Thick and Thin [l. hemmings]

three

So, I called her right away. I sat on my bed and just braced myself for what she was going to say. Our conversation started out as small talk, but it just made me more anxious. When I asked her what was wrong, she paused, letting out a deep breath. The moment she spoke that sentence, it felt like the entire world came crashing down around me.

//

"Luke cheated on you." Kiana blurts through the phone, making my whole world stop.

I can't even speak. I don't know what to say. It takes me a couple moments before I can even speak up.

"You're joking, right?" I ask, a nervous chuckle escaping my lips.

"Kels... I'm so sorry." She slowly replies, clearly feeling sorry for me.

"Oh my god, no, he didn't. Luke couldn't." I tell her, trying to hold myself together.

"I- I can tell you what happened, if you want to know." She stammers, not sure how she should deal with this situation.

I take a deep breath, trying to brace myself, "Yeah. Please."

There was no way I'd ever be ready to hear what she's about to tell me. But I need to hear it. I have to know.

"I picked him and Cal up from a house party. Normally they're both fine. Luke is always basically sober, and normally when he's drunk, he just talks about how much he loves you. It's been a while since I've gone to pick them up, but last night... Calum told me about this girl Luke was with. A girl Calum has seen around before. He saw the two of them go upstairs, and how he eventually ended up walking in on them. It was a bit out of town, so it was a longer drive. Luke fell asleep in the backseat, that's when Cal told me. After I dropped Cal off, Luke woke up and came to sit up front with me. He admitted all of it."

"Kiana... I-"

She sniffles, probably upset over this as well, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away last night I just- I was in shock and didn't know how to do this and-"

I don't reply, I just interrupt her when I start sobbing. I've never been more heartbroken in my life. Luke is my husband. He made a commitment to me, but he broke that. Luke's been cheating on me.

"Kelsey, I am so sorry. I'm booking a flight to LA right now to come see you. Okay? I'll be there for you." Kiana adds, as I hear her shuffling around through the phone.

"You don't have to-"

"I want to. You're still my best friend, Kels. I love you and I need to be there for you. It'll be a few hours, okay? My flight leaves in about an hour." She tells me.

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

//

The only thing I was happy about in that moment was that both Nina and Kyle had went home for the summer, and Ashton was out all day, partying with friends and staying at their place for the night. None of them were here to see the mess I so quickly became.

While I waited for Kiana to show up, I spent the entire time drinking. I needed to numb this somehow. Five hours later, Kiana was in my apartment, holding onto me as I broke down in her arms. She told me the whole story again, after I had asked.

Hearing all of it was the lowest point of my life. I felt like nothing. I didn't know what I had done to make him do this. I knew he was upset, but I know that I don't deserve to be treated like this. I was also just so embarrassed. We had so many people telling us not to get married, but we still did. Yet we didn't even last a year. We never celebrated an anniversary together.