The Heartbroken - S01 E223

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E223

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 223

“I don’t expect anything less.”

We shared a look, both of us smiling. I was so, so

glad to see that the smile reached his eyes. That he

was still able to do so genuinely.

But I knew I had to confront him somehow, so I

dropped my smile and turned to him. “Why didn’t

you go home, Seth?”

His smile dissipated as he looked away, clenching his

jaw as he picked up a twig.

“I don’t have a home,” he replied. “Not anymore.”

I bit my lower lip. It was too painful to hear him

speak with this voice, full of raw emotion and grief.

He sounded like a vulnerable child who couldn’t find

his way back home.

“Are your mom and dad getting a divorce?”

He inhaled sharply, snapping his gaze to mine.

I didn’t flinch.

He studied me for a while before opening his mouth

to reply. “Yeah.”

“Is that why you’re upset?” I asked him.

“I know it sounds stupid.” He looked completely torn

by his own emotions. “I know it is stupid. I saw it

coming. I knew it was coming. And I understand

that it’s the only way things could have ended with

them, but…”

He shook his head and I squeezed his hands,

wrapping them both in mine to keep them from

trembling.

His eyes were raw with pain, but he forced himself

to continue. “It’s stupid, but I think a part of me still

believed that they could work things out. That they

could stay together.”

Silence aired as I tried to think of something to say;

something that would make him feel better;

something that could take away the pain in his eyes

and voice and heart.

“Seth.” I squeezed his hands. “It’s okay to feel that

way.”

He shook his head vehemently, not daring to look

me in the eye. “It’s not. It’s not okay. I should know

better. I’m seventeen, for f--k’s sake, and yet—”

“So what?” I cut him off, squeezing his hands harder.

“Everyone gets hurt. Even if you’re older now, even

if you know better, even if you understand, you can’t

keep yourself from hurting. And that’s okay.”

He looked at me, and there was electricity in the way

we both looked into each other’s eyes. I wondered if

he could feel it. I wondered if he was just as afraid of

it as I was. I wondered if it would lead to anything at

all.

My unspoken questions were answered when he

dropped his gaze, breaking the connection.

If there was even one.

“Kyla” he said quietly. He pried his hands away from

mine and something about this gesture stung. I

pulled back, just slightly, and tried to pretend that the

stabbing pain in my chest didn’t exist. “You make it

so hard not to fall in love with you.”

I bit the insides of my cheek so hard I could feel a

numbing pain.

“And I do want something to happen between us,”

he continued, but all I could hear is the rushing of

my blood with every beat of my heart, “but I have to

sort things out first.”

“You don’t,” I found myself saying, “you don’t have

to do it alone.”

When he met my pleading eyes, his lips were

already tugged into another of his sad smiles. “Ky.”

The way he said my name made my stomach drop.