Until The End Of Time - Chapter 3
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© Jessica v.N.
published by us
rated : R
General warnings apply ! No stealing, copying or changing and then publishing it as yours ! It´s ours and only ours !
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Jessica rang the door bell, then stood nervously waiting for Brian to answer.
"Hey," she said when he finally opened the door.
"Hey," Brian said, then invited her in, "We need to talk." They walked into the living room, then stood silently for a few moments.
"What was it you wanted to tell me?" she finally asked.
"Ah, you might want to sit down for this." Confused, Jessica sat down, then Brian continued, "I don't think we should see each other anymore."
Jessica was hurt and confused, "What?"
"I think we should break -"
"Yes," she interrupted, "I mean, yes, I got that part... but why? Are you not happy?" She was close to tears, but she didn't want him to see her cry, so she turned her head away.
"I'm happy," Brian said, trying to take her hand, but she pulled away, "I'm happier than I've ever been... but not because of you. I'm sorry."
Tears were falling freely from Jessica's eyes now, "Is it someone else?"
"No," Brian said quickly, "No, I would never do that to you..."
"No, I mean, are you in love with someone else?"
He looked down, then answered so quietly she could hardly hear, "Yes."
Through her tears, Jessica managed a smile.
"You don't have to pretend to be happy for me."
"No," Jessica said, "You're right, I don't. But I am happy for you... I'm so happy that you're in love, and that she makes you happy. I love you with all my heart, and I always will, which is why I want you to be happy... I just can't stand to look at you anymore."
Jessica stood up and fled from the house. Instead of getting in her car and driving home though, she just kept running, hoping that maybe, somehow, she could out run the pain and sorrow, but most of all... the happiness. When she stopped running, she ended up on AJ's porch.
She must've looked horrible because AJ looked horrified, as well as surprised, when he found her standing on his doorstep. Her hair was falling out in a tangled mess, her face was tear stained, and her eyes all puffy from crying.
"What happened?"
"Brian..." it was all she could get out before she collapsed.
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"I don't know what you did or said to her man, but she's in bad condition... She ran all the way to my house, and had a horrible asthma attack on my front doorstep. Man, I was freaking out... I thought she was going to die."
"Is she ok?"
"Yeah man, but you should get down here, the paramedics are all over the place."
"I don't think she wants to see me," Brian said softly.
"What do you mean? You're her boyfriend."
"She'll explain to you... I'm sure she will, that's probably why she went down there," with that, Brian hung up the phone. He looked at her picture, which still sat at his desk, and wished to God he could still be in love with her, but that wasn't how life worked. He couldn't help it if he had fallen out of love.
"What if we do decide to act on these feelings, and it doesn't work out? I'm scared to lose the friendship we've worked so hard to build." "But what if it would work out, and we never find out? You have to take a chance, Jess... trust me."
She had trusted him, with her entire heart and soul, and he had ripped them apart... the worst part was, she had been right. Now they didn't have a relationship, they didn't even have a friendship. He had closed the door on her, and now she was stuck out in the cold.
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"Brian?" Jessica whispered when she came to.
"No, it's me," AJ said. The paramedics had moved her upstairs to his bed when she had stablized.
The nights events slowly came back to her, and she began to cry.
"What's wrong?" AJ asked, "Please, you can tell me."
"I need a hug," she whispered.
Without hesitating, AJ leaned forward and hugged her, squeezing her tight.
"Brian and I broke up," she whispered.
AJ pulled back, "Why? You guys were so happy."
Jessica shook her head, "No, I was so happy... Aparrently he wasn't quite as happy, at least not with me..."
"Why that..."
"AJ, he wasn't cheating on me," Jessica said, "He's just in love with someone else... and I'm happy for him."
"Wow," AJ said, "You must really love him."
"Yeah," she said, "But I... I really wish I could hate him, ya know? He hurt me so much..." she started crying again, "You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I do."
Looking at the time, Jessica decided she should go home, "Can I get a ride home?"
"Where's your car?"
"At Brian's... and I really can't deal with going back there, not right now..."
"I understand, hang on, lemme get my jacket."
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The next day Jessica woke up early, and went to the park to shoot some hoops, but couldn't bring herself to when she recalled that Brian had baught her the basketball because, before they met, she had never touched a basketball. So instead she returned home, which was no better, considering there were reminders of Brian, and all the years they had been friends, all over her house.
Around one in the afternoon, after moping around and sulking all day, trying to convince herself she hated Brian, she decided to go pick up her car. Even though it was all the way across town, she didn't want to have to bother someone with coming to pick her up and drive her down there, so she decided to walk.
When she got to Brian's house, she saw two people infront of his window, talking. She tried to ignore it, but kept getting that sinking feeling that it was "that girl". She stood infront of her car, watching for a while, even though she didn't mean to, and eventually the front door opened.
She saw Brian kiss her, and had to look away. When she looked back, the girl was walking down the walkway, so she decided to make conversation. If she ever wanted to be friends with Brian again, she would have to make friends with his girlfriend.
"Hey," Jessica said.
"Hey," the girl said, "You look familiar."
"Yeah, well... actually, I was gonna say I live around here, but I really don't... does it count if I hang out around here?"
"Yeah," the girl said smiling, "I guess... my name's Tricia."
"I'm Jessica," Jessica glanced at Brian's house and saw him watching them >from his window, "Well, I have to get going, but it was nice meeting you, Tricia."
"Where you headed?"
"Uh... away. My exboyfriend lives around here, and I just realized how much I..." Jessica started crying, "Love this neighboorhood, but I can't stand being here, so I think I'll go before I make everyone as depressed as me."
"Aw," Tricia said. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Jessica. She remembered how hard it had been on her when her exboyfriend had left her, "You know what you need?"
"What?" Jessica asked, trying to smile.
"A romantic comedy and some ice cream."
"Yeah, but it's no fun if you have it by yourself."
"I would never leave a heartbroken girl by herself."
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"So tell me about this love of your life," Tricia said, as she sat snugly on Jessica's couch.
"Well, he's the sweetest guy you'll ever meet... he was funny, and thoughtful, and amazingly georgeous... and I miss him so much..."
"What happened to you guys?"
"He fell in love with someone else," Jessica said.
"Really? You seem like a great person, who could he possibly find that was good enough to replace you?"
"You."
Tricia didn't know what to say. "Brian? ...Brian was your ex-boyfriend?"
"Yeah," Jessica said, "But don't worry about it. I'm not a jealous witch or anything... my car was just there because I left it the night before when I went over there to talk to him."
"Oh," Tricia said, relieved that Jessica was cool with everything. "Are you guys still friends, or, like, what's the sitch?"
"Well, I'm not sure," Jessica said, "Last night I got angry and stormed out, so, we're not exactly on speaking terms or anything."
"Oh," Tricia said, "Well I hope things work out... as friends, of course."
"Right," Jessica said.
The atmosphere had become extremely akward, "Um, I've got to go... I have to be at work in an hour," Tricia said.
"Oh, well, thanks for coming over," Jessica said.
"Yeah, sure, no problem."
"No, really," Jessica said, "It lifts such a heavy weight off my shoulder to know that Brian is with a nice girl who cares about people other than herself."
Tricia stared at Jessica for a moment, "You really do love him, don't you?"
Jessica smiled, that akward feeling returning, "He's my best friend. I would do anything to make him happy."
Tricia stood up, "Well, I really have to get going."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Jessica sat back down after she watched Tricia drive away. She hoped she hadn't scared her away, at least not from Brian. Brian deserved someone sweet and caring like Tricia.
The phone rang, startling her.
"Hey, Jess, it's Kevin."
"Oh, hi Kevin."
"Um, I was calling to invite you -"
"Nick told me," she said, "He also told Kelly, so if you were planning on calling her next, don't worry about it."
"Wow, he actually did something right," Kevin said with a laugh.
"Yeah," Jessica said, "I guess so."
"Well," Kevin paused, "I also wanted to see how you were."
"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"
"Uh, I met Tricia this morning," Kevin said, "And ah, I kinda figured out what happened on my own, so I thought maybe you need someone to talk to?"
"It's hard," Jessica said, a tear rolling down her cheek, "It's hard to talk to the cousin of the guy who makes you feel like the most worthless person in the world... ya know?"
"You're not worthless," Kevin said softly.
"I know," she said, another tear rolling down her face, "But sometimes... I don't know. I really don't feel like talking, but thanks for offering."
"But you'll be at my party?"