The Start of Time

Chapter 52

Well, imagine that.

The sun still rose this morning despite the dark, looming clouds over my head. The rays refracting through the window, the warmth spreading across my bed, but it's still so cold. Waking up without Declan's warm body wrapped around mine, breathing loudly in my ear. What was one so agonizingly annoying, I'll spend the next miserable few months learning how to live without.

I always thought people who acted like this were crazy.

Crying until you fall asleep at three in the morning with puffy eyes, runny nose, face all red and swollen. Hurt that aches deep down, following you everywhere, reminding you of how it felt before your heart was shattered. Barely breathing when you pass somewhere familiar.

I know I'm being excessively dramatic, it's only been one day, and no one else even knows besides Kennedy, and I guess whoever Declan told.

"Hey," Maverick greets me through the phone. "Where are you? I thought I was going to show you that new editing program today?"

"Oh, I forgot. Is Declan there?"

"Yeah, he's right here."

"And he knows I'm coming."

"Umm... yeah." he says slowly. I can hear his confusion through his tone of voice. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'll be there in a few minutes."

A clueless Maverick and an aloof Declan can only mean one of two things. Declan has refused to accept the fact that we broke up and is planning to act like it didn't happen, or he's completely fine.

And while it would skyrocket every insecurity, trust issue, and emotion I have, I would much rather him be completely fine than have to go through last night over again. I really don't think I could do it. I'm just going to cave, and that can't happen.

Especially not when he's the one who opens the door, leaving me speechless.

"Hey," he says casually, "Mav and Gen are in the living room."

"Oh. I, umm–. Are you–. Did you–," I stutter, never managing to form an actual coherent thought.

He laughs. He actually laughs.

"I'm fine. We broke up. Shit happens."

So, he's fine. Got it.

If he's fine, then I'm fine. I just have to put on a happy face and accept it like he has.

"Should we tell them?"

Declan silently walks towards the living room with me before announcing, "Just to keep Mary-Kelton from becoming a stuttering mess again. We figured you should know we broke up." And then he's back towards the kitchen.

He's never been one to say things gently. I'm not sure why I expected anything different now.

The silence roars for nearly thirty seconds, their shocked expressions a dead giveaway to the number of questions I'm going to have to answer soon. Shock, confusion, denial, eventually they have to get to acceptance, right?

"What the hell? When?" Maverick mumbles.

"Explanation. Now." Genevieve demands.

"It happened last night. We just realized that the lives we wanted didn't quite fit like we thought they would with our careers and all."

"And this just randomly happened."

"Well, no. We've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks. Just makes sense."