Her tears begin to dry up but there’s no doubt that the pain hasn’t even begun to fade away and I know that come nightfall, when she’s all alone lying in bed the tears are going to start all over again. “Come on,” I tell her. “Why don’t you go and have a shower? I know you probably don’t feel like it, but I’m sure the hot water and clean clothes will make you feel better.”
Tully shrugs her shoulders and I decide enough is enough. I pull her up behind me and get her to her feet. “You’ve sat in bed and cried all day. Your face is puffy and sore and I can’t stand seeing you like this.”
She looks at me for a few moments before completely breaking down into sobs that tear violently from her throat. “I miss him,” she cries.
Shit.
I dive in and catch her as she collapses to the ground, but Aiden is there to scoop her up and put her back up onto the bed. She sobs into his chest and I sit, feeling absolutely helpless, hating on Rivers more than when I thought he’d been the one to send the video.
An hour later, she’s exhausted herself to the point she’s fallen asleep on Aiden’s chest. He goes to scoot out from under her and I shoot him a glare. If he was the one silly enough to let that happen, then he’s staying there until she’s gotten her sleep. I don’t want to risk her waking only to think it over again.
I get up and make my way around her room, setting up her TV with her Netflix account so Aiden will have something to watch while he lays with a heartbroken girl spread out across his chest.
“What if I need to pee?” he whisper yells as I make my way to the door.
I turn back to face him, “Hold it,” I say before pulling the door closed and hoping she’s able to get the rest she needs as an emotionally drained Tully is never fun. Though, I have a feeling this isn’t going to be one of those times she can just snap out of. This heartbreak is going to take forever to get over and even then, I’m not sure she’ll ever be able to move on.
Walking out into the living room, I realize that Noah isn’t back yet and his parents still aren’t home from work. They both come home late on a Monday and I have a feeling that’s planned. It’s their ‘get away from the rowdy teenagers’ time that seems to happen every week.
Knowing Tully probably hasn’t eaten all day, I make myself busy in the kitchen and get started making her favorite dish, hoping that’s enough to entice her to eat just a little.
Breakups suck, but this is so much more than that. There was no breakup here, but there might as well have been. It’s going to hurt just like one, if not more, and I have a feeling she’ll never be able to forgive this. Hell, I don’t even know where she stands on the topic of war, but I have a feeling I know how she’d feel about Rivers being front and center during one.
All I know is that the next few months are going to be hard. Hopefully, after that, she’ll be able to find a little peace within her heart. Though, that might all go to pieces if he comes back during his leave to explain himself. I hope he does, but then, I hope he doesn’t. It’s all too hard. I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens.
I’m just about through dinner when I hear the familiar sound of Noah’s car pulling up in the driveway. I smile to myself. I’ve missed him this afternoon.
Seeing Tully hurting so badly makes me realize how damn lucky I am to have Noah by my side every day. Sure, we may fight every now and then and the need to throat punch him surfaces a little more than it should, but in the end, he’s by my side day in and day out. I love him with everything that I have and for some reason, he loves me all the same. He’s present in my life and wouldn’t dream of pushing me away.
I couldn’t imagine how hard that must be for Tully, constantly having the man you love so close in your life, knowing how he feels, but being unable to reach out and take what’s yours. It would kill me, every moment of my life I would feel empty, not good enough, unworthy. And that’s exactly what Rivers has done to my best friend.
I hear the front door opening before Noah’s low groan. Worry filters into me. He never groans like that. He must have had a shit afternoon to finish up his shitty day. I turn down the heat on the stove and put the lid on the pot before going to find him.