Falling Into You

Always With You

Chapter Three

I'll never really understand what she saw in him. For the longest time I thought that it was her way of coping with what had happened between the two of us. I felt like she rushed into the relationship in an effort to recover from whatever leftover feelings she might have had. A part of me also thought that maybe that was just wishful thinking. It was possible that she was actually into him and I was o for something that just wasn't there. In any case, their relationship was always rocky. They fought constantly and when they were getting along it was because she was simply giving in because it was easier than arguing. I never interfered or brought it up. I wasn't quite sure how to approach her and ask what was up. She usually talked to me to me about this kind of stuff. For some reason the entire subject of Justin and the broken engagement was never brought up. It was almost like she didn't want to talk to me about it. I had one brief conversation with her the night she moved here and that was it.

In the few days that she had been here I immediately noticed how stressed and sad she seemed. I also realized that during the day she was spending a lot of time on her phone. She seemed to be very frustrated and withdrawn. Selena and I had always had an ease with each other that seemed to missing. Maybe I was just being overly dramatic, but I noticed things about her and she just felt off. There were moments when she was my Selena and there were moments when I almost didn't recognize her. The past few nights she stayed in her bedroom and didn't come out until late in the morning. This morning was no different.

I was standing over the sink washing dishes and I saw her emerge from the hallway. Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked exhausted. My first instinct was to wrap her in my arms and tell her that she was safe from the whole entire world. She gave me a weak smile as she walked over to the fridge and grabbed some yogurt. She closed the refrigerator door and stood there holding the yogurt and staring at the wall. I noticed she was holding her phone in her left hand. She was squeezing it so tight, her knuckles were white. I stopped what I was doing and walked over to her. I touched her arm and she inhaled a short breath and jumped slightly like I had scared her.

"Sel?" I questioned. The concern obvious.

"Sorry. I must have spaced." She mumbled.

"Hey." I said softly. "Come here." I said holding my arms open for her.

Without a word she stepped into my embrace and let the yogurt and phone fall to the floor. I could feel her small frame start to shake with sobs as she wrapped her arms around my kneck and cried into my shoulder. I didn't say anything. I simply held her. We stayed that way for several minutes. I could hear her sniffle every once in while and when she was ready, she let go and took a deep breath. Without thinking, I reached up and brushed the remaining tears from her cheeks and kissed her forehead. Her eyes fluttered closed and she let out a content sigh.

"Thank you." She said her voice raspy from crying. "I needed that."

"Come on, lets sit." I said as I lead her out to the porch. "I'll make you some tea. Give me a minute."

She nodded as I went inside.

I returned a short time later with a steaming mug of tea which she graciously accepted. She looked a little better. You could tell she had been crying, but she no longer had that distant look in her eyes.

"Sorry about all that." She said slightly embarrassed.

"Don't ever apoligize for feeling something." I said giving her hand a squeeze. "You're human Sel. It happens."

"You're probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me." She sighed.

"Of course I am. You're my best friend. I care about how you're feeling." I said as she took a sip of her tea.