The Heartbroken - S01 E142

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E142

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 142

I looked up at him in shock but he simply

held out a hand.

Flustered, I shook my head.

“Come on,” he said.

“No,” I said, giving him a pleading look.

He rolled his eyes. “Are you really going to

turn me down while that creep of a guy is

watching?”

“Your mom will be back any minute now.”

“She can handle herself. Come on.” He

reached for my hand and I let him gently

pull me up.

He led me to the dance floor, paying

absolutely no attention to my half-hearted

protests, and as soon as we joined the

other couples, he placed his hands on my

waist. I conceded, knowing resistance was

completely futile now, and let mine rest on

his shoulders.

“How’s my mom so far?” he asked me as

we began to sway with the music.

There was a hesitant note in voice and

when I lifted my eyes to his, I knew what he

really wanted to ask.

“I don’t know,” I replied, thinking it was

best for me to just go with the truth. “I

thought—I thought I was going to hate her

completely, but now… I don’t know what to

feel.” I let out a sigh and dropped my gaze.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

I peered up at him.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry

about,” he added, but the smile on his face

was enough to tell me just how unsettled

he must be feeling about all this.

“Hey,” I found myself saying, and when our

eyes locked, I forced myself to continue. “It’s

—it’s like I know she’s a good person. She

is. She just… happened to make a bad

decision.” I didn’t know why, but I suddenly

stepped closer, finding the need to press

the side of my head against his shoulder. “A

really bad decision. But her affair doesn’t

define her as a person. It doesn’t define her

whole character. It doesn’t nullify the other

good things about her. It’s just a mistake.”

I felt him stop moving for a while,

prompting me to look up at him.

Softly, I said, “I’m not saying it’s okay to

ignore it, because it’s not. What I’m saying

is that it’s just one thing about her that you

can’t love, but that doesn’t mean you can’t

love the other good things.”

For a moment, he just stared at me, and I

had to wonder if I might have overstepped

some invisible boundary between us, but

then, slowly, quite slowly, a small, grateful

smile slipped onto his face. “Why do you

always know what to say?”

“What are you talking about?” He was the

one who always knew what to say.

“When I told you how I hate myself for not

being able to tell Dad about Mom,” he said.

“It’s like you can look at things in a different

light. In a way that most people can’t.”

I shook my head. “You’re just overthinking

this.”

“No,” he said, “no, I’m not. Most people

can’t see through the bad things. You can.

You acknowledge the bad things but you

can still see the good things.”

I fell silent and we just continued dancing,

managing a small twirl here and there, until

the song ended.

Just as the next song started, I heard

someone clearing his throat behind me.