A warm laugh leaves me.
“I missed your smile, Sienna,” Brent says, a small smile gracing his lips.
“Dude, give me a break. I just got my ass dumped,” I say.
Hearing myself say that out loud still feels weird. When I was with Kayden, I was so certain that he was going to be my last.
“You know, a breakup doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing,” Brent says, stroking the back of my hair.
“B, all breakups are bad.” Evans raises a confused brow.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Look at it this way,” Brent starts off, empathetic eyes meeting mine. “Don’t be sad over the fact that you can’t have any more wonderful memories with him. Be happy that you got to spend these few weeks making him the luckiest guy in the world. Look back at every single kiss you ever shared with a smile on your face. Remember what it was like to have his heart and be grateful for the amount of time that you had it. Your relationship with him may have ended on bad terms but the time before that was good. Really good.
Remember those feelings, Sienna. And trust me, you will see this breakup from a completely different perspective.”
I gape at Brent, wondering how the hell he managed to recite such beautiful, insightful words to me.
What he said is true. Despite all the ugly, Kayden transformed my life in a way that I didn’t know was possible, for the little time he’d been in it. And I love him so much because of it. Every memory we shared is so sacred. I can only hope that one day, I’ll be able to appreciate them without the heartache weighing me down.
I have to accept that love isn’t enough to hold two people together. Sometimes, real life gets in the way and that’s okay.
When it does, we have to learn how to let go, not because we want to, but because we have to.
Whether I like it or not, Kayden and I are on different paths now—possibly for the better—and maybe that’s something worth finding contentment in. It’s my responsibility to try.
“Thanks, Brent.” I sniff, feeling the tears well up again.
“You’re a good friend.”
I drag him into a hug. Brent leans into my embrace happily, wrapping us both in comfort.
Beside me, I hear Evans clear his throat. “I believe you’ve hugged him enough, Sienna.”
“Brent,” I say. “Can you tell your boyfriend to stop being a possessive asshat?”
“Evans can you stop being—”
“Yeah, yeah I got it,” he grumbles. “That still doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”
Not wanting him to complain more, I reel Evans into the hug as well. Their embrace provides me with the solace I long for after three lonely, agonizing days, and I feel really grateful to have their friendship.
“And hey, maybe one day you’ll get over him. Maybe you won’t. None of us would be able to get over something as huge as what you and him had,” Brent tells me earnestly. “In the meantime, you should try to live your life without him.”
I nod.
As much as those words sting, I need to hear them.
I’ll never know when he’ll return. And I shouldn’t be pining for him to come back. There isn’t any point halting my life for someone else. So I need to move on. I need to find myself without Kayden being a part of my life. And maybe that’s just what he needs too.
Perhaps being apart from each other might do us both some good.
Kayden has no doubt given me enough strength to pull myself back together, but I need to test that strength by myself.
“A new beginning, then,” I say.
“A new beginning,” Brent echoes, nodding.
New beginnings. That sounds nice. I anticipate the process will be tough—painful, even—and it won’t always go the way I want it to. But I’m ready. To endure it all. For my own sake.
So I take Brent’s advice.
I write myself a new chapter.
A new chapter with a new beginning.