𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄

𝗛e waved goodbye to Rayne from his porch as she departed down his dirt driveway. He took in a deep breath, collecting himself, before turning and opening the door. He kicked his shoes off on the mat before closing the door and leaning up against it. He let out a much needed sigh as he thought about the events that occurred tonight. He felt like such an idiot.

Why can't I control myself around her?

Rueben walked in the direction of the kitchen thinking about the real reason why Rayne had brought him to that spot in the first place. She wanted him to open up to her – to be comfortable with her in order to do exactly that. Little did she know, he was way past that.

He pulled off his beanie and tugged his hair. He just wanted his brain to shut off for the night.

Idiot, idiot, idiot—

"Hey."

Rueben jumped in the doorway of the kitchen, not expecting someone else to be awake at 11:50 at night. He noticed Blake standing – well, leaning – near the kitchen island, half a cupcake in her hand. She had been so abnormally quiet that he didn't even notice her.

"Don't do that!" he spoke fast, "Didn't you see I was having an internal monologue moment?"

"Mm," she replied, licking the frosting off her lips.

He rolled his eyes, "Why are you even up? It's late."

"Because I've decided to eat a half a dozen cupcakes and hopefully become fat in hopes that maybe my boyfriend – who I haven't seen in two days – might actually notice me for once," she answered, biting.

Uh— what did I walk into.

She noticed his expression, but didn't comment on it. She just reached over and pushed the box of cupcakes in his direction, gesturing to it, "Cupcake?"

"No thanks, I'm okay," he spoke, thinking.

Blake shrugged and placed the wrapper of the cupcake on the table, putting the last piece of it into her mouth. If he was being honest, he had noticed the distance growing between Mason and her recently, but hadn't commented on it, as it wasn't his business. To be fair, he personally was surprised they lasted as long as they did. He knew Mason better than anyone. Him getting into a relationship with Blake was something completely unexpected.

Now here she was. Sad. Eating cupcakes. She needed advice.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" he shrugged.

"Why not," she said, not bothering to look up.

"Break up with him."

That got her attention.

She stared at him blankly, "Well that wasn't the response I was expecting."

"I know Mason is one of my best friends, but even I can tell that your relationship isn't healthy."

Blake sat down in the stool beside her, visibly upset, "Yeah. I knew that already. I guess I just thought that if I gave him long enough, he'd change."

"That's your first mistake," he replied, walking over, and sitting across from her, "Mason didn't act like this when you first got together, did he?" Blake shook her head, "—exactly," he continued, "He's already changed. If something happened between you two, or something within himself that forced the change in your relationship, then that's that. There's no going back. Trust me. I'm a guy – I would know. It's just how we work. He won't go back to how it was before. And the fact that outsiders of your relationship, like me, are noticing it – is your first sign. You don't have to listen to me," he shrugged, "you can stay with him if you'd like, but just know you're only putting yourself through more pain by clinging onto something that hardly exists anymore."

Blake sighed and rested her head on her palm, "Well... that was honest."

Rueben rubbed the back of his head, feeling bad, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. His absence has already made me do things I'm not sure I regret anymore. I needed to hear that our relationship is over. That it has been. It's just hard to accept. You spend the last two years of your life developing a routine of love with someone only for them to decide routines aren't for them. I just don't know what to do. He's the only one who's ever made me feel like I'm worthy of love. And it's unhealthy to stay with someone for that reason alone – but what else am I supposed to do? My brain wants me to run, but my heart is begging me to stay."

"I know. But no one is rushing you. Take your time with your decision."

"Yeah," she responded.

"Just a question though—?"

"What?" she looked at him.

"What did you mean by 'his absence has already made me do things I'm not sure I regret anymore'?"

Blake's eyes looked scared for half a second before the moment passed. She ran a hand through her hair and looked down at the table, unable to make eye contact, "I ki—"

But before she could finish, the front door slammed shut, cutting her off. The two of them looked at each other, wondering. After a few seconds of loud shuffling, Mason appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. Blake immediately perked her head up at the sight of him, but he kept his face down, hiding inside of his hoodie. He said nothing, just watched them for a second. Finally, he moved in the direction of his room, basically ignoring them.

Rueben stood up and attempted to reach out to grab Mason, but he slapped his had away, "Fuck off."

He was taken aback, but didn't fight it. He stared at his friend's back as he slowly made his way down the hallway, disappearing into his room. Mason slammed the door behind him. Rueben looked at the hand he had just slapped away and felt conflicted. His actions were so out of character. He wanted to be the one to comfort him – to talk him through whatever promoted this change in attitude, but he remembered Blake standing behind him, and the desperation to see him.

"Should I—?"

"Yes," he turned to her, "Go."

"Okay," she answered quickly, scrambling to her feet, and rushing after him.

Rueben sat back down in the seat and buried his head into his arms. Way too many things had happened in one night. All he wanted now was for the world to pause. A break in time.

I'm so tired..