The Heartbroken - S01 E96

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The Heartbroken - S01 E96

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 96

“I had a fight with my

Mom.” His smile was

gone. “This morning.”

Watching him closely, I

waited.

“I told her if she wasn’t

going to tell Dad, then I

was. She didn’t take it

well.” He winced,

almost as if the

memory of the fight

physically pained him.

The thought made me

jolt upright, and before I

could stop to even

question my actions, I’d

grabbed his face with

both hands and began

turning it side to side

and up and down,

inspecting it. It was

only when I saw the

bewildered expression

on his face that I

realized how randomly I

acted.

Backing away, I fought

the urge to blush as I

dropped my hands.

“Um.”

He began laughing at

me. “Um, what?”

“I thought maybe she

hit you. Or something.” I

cringed at my own

stupidity. Oh. My. God. I

was considering

crawling under the bed

to hide my face, feeling

more than just slightly

humiliated.

“Nah, it wasn’t like

that.” The amused

smile on his face

shifted to a wistful one.

“But thank you.”

“For humiliating myself?

Yeah, glad to be of any

help.” In my head, I was

beginning to dig a hole

deep enough for me to

crawl into and hide for

the rest of my life.

He grinned. “Yeah.

Exactly for that.”

“Is she still mad?” I

asked him to make the

moment pass. “Your

mom.”

He shrugged. “I

suppose. I just—I don’t

know what came over

me. Sometimes, I like to

pretend I know nothing.

That she wasn’t even

having an affair at all.”

He let out a harsh

scoff, the sound filled

with so much hatred.

“It’s no wonder Cedric

hates me so much. Even

I hate myself.”

It was the first time I

heard him speak like

this. There was loathing

in his voice—pure,

unadulterated (hey, this

could be a pun) hate.

And the worst part

was that he was

feeling it for himself.

“I should tell Dad. I

know about it, but I’m

not saying anything,

and that’s just as bad

Mom. It’s like

witnessing a murder

and saying, ‘Oh, look,

that guy killed that

other guy’ and walking

away like it didn’t

matter.” He put both

hands on his head,

running his fingers

through his hair. “And I

hate myself for it.”

“Oh, Seth.” I held his

wrists and carefully

pulled them away. I

lowered both our hands

slowly as he raised his

gaze to mine. “Look.

The only reason you’re

not telling your Dad is

probably because you

know telling him would

make it final. Once he

knows, there’s no going

back and you don’t

want that.”

“But it’s not right and

—”

“I’m not saying it’s

right,” I said, my voice

coming out stronger

than I intended. “What

I’m saying is that it’s

normal. It’s a part of

human nature and you

can’t hate yourself for

being human, because

you are. We make

mistakes and we f--k

up a lot, and there’s no

use in hating yourself

for it because there’s

no helping it.” I kept my

eyes on his, letting him

know that I meant

every word. “And I

won’t let you do this to

yourself.”

His jaw slowly grew

slack, face relaxing into

an exhausted

expression. “Do you

really think so?”

“Yes,” I said,

frustrated.

He stared intently at

me. It suddenly felt as

if there wasn’t enough

space between us. As

the moment died down,

I realized our faces

were only inches apart.

His electric blue eyes

held me in place. We

were so close I could

almost feel his breath

on my face. It took me

a moment to realize

that the distance was,

in fact, growing shorter.

And for a second, I

swear he was going to

kiss me.