𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐫 || Completed

𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: 𝐀 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐎𝐮𝐭

When the call ended, neither of them spoke. They both stripped to their underwear and climbed into bed. Jazmine crawled onto Anthony's arms and silently held him. He wrapped around her tightly. Both of them seemed to be waiting for the other to say something, anything, but they didn't.

After a while, Jazmine's eyes grew heavy. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Anthony, but also of Daffyd. There was clearly no comparison, yet she couldn't help but imagine Daffyd being at the end of an aisle in a tuxedo. She'd invested so much time and care into him. It couldn't have been for nothing.

What if this was her return? What if they got married and lived happily ever after and none of the shit in the past mattered? Her heart felt heavy thinking that she was walking away right at the good part. This is what she'd been waiting for.

Then there was Anthony. He was so sweet and patient. All of these years bottling up his feelings, now they were all out there. It was in his touch, his smile, in the air between them. It was tangible and hard to ignore. The last day with him felt like a lifetime.

That's where the fear hid, right under the surface. What if this wasn't how their life would be? Down the line anything could happen. She thought life with Daffyd would be easy, but look at where they were now. She squeezed Ant tightly, closing her eyes. If things went sour she'd be losing the only man she could truly depend on. Maybe it would be better if they just went back to normal.

The thoughts gave her a headache. She tried to relax her mind and it led to her slowly drifting off to. When she started snoring lightly, Anthony looked down at her and took a breath.

He was numb all over. As much as he wanted to believe Jasmine would see through that shit and stay with him, he knew it was a gamble. He'd watched week after week as she scrambled to get a sliver of that man's attention. It was like he'd put a spell on her.

When Alana told her he wanted to propose, Anthony needed something. A look of disdain, a hint of disapproval, some kind of reassurance that she wasn't swayed, but he got nothing. He thought he'd have more time to show her what he could give to her, but this was happening now. Pretty soon she'd have to choose. If there was any way out of their agreement, this would be it.

It took a long time for him to fall asleep.

The next morning, he woke up expecting her to still be in his arms. Instead the bed beside him was empty. She'd woken up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep. After all of the tossing and turning, she got up and got in the shower.

He could hear it going. The running water was the only sound in the bedroom. He sat up swiping his hands down his face. He couldn't stand continuing on like this, ignoring it like nothing was happening.

When the water stopped, he slid to the edge of the bed. His heartbeats felt like loud drums being pounded. He could feel heartbreak approaching as she came out in a towel.

"Hey..." he said looking up at her.

She stopped, looking at him with low eyes. Tiredness was still present on her face. "Hey," she said just over a whisper.

"Can we talk about it?" He spat through his nerves. It felt like sandpaper coming out of his mouth.

She closed her eyes, feeling her stomach doing backflips. "I don't want to," she said in a small voice. She sounded like a scared little girl awaiting punishment.

From that, he already knew where her mind was. "We have to Jaz..." Hanging his head, he swallowed hard. "I wanted to think I had a chance—- that I at least had more time, but I know. I knew from the beginning what this was."

"Ant..."

"Just let me say this. I don't regret telling you how I feel. I don't regret anything from these past few days. Only thing I regret is not telling you sooner. Maybe if I did, you wouldn't feel like you had to choose, and that's not your fault. Just wait until the video drops to go public, okay?"

"Ant I never said I was going to say yes," she said looking over at him. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"I-" he paused, his voice going a little hoarse. This hurt a lot more than he expected. Clearing his throat, he looked down at the floor. "I saw the look in your eyes when they told you Jaz. I know where your heart is and this is your way out. If you think you'll be happy with him, take it. I can't— I won't stop you."

Batting her eyelashes, the tears started to roll down her cheeks. She walked over to him, taking his face in her palms. He shut his eyes tight. Her touch felt like fire on his skin. She leaned her forehead against his whispering, "Let's just act like I don't know.. Pretend we didn't hear it."

He snatched from her grip, clenching his jaw. "I won't do that to myself."

"Ant, he hasn't even ask me yet."

"I'm not begging either— or bending over backwards to win you over Jazmine. From that day we met, I gave you me. If that's not enough, it won't ever be enough." There was no games, no ploy or theatrics. There were so many things he'd be willing to give up for Jazmine, but his dignity was a dealbreaker.

"This isn't fair, you tell me you love me two days ago—-"

"I didn't start loving you two days ago," he cut in looking up at her. "It wasn't out of the blue. I loved you at Junior prom. I loved you the night before you went to Georgia, I loved you two months ago when you ran into my arms like you never wanted to let me go, despite you leaving me hanging for years. I even loved you when you looked me in my eyes and told me you wanted to use me to get back at Daff. I'm not gone stop loving you Jazmine; I'm just gone have to stop wanting you to love me back. I'm okay with that."

Tears were pouring down her face in broad streams as he spoke. She hugged herself, looking down at the floor. "What if I do love you back?"

Her head was spinning. This was all too much to process in the span of a few days. She was torn between the evil she knew and the unknown. What felt like the easiest decision she'd ever make was now right in front of her, and it didn't feel easy at all.

"If it's out of sympathy, I don't want it..." He said standing up. "I don't want to miss our flight." Gathering a few things, he went into the bathroom and shut the door. As much as it hurt to leave her there crying, he had to be stern. He couldn't look at her for another second knowing what he knew.