Sweet As You

(42) Cade

Cade knew it was an eventuality. The blissful bubble is going to burst—he's mentally prepared of that. It's one of the many things he did a lot of compartmentalizing for.

Kathie Jane always belonged to someone else. He merely borrowed moments with her. However right the feeling was, each kiss they had wasn't his to take. Every damn second he held her wasn't his to have. And everything they shared wasn't his to keep.

Cade Parkinson prepared himself for the bitchiest awakening.

The splitting ache in his chest though—that he wasn't prepared for. The first few minutes were bearable. It was too unfamiliar that he chose to ignore it. But then the ache builds up every step he took further away from her.

When he made it out of the premises, he was suffocating in the open air than when he was in the middle of the crowd.

He didn't take the limo he shared with Kathie. He'd rather get hit by a truck than have a trip down memory lane where he was with her. And when he was the happiest idiot.

He hailed for a cab. With the escalating pain in his chest, he doubted if he could get through the night.

The ache turned into insistent stabbings—each new pressure much more excruciatingly painful than the last. Then as he climbed into the backseat of the cab, he realized they were the shards of his broken heart.

Cade hears himself giving the driver his parents' address instead of his apartment. He tells himself he's just checking on his sister who stayed at home with their father.

He made himself believe that. And for a moment, he actually thought he wasn't taking the coward's way out. He wasn't running away from the woman living just across his apartment.

Okay, maybe he was, but just for tonight. Cade walked away—there's no denying that. He can't reduce the searing pain in his chest so he resorted to the only choice he knew could spare him from anymore heartaches: detachment.

Cade arrived at his childhood home, physically pristine but emotionally torn. His little sister gave him an odd look when she opened the door.

"I thought you were at the Lewises' Party." She looks behind him and stares up to his face. "Where's Kathie?"

Cade brushes past his sister and strolled down the hall, tugging at his bowtie that started to choke him. "Where's your babysitter?"

"Ha-ha. Dad's passed out on the couch." Chandra rushes to his side. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

Cade turned to the living room. "Did you make him watch a princess movie again?"

"That's what he gets for making me stay home." She folded her arms over her chest defensively.

As if conjured from the conversation, their father enters his line of sight. He was slumped on the edge of the couch, arms sprawled and head lolling to the side.

"Cade, why aren't you with Kathie?" His sister pries.

He jerked his chin to their sleeping father. "He still sleeps like a rock."

"Why did you leave the party?" She steps in front of him and stared up to him.

He regarded the rolling credits on the TV screen. "Let me guess, he didn't even make it half the movie."

"Cade, what's going on?" Her blue eyes rounded with concern.

His lips curved. "I'm staying over."

"What? Why?"

He ruffles her hair. "I'll go up to my old room."

"Cade, wait." His sister protested but he's turned around and already heading to the stairs up to their bedrooms. His footsteps echoed in the halls and when he stepped inside his room, his insides were hollower than it already was. He tugged his bowtie loose and toss it on the nightstand. He wouldn't fit his bed anymore, but he dove right into it and stared at the ceiling, ignoring the disagreeing squeak of the mattress.

He didn't bother to turn the lights on. 

He closes his eyes for a moment, then he hears the door creaking open. Footsteps followed afterward then the bed dipped with a rasp.

"Cade?" Chandra's voice cut through the thick silence then there's a flick of his bedside lamp.

He opens his eyes. "Ichinandra, you're not going to leave me alone, are you?"

She shrugs. "There's something wrong."

Understatement. There is something but "wrong" doesn't begin to cover it.

"If I tell you, you have to stop asking anymore questions."

Chandra nodded eagerly. "I promise."

He sat upright and planted his feet on the cold floor. He stared out the window of his bedroom, trying unsuccessfully to swallow the bitter pill past his throat.

His sister crawls next to him and tucked her feet underneath her. "Tell me."

"Her boyfriend's back."

She touched his arm. "Kathie's boyfriend?"

He nods and didn't say another word. He let the silence stretched.

Chandra scoots closer, her hand sliding over his. "Cade?"

"Her boyfriend's back and I'm not okay with it," he murmurs.

His sister stares at his face and wordlessly, pulls him into a hug.

What heartbreaking lines in the chapter tug at you the most? Highlight, Share and Tag/Mention me on Instagram or Twitter 👇🏻. I would love to know! But, firstly, what dah yah think? Tell me on the comments below. Also, don't forget to give this chapter some love by hitting vote. Love you! Xoxo.