Breakable Heaven

Chapter 1

"Honey, I'm home," Karlie hums as she bursts through the door of my Tribeca apartment. I jump off the couch at the sound of her voice and jog over to her, engulfing her in a hug. 

"You know if you keep saying things like that I might start to believe there's some truth to those rumors about us," I tease as I pull away from the hug. The lengthy model is dressed in a loose-cropped sweatshirt and sweatpants with her blonde hair pulled back into a high pony. I'm grateful for her outfit, considering I'm dressed more or less the same. She rolls her eyes at my comment, setting her bag down on the entryway table. 

"Oh you wish, Swift," she teases with a devious grin, and I roll my eyes back and make my way back to the couch, Karlie following closely behind.

Karlie and I have been virtually inseparable since our road trip to Big Sur at the beginning of the year. She's even developed a habit of dropping by my place unannounced, but I don't mind much. It gets lonely living in such a big apartment by myself anyway.

"So, to what do I owe this pleasure?" I tease, plopping myself onto my usual spot on the couch, pulling my big knitted blanket back over my chilled body. Karlie makes herself comfortable in her usual spot right next to me, pulling part of my blanket on top of her as well. She snuggles up beside me, resting her head on my shoulder as I unpause the episode of FRIENDS I was watching. 

"What, getting sick of me?" She teases back, leaning her head back to look up at me from her place on my shoulder. I look down at her, raising an eyebrow. 

"Oh, never," I mock, and she lightly slaps my arm as I chuckle to myself. I turn my focus back onto the show in front of me. The voice of Monica Geller blares from the television on the wall, and suddenly I'm already reinvested in the episode.

After a few minutes of watching Chandler and Joey fight over a living room chair, I hear Karlie let out a sigh as she starts to pick at her fingers. I watch her momentarily from the corner of my eye before deciding to bring it up. At this point, I know the model all too well.

"Hey, what's bothering you?" I whisper, resting my head on top of hers. She takes a minute to respond. 

"Uh, I don't know. Shit with Josh again," she mumbles as she continues to pick at her nails. I grab her hand softly in mine, bringing it to my lap in an attempt to momentarily break her anxious habit. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I ask softly. She interlocks her fingers in mine. "It's the same stuff. He goes away on business trips and doesn't answer his phone. I don't know. After Lucille, I just don't trust him." Part of the reason Karlie and I got so close was Josh. She had asked me to go to Big Sur with her after she found out he was cheating on her with a girl named Lucille from his office for a few months before. The trip was her way of taking a break from their relationship. After days together on the California coast spent exploring nature and escaping the dramatics of the real world, Karlie had decided to return back home to Josh to work through their issues. I personally think she's too scared to be without him. She's gotten comfortable. She'll admit it if she's drunk enough.

I whisper "I know," and put my arm over her, pulling her body closer to me. I rub her shoulder as she rests her head in the crook of my neck. There's not much I can say to make her feel better. This has been a consistent problem for Karlie since I've known her and it breaks my heart. "He doesn't deserve you, you know," I point out gently, although this is something I remind her of every time she brings him and his antics back up. 

"Maybe I'm just as bad. I mean at this point you're more of my boyfriend than he is," she jokes. "Maybe if I spent more time-" she starts, moving out from under me and positioning herself criss-cross on the couch, facing me. I turn towards her as well.