It's not the goodbyes that hurt, it's the flashbacks.
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Today will mark Gray and I's first anniversary of being together. Considering that, I of course wanted to get him something. Knowing he doesn't really like surprises, parties, gifts or anything like that, I decided to stick with something simple. I ended up going to the local bakery and bought a big cupcake that read "Happy One Year <3".
On my way to his house, I was hoping he wouldn't get upset with me for showing up kind of out of nowhere. Then again, why hadn't we made plans for today anyways? It was our one-year anniversary and that's an important day. Of course, letting my brain overthink made me decide to call him just to make sure it was ok. It didn't even ring twice before going straight to voicemail.
Did he decline my call?
I don't see why he would do that, maybe his phone just died or something. Before much longer I'm turning onto his street. I start to slow my car down to be able to pull in the driveway like I always do but instead of seeing an empty space next to his car, I see a red truck parked there instead. I raise my eyebrow at this, positively confused now. I park my car on the curb instead, not recognizing the car made me pretty ticked off that someone else actually stole my parking spot.
I grab what I need before I get out and make my way up to his house. I have a spare key, so instead of knocking, I pretty much just barge in whenever I want. I pull out the key but when I get ready to unlock the door, the key barely touches the keyhole before the slight motion had moved the door opened a bit. His door wasn't shut all the way.
Ok this is starting to get super weird; he has never left his door unlocked before, he's so picky about that safety crap.
I'm starting to get a really bad gut feeling about this, someone could've broken in or worse. I cautiously make my way into the house, inspecting the living room top to bottom to see if anything seemed off. No, Nothing. As I walk farther in the house, I notice there's some things trailing down the hallway in a messy pattern, which is also weird considering Gray is one of the cleanest people I've ever met. I start to make my way down the hallway, inspecting the things on the hall floor and notice it's different types of clothes. It looks as if he was running down the hallway with a laundry basket full of clothes, throwing them out like a flower girl at a wedding.
I continue down the hallway seeing men's pants, a shirt, jacket, belt and socks until I spot the last piece of clothing that was left right in front of his bedroom door.
A bra.
I look up at his door, finally putting the puzzle pieces together. This is definitely not my bra, it's not my size nor do I even like the ugly color of a vomit green. I hear a moan sound out from being the bedroom door, knocking me out of my thoughts and shifting my attention back to the situation at hand.
I twist the knob and push the door open, making a creaking noise followed by a loud gasp and an "oh shit" which was definitely called out by Gray.
As soon as my eyes adjusted to the light considering that seemed to be the only room in the house with a light on, I took in the whole view of what was happening in front of me, which was Gray in bed with a woman on top of him, both half naked. He moves out from underneath the woman and slides off the bed, rushing towards me and reaching out to grab me, I start backing out of the room, not even knowing how to react at this point.
"Y/n! This isn't- I can explain-" I cut him off by delivering a hard, echoing slap to his face. "Happy anniversary, cheater." I say as I turn and make my way out of the house and back to the car.
I hop in my car and drive off with a loud skurrrrt.
Timeskip - A Few Months Later
I'm sitting on my couch enjoying a series on Netflix when someone starts banging on my door like crazy, I jumped a bit at the sudden loud pounding. I pause my show and get up to answer the door, as soon as I open it somebody pushes their way in before I can even see who it is. Probably wasn't a good idea not to look out the peephole; this is how people get robbed. Whoever it was had me wrapped in a tight hug.
"I am so so so sorry for what I did to you!" The voice of mystery man called out, which I'm sure you guessed it by now, it was Gray.
I wiggle enough room in between us to move my arms up to his chest to push him away. Getting a good look at his face, I notice that; his eyes are puffy and red, surrounded with dark bags underneath his eyes and not to mention his hair doesn't look like it's been brushed or washed in days. He looked like a complete mess.
I take a few steps away from him, "No Gray, that's not something you can just decide to takeback. You had the choice to make that decision and you chose to do it. You cheated on me, on our anniversary!" I yell out.
His face continues to get redder and redder by the second, almost as if he could blow up at any given moment.
"Please baby, I'm so sorry!" He cries out once again, barely even getting it out without choking on his words.
"Answer me this one question." I cross my arms over one another. He starts nodding his head super fast and takes my hands in his, which I quickly pull away from.
"How long?" He looks at me confused.
"W-what?"
"I said how long," I take a deep breath, getting more and more impatient for every second that he doesn't give an answer.
Gray looks down at his feet, playing with his hands, "About two months..."
"Get out." I blatantly state, feeling my eyes start to burn as I hold back the approaching tears.
Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.
I will not let him see me havr a breakdown, that'll only make me more vulnerable.
"Please Y/n, I really truly am so sorry." He has started crying by now, wiping away his tears with his shirt sleeve. He takes my hands in his once more, which I have no reaction to this time, I just stare at the door that sits behind him.
"I love you." He says as a tear forces it's way out, running down my cheek.
"I love you too Gray, you know that." I quietly say back to him. The whole year that I spent with him had been the best year of my entire life, and to think it would've ended like this really hurts to admit.
He lifts my head up and kisses me before I have a chance to object, wiping a tear away in the process. Once he pulls away, I look the opposite direction. "You should probably go."
Gray's expression turns from a hopeful look to a hurt look. I still love him, no doubt, but I will not be with a cheater.
"Y/n." He spoke my name softly, which I shake my head at. "What Gray?"
"Can we please start over as at least friends? I don't want to just give up on us and I really want to work this out with you." I take in his words very carefully, probably not thinking it out as much as I should've and reply with a small nod. I already know it might not of been the smartest decision but every deserves a second chance... Right?
"Thank you so much, I am forever grateful and so incredibly sorry for all the pain that I've caused you. You didn't deserve any of this. I know no amount of apologies will makeup for it but I'll change, I swear I will." He pulls me into yet another hug.
I pull away from his embrace and look up at him, "Okay, but ONLY as friends." I emphasize the word 'only' so he understands we're not back into a relationship.
