His Love Was a Lie

Back then things had been so perfect and sitting here waiting for him, knowing that all was over, was quite possibly the worst feeling I've ever experienced.

In my hand I was holding a picture frame. In it was a picture taken during the night we first met. We were sitting close to each other, laughing. There was genuine happiness in our faces, taken during one of those moments where neither of us realized that we were being photographed. It had been my favorite picture of the two of us. All I wanted was for things to be like they were that night...

"Hi Belle!" Val opened the door and greeted me with a big hug. She and her now-fiancé were having an engagement party and she was kind enough to invite me. We had bumped into each other, literally, a week earlier when she accidentally spilled her coffee all over me. We got to talking and we had hung out every day since. She was a sweet girl and only having lived in this town for six weeks, I was glad to finally make a friend.

I was however very nervous about meeting all of her friends. She had told me that her fiancé was in a band, Avenged something. I had never heard of them but the look in her eyes told me all I needed to know; she was incredibly proud of them. She had also told me about a guy she wanted me to meet, his name was Brian and he played guitar. This little tidbit of information did nothing to help with my nerves.

I followed her into the living room, there were people everywhere, yet he managed to catch my eye. He had dark hair, dark eyes and muscular arms with tattoos that showed under the white shirt he was wearing. To top of his look, he was wearing a fedora. He looked perfect; if Leonardo da Vinci had been forced to choose between painting Mona Lisa or this man, there's no doubt in my mind as to who he would have chosen.

Unfortunately I felt obligated to talk to this Brian fellow, whoever he might be. I looked around, trying to see where Val had disappeared to. When I turned around to face the gorgeous man again, I found him standing right next to me.

"You're Belle, right?" He asked me.

"Y-yeah..."

"I'm Brian. According to Val, you and I would be perfect together." He shook my hand as he smiled at me. That smile and those brown eyes; they were a winning combination.

Everything was like a fairytale from then on. We spent the whole night together; talking, laughing, just enjoying each other's company. One of those moments was captured in the picture I was holding.

We had our first date the next evening, a picnic on the beach. It was the most romantic thing I had ever experienced. Afterward we went to his house and it was like I never left.

I woke up slightly disoriented in a very large bed in a very dark room with an arm around me, a very tattooed manly arm. I smiled to myself. I couldn't believe I spent the night with him after only having met him two days ago.

He must have noticed the change in my breathing because he pulled me closer to him.

"Good morning, Belle." He kissed my shoulder.

"Morning Brian." I turned around to face him. He looked even more amazing than he had last night. His dark hair was messy; I wanted to run my fingers through it. His brown eyes were only half-open; I wanted to spend an eternity gazing into them. His beautiful lips were begging to be kissed; I kissed them.

I knew this was insane. It went against every rational bone in my body. I did not believe in love at first sight, it was something only romantic fools believed in. But lying here in bed with this man who made my heart flutter and my body tingle by simply looking at me, I felt it. I had been converted; I was now a believer.

We spent almost every waking hour together. My family loved him, his family loved me. I got along with all his friends and even better with all their girlfriends. For fifteen months, everything was great. Then she came back home; Michelle, Val's sister and Brian's ex-girlfriend. She had broken up with him when she moved to Europe, four months before I met him. Part of me couldn't help but blame her for the fact that I was now sitting here, feeling this bad.

It was a wonderful day. Once again, we all found ourselves at Val and Matt's house. It was yet another party but this one came with a twist. Val and Matt had sneaked off to Vegas and gotten married, surprising us all with these news. I couldn't be happier for them. Val had become one of my closest friends and Matt was a great guy. They were truly happy together. I looked at my Brian, my beautiful Brian. We were also truly happy together. He made me feel loved every single moment of every single day.

As we walked around in the backyard that night, I noticed a girl staring at us. She was very pretty and she looked a lot like Val. She also looked upset.

"Honey," I said to Brian, "do you know that girl?"

He didn't have to answer me; the expression on his face said it all. The pretty girl who looked like Val was Michelle.

She had been polite enough when we were introduced but it was obvious to me that she still loved him. She had decided to move back home and with Val and Matt being married, she would always be around. I could have dealt with it; I wasn't a jealous person by nature. Actually I wasn't jealous at all, not unless you gave me a reason to be. Unfortunately that was exactly what they did five months later.

Val being pregnant was the reason for their surprise wedding. They managed to keep it a secret for a long time. For a tiny girl, Val barely showed during her pregnancy. Now she and Matt were the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy. Brian and I drove to their house to see the addition to the Sanders family. Of course Michelle was there, along with Zacky and Gena.

We were sitting in the living room, admiring the baby when I noticed that Brian had been gone for a while. I excused myself and went looking for him. When I found him, he wasn't alone. Standing in the kitchen were Brian and Michelle. Their lips were touching. I slowly backed out and hid in the bathroom for the next ten minutes.

The rest of the night I spent walking around as in a daze. All I could think of were the two of them; kissing. But that hadn't even been the worst part. No, the worst part was how he acted after that. He did nothing to support my hope that his actions were tearing him up inside. I looked at him as we were lying in bed that night and the innocent Brian I fell in love with, seemed to have been replaced. He showed no remorse, no guilt. That was two months ago. And I was still here. I should have left him then. No matter how in love with him I was, I should have left him. I know that now. I guess that is why they say hindsight is 20/20, it's so easy to think back and wish you had done things differently. If I had, I never would have seen what I saw this morning.

Brian wasn't expecting me until tonight so I was glad when I managed to get an earlier flight. I really wanted to surprise him and hopefully we could spend the whole day together. I had a huge smile on my face. Even though I had only been gone for two nights, I was already missing him like crazy. I was so happy to have him in my life. Every day with him made my life a little better than it had been the day before.

As I drove onto the street where he lived, I noticed a strange car parked in his driveway. It was a strange car as in a car that didn't belong here. Unfortunately it wasn't a strange car as in me not knowing who it belonged to. I had seen it parked outside Val's enough to know that it was Michelle's. Michelle's car was parked in my boyfriend's driveway at ten in the morning. I had a hard time coming up with reasons as to why she would be here this early. Unless ... she was still here from yesterday.

I decided to make my entry quietly. This might be my only opportunity to catch them in the act and as much as the thought of seeing them disgusted me, it was the only way I would know for sure.

The house was quiet as I walked inside. I peaked into the kitchen and found no one there. Next stop; upstairs. As I stood outside his bedroom door, my worst fears were confirmed. I heard a moan, a moan that clearly came from a woman. I opened the door slightly and what I saw will forever be engraved in my memory. Brian lying on top of Michelle. It was all I needed.

I walked out right away. I came here wanting to surprise him but I guess the surprise was on me. A kiss I could deal with, it could have been a one time thing, but this? This clearly told me that they were not over. I felt fairly certain that this had been going on since she came back. I was such a fool...

I drove around for a couple hours before I called him.

"Hey babe," he answered the phone. I wanted to throw up as I heard him call me babe. I wondered if he called her that too…

"Are you home?" I asked. I tried to sound normal. Well, as normal as one can sound after having caught their boyfriend cheating.

"No, I'm out with the guys. I probably won't be back for another couple hours. Why? When does your plane land?"

I almost found it funny that he pretended to care. Why did he bother? He obviously loved her, not me.

"Oh, that's not important. Could you be home by six? I have a surprise for you." It was true. It may not be the surprise I was planning on this morning, but it was a surprise none the less.

"Sure babe. See you at six. Love-"

I hung up the phone before he could finish that sentence. I drove straight to his house. I needed to pack my things.

As the front door opened, I heard him laugh with his friends, sounded like it was Jimmy and Johnny. I was going to miss them a lot. I felt a pang of regret as they walked into the living room. Was I really willing to give up everything we had once been? I had to remind myself that Brian had already done just that, he was the one who had given up on us. As I looked into his face of beauty, into those brown eyes, I wanted to stay... But I was going to stand tall, I wasn't going to give him another opportunity to break my heart or scar my soul.

"Hey guys," I said to them. They all said hey back. That wasn't enough of a greeting for Brian who came over to the couch I was sitting on. He kissed me, well he tried, but I turned my head so that he got my cheek instead.

"Come on babe, a kiss on the lips," he pouted. I used to think that he had the most adorable pout in the world. Now I saw it for what it really was.

"No honey." I stood up and grabbed my bags. I had seen many different expressions in his eyes during our time together; most often it was one of three: lust, longing or what I thought was love. But the one I saw now; confusion mixed with sadness and anger, was a new one; new and well-deserved. I looked from his lying eyes to his lying mouth.

"I won't be kissing your lips of deceit again." With those parting words, I walked out the door and out of Brian's life.

Lying on the living room table was an empty frame, pieces of a torn picture scattered all around it.