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Heartbreak

"What was that?" I ask Cal. His kiss still lingers on my lips, a reminder of what might have been.

"I don't-I just thought-" Cal looks like a petulant child, wide blue eyes and lips pursed. It's almost comical.

"Thought what, exactly?" I hiss. "I have been telling you I didn't kill myself, and you've not once believed me." Cal opens his mouth to say something, but I narrow my eyes and continue. "And now that I've finally proven it, you think you can walk back into my life like nothing happened?"

"Eden, that's-" he starts, but I'm not finished.

"I have more than enough on my plate without adding you on top of that." His face falls, but what can I say? Truth hurts. "And I'm still not one hundred percent sure you weren't the one who drugged me and then wrote that note." Okay, so that's not entirely true. I'd pretty much written him off as a suspect the second he turned up dead, too. But no sense in him thinking I was going soft on him.

"I didn't kill you!" he roars. I swear I almost hear the wine glasses rattle in their cabinet. I jump, and it's my turn to stare at him wide-eyed. "How many times do I have to tell you that? It . Wasn't. Me." He enunciates every syllable, all while he stares at me with hardened eyes. I can't remember him ever looking at me ith such distaste. Maybe you shouldn't have provoked him. He walks into the living room.

I follow. "Cal." He's at the door, one hand on the knob. He turns back to me, but his eyes are still narrow. "I'm sorry. Really." I fight to keep the quaver out of my voice, but the lump in my throat makes it impossible. I force the corners of my lips into a small smile, but Cal's face is stone.

"Save it, Eden. You've clearly made up your mind about me, and there's no changing it." HIs chiseled look melts, and for a moment, I see the old, alive Cal, the man I fell in love with. If my heart still beat, it would have broken. "I don't know why either of us are zombies-" I flinch at that word. "-but we are. That first night, when I woke up dead, I thought maybe since we had a second chance at life we could have a second chance at us." He pauses and looks me over from head to toe. "But I was clearly wrong." He turns the knob, and I close my eyes. I can't bear to watch him walk out.

As soon as I hear the soft click of the door, I sink to the rug and sob.

I was the one wrong. My heart didn't have to beat to break.