Out of the Ordinary

Chapter 27

"Hm?"

"Bryan. When you said you wanted to break up, was he upset?"

Emily blinked again, pressed her head into the cushion. "He looked... surprised. Like I'd caught him off guard. But... he accepted it."

I nodded, feeling strangely like my life had changed, too. In a way, it had, I suppose.

"Do you have class today?" I asked a few moments later.

"One," she said with a sigh. "In about an hour."

"Okay," I said, grimacing a little. "I actually... I'm supposed to run to the restaurant now. Julian's got my check, and then I have class afterwards, but I can skip if you -"

"No, you don't have to do that," Emily said. "I'll be fine. Go ahead."

"Are you sure?" No matter how "fine" she seemed, I was worried. I didn't want the breakdown to happen while she was alone.

"Absolutely. I told you, I've got class anyway. Unless you want to hold my hand during Sociology."

"I would if you wanted me to."

"Tempting, but I'll pass."

"You don't know what you're missing." I stood, and headed into the kitchen.

"Don't care to know, actually," she said, lifting her feet onto the coffee table and grabbing the TV remote before smirking at me.

I stood there for a moment, absorbing her sarcasm, before tugging my bag onto my shoulder. "You really are fine."

"Told ya." She settled on the Food Network, and looked as content as someone in her situation could get, so I left the apartment only somewhat more confident that all would be well when I returned.

To be honest, I needed the time to myself to digest the news. And the crowded subway was better than nothing. It was strange to think that Emily and Bryan were no longer Emily and Bryan. Strange to think that I wouldn't be seeing him any longer, and it was sad to think that I would miss him. Or at least, the cool guy he'd always seemed to be.

But most of all, it scared me that things could change that quickly. That a love, three years strong, could just end. One big blowout fight, with a slew of smaller fights over the course of a week, no apologies, and a certainty on each side that they were right and the other was wrong, and it was over. Done.

Of course, it made me think of Harry. And the way things seemed to be okay between us since last week's little...disagreement. It didn't even feel like we'd fought. Maybe we had, but we'd resolved it so quickly, with so little bloodshed, it was hard to even consider it a "fight." I was still hurt, I was still feeling betrayed, but I took comfort in the fact that we were already working our way back to what was normal for us.

And I took even more comfort in the fact that Harry still apologized every time we talked.

It was a little annoying, if I'm honest - it just kept bringing it all back. But at the same time, it meant a lot to me. It meant that he still regretted it, that he still worried I hadn't forgiven him, that he wanted to do whatever he could to make it right.

But finally, last night, I had to put my foot down.

"I really am sorry," he'd said out of nowhere. We'd been talking about one of my classes, and I made the mistake of mentioning that I hadn't been focused on last week's assignment.

"Harry, it's over. You don't have to apologize anymore," I said back.

"But it doesn't feel over, does it? Don't you think something's different now?" he asked.