Meet You There

Meet You There - Chapter 46

Chapter 46

In my head, I had already planned out the next two months. I wanted  to go to the beach with Bennett, have a lot of lazy summer days, go to Wolfcub shows and really enjoy Bennett. Because I knew things would be hard - so hard- when the end of August rolled around.

   But now? Nothing made sense. My plan sounded stupid. Tears filled my eyes as I entered the apartment again, as walking home as slowly as I could.

   Caleb and Bennett were at the table, both of them eating out of the same container of mixed fruit. They both looked at me as I came in.

   "You're back soon," Bennett commented, not exactly smiling.

   "Can I talk to you in my room?" I managed to say.

   I could tell that he knew what was coming, once we were in my bedroom and and I closed the door.  He tried to touch my hand, but I pulled it away.  I paced around the room for a minute, then stopped to look out my window. 

   "Why didn't you tell me? Like, you should have told me right away..." I told him, suddenly crying and shaking.

   "Iris... she begged me not to. I didn't want it to ruin your friendship -"

   "Too late for that," I snapped. "Did you kiss her?"

   "What? No, she kissed me." His eyes were so serious. Oh, how I wanted to believe him.

   "And what did you do?" I wanted to know.

   "What?"

   "Did you push her away? Did you tell her to leave?" I asked quickly, pacing again. "No, because she was still there when I-"

   "Iris, please... calm -"

   I froze where I was, near my closet. "Do not tell me to calm down."

   "Iris... I did not kiss her. I wouldn't," he told me, keeping his voice relatively calm.

   "But you invited her up to your apartment. To your room. You did that." I looked at him, then looked away again.

   "I was just trying to be nice. She's your friend," he insisted.

   "Not anymore," I shook my head.

   Bennett was staring at me, pleading with me with his eyes.  It didn't seem like he had anything else to say. Or maybe he knew nothing he said would make this okay.

   "I can't believe you didn't tell me yesterday. You had sex with me last night, after kissing her." My heart was beating too fast.

   "I didn't kiss her."

   "Just go. Please."

   "Iris."

   "Go."

I expected numerous apology texts, calls from both Bennett and Maribella. There were a few, but the rest of the week past and they pretty much left me alone.  I mean, I had asked for that. By the weekend, it was starting to sink in. My birthday was only a few days away and I'd turned down my dad's offer for a visit, but now I had nothing. Except for Caleb and Fox.

   A year ago, I was trying to get over my boyfriend cheating on me with my best friend. Now, I was back in a far too similar situation. What happened to staying single, avoiding heartbreak? Bennett is what happened. And I had no idea what to do.

   Fox knocked on my bedroom door the night before my birthday. I had been hiding out all week, barely showing my far. Caleb only knew that Bennett and I had had a fight. I'd been avoiding Fox specifically because I knew she would want me to talk about it.

   "Yeah?" I called out.

   The door opened slowly. I was done crying. It had been a week and Bennett had texted and called a couple of times but since I had ignored them, he had stopped. I was in too deep.

   Fox stepped in, closing the door behind her. "Can we talk?"

   I nodded, closing my laptop. She sat on the of my bed, quiet. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to admit what had happened.

   "What's going on, Iris?" she asked, sounding concerned. I shrugged. "We are worried about you. Caleb said you haven't even been eating."

   I sighed. I had been eating, but mostly sneaking snacks while Caleb wasn't in the kitchen. I didn't want to face him.

   "I think I'm not meant to be happy. Like, in a relationship. Maybe being single in New York will be good for me," I told her, looking at my hands.

   "Well, I was went to the city, single," she smiled. "I moved there for Julliard, I was nineteen. My ex of two years did not want to move from Brooklyn, so we broke up before I left. Caleb was at orientation. I met him my third day at Julliard. And he pursued me for months before I agreed to a date."

   "I met Bennett my first day at Renaissance," I spat out. "And he tried to get my number for weeks before I gave in."

   Fox looked surprised. "He seems like a great guy and he definitely cares about you a lot."

   "My friend, Maribella, kissed him. When were in New York," I finally admitted.

   Fox looked even more surprised, suddenly. "Oh, shit."

   "He didn't tell me about it. She admitted to it the next day, but-"

   "It was all her?" Fox wanted to know, trying to figure out how she felt about it.

   "Well, I guess. But how do I really know?"

   "I think you have to choose to either believe Bennett and get past it, or you don't," Fox said, then gave me a shrug.

   "I'm moving in six weeks. Bennett and I aren't going to make it, once I'm gone," I said, shaking my head.

   "You sound pretty sure about that."

   "How could we make it? I want him to come, but he says he can't. I think this should just be it for us..." I hung my head, looking at my hands.

   "Does he know that?" Fox asked.

   Now, I shrugged. "I haven't talked to him."

   "Well, I think you should start with that. Don't give up a whole year of a good thing just because it might be hard." Her smile was big now, like she knew I would agree with her.

   And, deep down, I guess I did want to try to fix it. Or at least talk to him to see if there was anything to fix.