Bitter

I stand from the bed. “That’s not what I was trying to do!” I cry out as more tears stream down my face. “Please listen!”

He spins back around, and his eyes soften toward me in that way they always do when he’s trying to protect me. “This was my fault,” he says. “I shouldn’t have done that. This isn’t on you.”

He tries to leave, but I call out to him. “Reed, wait!”

He only slightly turns his head over his shoulder. “I can’t, Wren. Not now.”

He shuts the door behind him as he leaves, and then I hear his own bedroom door slam shut. I feel like a hole has been shot through my chest. I touch the door where he stood moments ago, and then I turn and slide down it until I’m wrapping my legs with my arms. The tears flow harder, and my body trembles there for the next hour or so. I didn’t move from that spot until I was too exhausted to cry anymore.

I’m so tired of crying. Tired of feeling this way. I fold into myself again until I feel nothing at all. I’m numb.

I lifelessly walk over to my bathroom, and I stand in the shower until the water runs cold. I grab a large t-shirt and throw it on. I walk back into my room and stare at the empty bed. I can’t sleep here.

I know what I’m going to do, and I don’t care if he doesn’t like it. I march across the hall to Reed’s room. I pause only for a moment at his door before I push it open. The room is dark, but I can tell he’s not asleep.

I walk to the side of the bed and climb under the covers. He sighs, but I stop him before he can talk. “Don’t say anything. I don’t want to talk now, but I need you. You’re all I have.”

He sucks in a breath and then lets out a long exhale. He grabs me roughly by the waist and pulls me up against his chest. Both of our bodies calm as I relax into him. I don’t have an ounce of energy left in my body. My eyes flutter shut, and moments later I’m drifting off to sleep.