You slam the door in Dougie’s face, not wanting to talk to him. You two got into a nasty fight, and him standing on the other side of that door is that last thing you want to see.
You overheard a few of his teammates talking about how clingy you were. Dougie wasn’t there, so it’s not like he was saying it as well. However, you decided to confront the group.
You walk around the corner, and they all stop talking. You look up at them as they wait for your wrath.
"You guys really think I’m clingy?" you ask in a small voice.
It’s just—we miss hanging out with the guy. We didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” Spooner immediately says. Jordan and Torey nod in agreement.
"No, you guys are right. He and I hang out too much. I’ll back off so that he can hang out with his friends," you sniff, and you feel your cheeks become wet with tears.
"Oh God. Please don’t cry. We didn’t mean to. Crap, Dougie’s going to kill us," Torey blurts.
"How is he going to know? We aren’t hanging out today. I’m not feeling well," you say, and you walk away from them, holding back a sob.
That happened about a month ago, and you two have hung out once or twice since then. When he was on a road trip, you got a German shepherd puppy and named him Toby. Toby loved climbing on you, and Dougie didn’t know about him yet, so anybody can imagine how that went down.
"Dougie, I’m not cheating on you!" you shout as you follow him around the apartment he shares with Adam. Adam’s hiding in his room, trying to avoid the fight without having to leave.
"I know what I heard! You were with some guy named Toby, and he was all over you! Don’t lie to me!" he yells. "We can’t be together."
"God damnit, Dougie. Toby’s my dog!"
He freezes and turns around. “What?”
"If you had let me explain before, you would’ve found out that I adopted a puppy while you were gone, and his name is Toby," you tell him.
"Then why have I barely seen you in the past month?" he asks, sounding annoyed.
"You know, I don’t have to spend every waking minute with you," you snap.
He flinches and frowns, his eyes watering. “But I like being with you.”
"Dougie," you sigh, "we need space from each other. I need to hang with my friends, and you need to do the same with yours. I’m done. It’s over."
You leave before he can say anything else, your heart breaking with every step you take towards the elevator.
That was a few hours ago, and here you are, crying on your couch with Toby in your lap. Suddenly, there’s pounding on the door, and Toby starts to bark, racing to the front hallway. Before you can tell Dougie to go away, you realize that it’s multiple fists hitting the wood.
"Y/N, we need to talk," you hear Jordan say.
You unlock the door and unhook the latch before slowly opening the door. Torey, Jordan, and Ryan stand in front of you with guilty-looking faces.
"What’s going on?" you ask.
"We didn’t want you two to break up. We just wanted to spend some more time with him," Ryan says.
"Guys, this is really none of your-"
"But it is!" Jordan exclaims. "We pushed it too far, and now Dougie’s miserable! He called me in tears after you left his apartment. He ended up giving the phone to Adam, and he explained what happened.”
"Guys, stop," you say. "It was obviously meant to happen, right? I can get over it."
You start to close the door, but Torey’s hand stops you. “Please, just talk to him. Blame us if you want. Just talk to him and get back together.”
You sigh and nod, and then a tall guy with red hair appears in the doorway. You look up, and the memories of earlier immediately flood back into your brain. You swallow a sob as your eyes lock.
"Hey," you choke out.
"Guys, I’ll be talking to you later," Dougie says, glaring at them. They all nod and walk away, closing the door.
"I can’t lose you," he says when you turn to walk to the couch. You freeze and turn around.
"What do you mean?" you ask.
"Y/N/N, I love you. So much. When I thought you were cheating on me, my heart broke in half. Here is this beautiful girl that I could call my girlfriend, and she doesn’t even want to be with me. I was so angry and hurt, and I should’ve just let you explain, but now that I know the real reason behind you avoiding me, I’m not hurt anymore." He takes your hands in his and catches your gaze. "Please, don’t let me lose you again. I love you too much."
You feel the tears prick at your eyes, and you laugh while ducking your head down to hide your blush before looking back up at him. “I love you, too. I just didn’t want to lose you because you thought I was too clingy.”
"I could never," he says, and he presses his lips to yours.
-Emily
