Because You Said Forever

Nick's P.O.V

I drop the phone to the floor. Damien has a girlfriend? I'm sure he doesn't; Joe was only saying that to discourage me. It has to be.

I lie down on the couch and hug my knees. If Damien is dating someone, I have nowhere to go. I'm hanging onto the part of myself that knows Joe's lying. I get lost in my own pathetic, self-loathing thoughts until the door opens.

"Nick? I need the phone," Damien asks and I hand it to him lazily, not looking up. Damien walks over to the couch so he's standing over my head. "Are you okay? What'd Joe say?"

"Nothing," I smush my head into my arms, peering out from under my hair. "He really wants me home, though."

"Do you want to go back?" Damien asks gently.

"Not particularly," I mumble into my arms.

"Nick? I'm really sorry, but you can't stay here much longer."

"I know," I sigh. "I just need some time to think things over."

"Okay. I hope you figure things out," Damien ruffles his hand in my hair before he leaves me alone in the room that suddenly feels so empty.

I just lie there for little while, gazing at the floor and tracing the patterns on it with my eyes. After deciding that lying here on the couch all day is no good use of the day, I grunt as I pick myself up. I rub my eyes and slide off the couch, walking groggily through the hallway, aiming for the kitchen.

"Tonight?"

I stop when I hear Damien's voice, thinking he's saying something to me.

"We can't do my house," I hear him say, and after a brief pause he giggles loudly. My heart starts beating a bit more noticeably as I stand a couple meters away from his door and listen closely. "No, of course not!" he bursts out into quiet laughter while my heart starts sinking lower in my chest. "I'm kind of busy for the next night or so. What about Friday?"

I know exactly what he's talking about and I don't need to wait around to hear more. I run back to the living room as my cheeks burn. Joe was right. Joe was right. Joe was right.

Damien has a girlfriend. He has a girlfriend. Joe wasn't lying. This is the only line that enters my head for almost two minutes. I lie down on the couch again, facing the back of it and hug my knees. I press my face into my arm and try to stifle my crying. Of course he doesn't like me. Even if I'm in love with him. No one does. Joe's always been right.

Now I have nowhere to go except back to the apartment. I can't stay here knowing the guy I'm in love with is dating. I'd be just as hurt here as I would be with Joe, but at least he'd give me some love. A warm tear falls down my cheek as I press my eyes closed tightly and whimper.

I feel like I've just been punched in the chest repetitively. I shut my eyes tightly and scrub my face with my hands, wiping the tears off as best I can before I reach for my cell phone in my pocket. I press in the number shakily and hold the phone to my ear.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings.

"Hello?"

"Joe?" I squeak, failing to stop my voice from cracking.

"Oh, Nick, hi! Are you coming home yet?" he jumps right to the question.

I inhale and exhale slowly. "Y-y-yeah. Can you pick me up? I'll explain later."

"Okay. Are you alright?"

"I don't know. Just hurry, please."
I shut the phone and stand up off the couch, wiping my tears off my cheeks again. I snuffle a couple times to clear my nose and head to Damien's room to tell him I'm leaving. By now he's off the phone, and I knock on the wall before I walk through the open door.

"Damien? Joe's coming to pick me up."

Damien looks up from his laptop screen. "He is? Why? Are you sure you want to go back to him?"
he pauses and looks at me carefully. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lie. "I just really need to get home."

"Okay. Are you going to be okay with... Joe?"

I nod, but I'm not completely sure. "I'll be okay."

"If he hurts you, call me."

I nod. "Okay." I head down the stairs and wait for Joe to get here.