Above & Beyond ✔

50. This is Goodbye

Pain, anger, and resentment painted in Susie's hazel irises when our gazes met. Her eyes were turning bloodshot while her nose and cheeks had turned into a color of furry. She stopped for a brief second before resuming storming out of the door.

"Of course you would be here," she said. "He's all yours now." With that, she strode past me and headed to the driveway.

"Who are you talking–" Dean stopped at the kitchen door. The color drained from his face once he saw me. "Jen...how long did you..."

Still trying to recover from the shock myself, I nodded weakly at his unfinished question. "Longer than I should've."

Panic flashed across his face as he leaned into the door frame, rubbing his face in frustration. "Fuck."

I didn't know how to respond to him. My brain couldn't make sense of what I just heard but at the same time, questions began to bounce in my head. Did he tell the truth? How long has it been going on? Why did he hide it from me? Or is it just his attempt to end his argument with Susie?

Susie.

"I have a lot of questions, though, but first, I do need to talk to Susie." Before Dean could react, I added, "alone." I turned on my heels and hurried to the front yard.

Susie was standing next to her driver's door when I caught up. Leaning forward, her elbows were on the car roof while both her hands were covering her face, her shoulders shaking lightly.

Not wanting to disturb her, I stood on my spot and waited until she was done crying. Witnessing Susie break down pulled on my heartstring because I'd never seen her this vulnerable. Even when she broke up with Dean during our first year in university, she still held her head high.

When her faint sob started to die down, she wiped off her tears using her shirt sleeves. She turned her head sideways while her hand dug into her leather bag, probably looking for her car key. It was when she noticed my presence.

"What do you want, Jenny?" she croaked. She managed to pull out her keys but she rummaged through her bag once more. "Goddammit!" she muttered under her breath.

I fished my travel-pack tissues from my jeans pocket and extended them to her. "Here."

Susie was hesitant at first but she took it eventually. "Thanks." She pulled a few layers out and blew her nose.

"Are you okay?" I asked carefully.

Susie threw her head backward and took a deep breath. "Are you seriously asking me that? But the answer to that is no, I'm not okay. But I will be soon. That jerk doesn't deserve any more tears from me."

"I'm sorry, Susie."

"What for? It's good that I finally got the answer that I'd been looking for. Now I can move on," she replied, glancing in my direction. "So, why are you here?"

After Dean, I was probably the last person she wanted to deal with right now. Yet here I was, worrying about her for some reason. "I just wanted to check on you," I replied, earning a frown from her. "I mean, I know that things between us have been a bit rough lately, but I believe we're still friends...sort of. Also, maybe we can clear the misunderstanding between us."

"What misunderstanding? If anything, everything is crystal clear now. Dean and I are done. He chose you. You win."

"Nobody is winning because this is not a competition, Susie."

"Well, nothing is stopping you now," she sneered. "You heard it yourself, he loves you. Finally, your forever crush is returning your feelings. Yay. A fairy tale is in the air. Let's just hope it's the happily-ever-after one this time."