Put Your Heart Where Your Mouth Is

[John's View]

She came in paler than she was before. "No takers." She said quietly.

She sat down next to me, and leaned slightly on my chest. I wrapped an arm around her. "What did he say to you?" I knew for a fact that he'd yelled at her. She got the same look in her eyes when she and Kennedy fought.

She kept her eyes glued to the screen. "Just that he didn't want to, 'alright, Andy?'" She pulled the cuffs of her sweatshirt tighter around her small hands, and closed her eyes, her head resting on my shoulder. I could hear him yelling at her. She didn't shut the door before she left.

It didn't take long for me to realize that Garrett was in love with my girlfriend, but being around her, I kind of wondered why I didn't expect it sooner. The day he met her he wouldn't stop talking about her, and I knew how he felt about her when I asked her out. I stole her right out from under him.

I was staring intently at the screen, but I wasn't paying any attention to what we were watching. Thoughts kept resurfacing in my mind, things I didn't want to be thinking about, but I knew I had to reconsider. Maybe Garrett was meant to be with Andy.

"Andy, can we talk?" I said, my voice was shaking. I didn't want to do what I was about to do, but I knew I had to do it.

She nodded, worry in her brown eyes, but she took my hand, and followed me out. "Something's wrong." That wasn't a question. She was perceptive.

"I...uh, I don't know about this anymore." I said, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

"You think we should break up." Again, not a question, but her eyes were watering. They're not watering, you idiot, you're making her cry. DO SOMETHING.

I didn't move. "Yeah."

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked, in the smallest voice I'd ever heard from her. It sounded like I was sucking the life right out of her.

Maybe I wasn't the only one who felt like a deflated balloon. I noticed her once perfect posture was changing. She was slouching, only slightly, but it was noticeable for her.

"No, Andy," I whispered, sadly. "Nothing. I promise. I just--I feel like I'm not good enough for you, and I don't want to waste your time if I'm not sure."

"Damn it." She said, in a strong voice, but it was still shaking. She was shaking her head, laughing despite herself. "That's familiar, you know. That's not the first time I've heard it. Ben said the exact same thing before he left. This was before I got kicked out of the house. Before everything turned to shit."

"Why--" My voice cracked, "Why did you break up with him?"

"A friend of his slipped something in my drink one night. Kennedy thought it was Ben, but he was wrong. His friend took me out back, but he promised me he would take me home. That's not all he did. I was so scared after that. I'd never been so scared of anything in my life, I was so paranoid. I didn't eat, or sleep. I miscarried. Kennedy practically kicked Ben out my life, and that was the break-up I got. I haven't talked to him since."

"Oh my God." I couldn't hold it in. I hugged her. She hugged back, but she felt so small, and limp in my arms. I felt like hell. I wanted to cry with her, but I knew I had to do this. I was convinced. Maybe she would realize why I was doing this.

Maybe she would realize that Garrett was the one who deserved her.