The Heartbroken - S01 E187

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E187

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 187

She took this in for a moment and I

waited, the silent pause, though

short, unnervingly difficult to

ignore over the static.

“What about when he pulled

away?” she finally said. “What did

you feel then?”

I paused, then, truthfully, I said, “I

think a part of me was relieved.”

When she didn’t say anything, I

continued, “It’s just that a lot of

things have changed. It’s… not the

same.”

I was thankful when she said she

understood, telling me she was

happy that things turned out okay

between me and Cedric.

The next day, Cedric didn’t show up

in class. I was immediately worried,

thinking that things could have

gone from bad to worse overnight,

so I called him right after last

period ended.

“I’m fine,” he told me. “Dad just

wanted to make sure my battle

scars from yesterday weren’t going

to cause any serious

complications.”

Guilt immediately flooded me. I

gripped my phone so tightly I could

feel every edge marking indents

against my fingers.

“Are they?” I swallowed. “Going to

cause complications?”

“We’ll be on our way to St. John’s

for a checkup,” he said, “but I’m

fine. Really.”

The next day, I literally couldn’t help

myself when I saw him in the

library. I stood up and threw my

arms around him in relief, ignoring

Mrs. Ramirez’s hostile stare.

Just like old times, we decided to

wait here for Hail before heading to

the cafeteria for lunch.

“I didn’t know you missed me this

much,” he said when I finally pulled

away.

I released him and playfully slapped

him in the chest.

He flinched back, wincing, and my

eyes automatically widened. “Shit,

I’m sorry. Are you—”

“I’m fine,” he cut me off. “You just

hit a sore spot, courtesy of your ex-

boyfriend.”

“Technically, he was never really my

boyfriend.”

He raised an eyebrow at this, but

he didn’t say anything until we

reached the farthest table at the

back of the library. “Tell me about

him.”

“What?”

“Come on,” he said, nudging me

with an elbow. “What was he like?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m

pretty sure it’s against the rules of

breakups to talk about fake ex-

boyfriends with your real ex-

boyfriend.”

“What can I say?” He shrugged.

“I’m a rule breaker.”

I frowned, knowing for a fact that

Cedric was a lot of things, but a rule

breaker wasn’t one of them. I didn’t

call him on it, though, and instead I

said, “I really don’t want to talk

about him.”

Things between Seth and I had only

progressed from confusing to

crazy.

It was irritating how I both

understood him and hated him for

turning his back and driving away

when things should have gone in a

completely different direction, but

over the past few days, I was

growing more and more okay with

it.

I recalled that one time when he

told me how I always saw things in

a different light. He said I could

always acknowledge the bad things

but still see the good things, and I

guess that was exactly how I

managed to figure out what exactly

I was feeling towards him.

I could acknowledge his fatal flaw

—which had been his broken heart

all along—but I could never forget

the goodness I had seen in him.