved me, then just left.”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2QXCnUZ5F
“I led you on?” The threatening tears were becoming harder and harder to hold back. “What part of what I did made you think I led you on? I genuinely liked you! Yes, maybe even loved you. If could have seen the way I smiled while texting you late into the night, or trying to suppress my laugh while calling you, you would know I didn’t ‘lead you on’. It was real. All of it.”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLB8Qx4ziL
“Then why did you leave me?” He was now staring me down, which I decided was much more terrifying than when he wouldn’t look at me at all.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ksgfKez3F
“I started to feel…” I trailed off, looking up at the sky. Neither of us were good at these sort of conversations. “I started to feel like it was fake. Because no one, never, would choose to love me.”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrp7TPWGCA
“I did.”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIljdLbO7gg
Our eyes connected. I couldn’t breathe.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTbYaoPnQ8
But I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t go back to all that pain. I couldn’t go back to all the tears and screams. Not after it took so long to escape.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWspMp8wLvS
“You know we would never work out.” I finally found my voice. “We would fight too much. About everything.”
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWVD1XM7zy
“You don’t know that.” His voice was too calm.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVD8wjINbRv
I took another deep breath. We stood in silence for a moment before the screen door opened.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrrOSihIzY
Bryce walked out onto the porch and assessed the situation. You good? He mouthed to me.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjuDkNz7SO
I nodded swallowing.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULUFRqvtdt
I took one last look at my argumentative opponent. Knowing he wasn’t going to say anything I stepped around him, continuing the silent treatment we had been giving each other for months now.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKWAT0em80
Bryce stood at the door while I stepped inside, his hand on my lower back, protectively.
717Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdl1BY4v2R
I stepped back into the room, enjoying the remainder of the party before I finally left, leaving all the hurt behind me.
ns216.73.216.208da2
and then Add to home screen.