Fall To Pieces

Amy Marshals had just moved into week 5 of mourning, and her apartment proved it.

She had rarely moved from her queen sized bed, and if she had it was only to get more food, or spend the occasional day moping on the large couches in her living room. Old Chinese food and ice cream containers covered almost every flat surface, with the occasional pizza box from a local New York pizzeria down the street. It had been her ex-boyfriend's favourite pizza in all of New York, and in her state of mourning it was almost all Amy would allow herself to eat.

Her small 5'4 frame was sprawled out across her bed, a mess of oversized comforters and white bed sheets that had yet to have been made in weeks. 5 weeks to be exact. She had just finished school the week before her life came crashing down around her, offering her ample amounts of spare time to mope and feel sorry for herself.

Friends and family had stopped calling after week three, no longer willing to put up with her childish ways. Or that's what she mostly thought, her cell phone's battery had died a long time before and searching for the charger that belonged to the phone her ex had bought her was one of the last things she wanted to do.

It was shortly after 4pm, which meant Amy was in her usual spot, watching the Young and the Restless on the plasma tv that hung on the wall opposite her bed. She had never really been a fan of soap operas, and still wasn't totally fond of the show, but it passed time and helped her forget what was actually happening.

Amy considered it part of her healing, no matter how ridiculous people told her she was being. Amy Marshals was on week 5 of mourning the death of her last relationship, and she had no intention of cheering up, or moving on anytime soon.

She had met Michael Del Zotto for the first time in 2008 when she was only a senior in high school. She had been on vacation with her older brother in Toronto when the two had, literally, bumped into each other at a mall. They had exchanged phone numbers, but when she returned back home to New York she let Michael slip to the back of her mind. But a phone call out of the blue brought the mystery boy back into focus as he explained his current hockey situation. He had been drafted to play in New York, and wanted to see her while he was here for rookie and training camp. The two had gone on a couple dates, but Michael was eventually sent back home from camp. They stayed in touch, and he even came to visit her for a week over Christmas. Their relationship had started off long distance, but the following summer he came to New York just for her. And just as his hockey career became official, as did Amy and Michael's relationship.

They had both been head over heels in love with the other. Until one day he had shown up at her apartment in the pouring rain. The way he had told her he just didn't want a relationship right now was so nonchalant, it took her a couple moments after he had left to actually process what has happened. Not long after she had closed the door behind him, the loneliness had begun to set in. Breaking down crying, Amy had curled up in her bed, the bed that Michael had shared with her so many nights throughout the past year. Her world had seemed to have ended, and 5 weeks later Amy was no less of a mess then the day Michael had left her.

Occasionally her neighbour Ava would stop by just to make sure Amy was still breathing. On this particular day Ava had an obvious bounce in her step as she let herself into the apartment, heading straight to the bedroom where she knew Amy would be.

Amy mumbled out a simple greeting as Ava hopped up onto the edge of the bed, beaming at Amy. Tearing her eyes away from the television, Amy eyed her neighbour curiously. "Why are so... happy?"

"Because I finally figured out how to get you out of this miserable moping mood you've got going on."

"No. I'm perfectly content with never leaving my apartment."

Ava laughed, shaking her head. "No, you're going on a date tonight."

Amy's eyebrows shot up in surprise, staring at her smiling blonde neighbour as if she had suddenly grown a second head. "Absolutely not."

"Please! A friend of mine really needs it! Apparently one of his good friends has been moping around after a break up just like you, so they're setting him up on a bind date. But my friend was supposed to make it a double date, but his date cancelled, and I volunteered you to take her place. You get it?"

"No. And that's not happening."

___________

After nearly an hour of arguing, Amy and Ava had agreed to settle their dispute in the fairest and most mature way they could think of. Amy's loss in Rock Paper Scissors had landed her in the passengers seat of a fairly nice SUV, en route to a rather upscale restaurant in Upper Manhattan. The red haired man, Amy's date for the evening, who had picked her up and introduced himself as Marc continually thanked her during their car ride.

"My friend's just been a total mess, and this was the only way I could think of to try and help him."

Amy simply shrugged, wanting nothing more than to be curled up in her bed in a pair of sweatpants and one of Michael's old sweatshirts he had left at her house rather than the little black dress and heels Ava had forced her to wear. It was a Thursday night, and according to the time on her phone, she was currently missing a brand new episode of Grey's Anatomy.

"No problem, a break up can be hard sometimes."

"But the kid's been a mess for weeks, I mean, can you say pathetic?"

Amy rolled her eyes, already dismissing her date of having any future potential. They soon pulled up to the restaurant and were lead to a table for four in one of the far corners of the dimly lit steakhouse. Marc attempted to make small talk while they waited for the other couple to arrive, an obvious wave of relief washing over his face as a tiny blonde girl approached the table happily greeting Marc.

With one elbow rested casually on the tabletop, Amy subconsciously fingered at the necklace she had insisted on wearing. It was a simple gold chain, with a single charm hanging from it. She ran her thumb over the heart charm, smiling as she felt the ridges of the keyhole that had been carved into it. Michael had bought it as an entirely cheesy, but romantic Valentine's gift. He had a matching key to the heart that he had kept on a keychain with all the rest of keys.

"Now I'll always have the key to your heart." He had told her as he clasped the necklace around her neck for the first time.

As more memories of Michael came flooding back, she could almost feel her heart breaking even further apart. Desperate to not cry, Amy tried to pull herself from her own thoughts by joining the conversation that had blossomed amongst her table.

The new blonde seated to her right had introduced herself, but Amy couldn't bring herself to care to remember her name. Marc sat across from her, attempting to engage his friend next to him into conversation. As Amy finally acknowledged the new guest to the table, she had simultaneously keep her jaw from dropping while fighting off the even stronger urge to burst into tears.

After five months of mourning, Amy now sat diagonally across the table from the exact thing she had been mourning for so long.

What little appetite Amy had was now completely gone as Michael's dark brown eyes stared straight at her. Refusing to join any conversation, Amy picked away at her dinner when it arrived, trying her best to shut out the entire world around her, including her ex-boyfriend who was now blatantly being hit on by both their waitress and his blonde date.

Marc and blonde had begun to discuss options for dessert when Amy finally pushed her chair away from the table. "You know what, Matt-"

"It's Marc actually." He corrected her, but she ignored his statement.

"I really need to be getting home, so I'll just catch a cab. Enjoy the rest of your night." Before anyone at the table had time to react or object, Amy had departed, making her way out of the restaurant and across the parking lot as quickly as her 5 inch black pumps would allow her.

As she neared the sidewalk, preparing herself to attempt and grab the attention of a taxi, none other than Michael's voice rang out across the nearly empty parking lot, stopping Amy dead in her tracks. "I messed up, Amy. I'm sorry."

She didn't know when she had started crying, but she could definitely feel the tears stained across her cheeks as she slowly turned around to face her ex-boyfriend. "Your apology is 5 weeks too late." She was attempting to put up a strong front for him, but the way her voice quivered when she spoke gave away her vulnerability.

"Almost 6. It's been 5 weeks and 4 days. We're closer to the six week mark."

"Y-you counted?"

"I've had nothing else to do. I've barely left my apartment." When Amy didn't speak, Michael took a deep breath, reaching into one of the pockets of his black dress pants. "All the guys on the team were always going out. They were always meeting new, random girls, and sharing the stories with out entire locker room. I wanted to know what it was like. We had grown so... comfortable with each other, I feared we'd become boring. I thought not having a girlfriend would allow me to live my life to the fullest. But I'm absolutely nothing without you. I took everything for granted. Girls in clubs, and bragging to the team is not what I want in my life. I want to be with that girl that gives you butterflies just when she walks into a room. The girl that makes your knees weak when she smiles at you. I want to be with the girl that makes me feel like my entire body is on fire when she touches me. I want to be able to kiss that girl and feel fireworks. I want you, Amy."

Her tears fell harder as Michael took small steps closer to her.

"I still have the key, Amy. The key to the necklace you're wearing. I couldn't even comprehend the idea of ever taking it off my keychain, that would have just symbolized that I had lost you forever." She was still silent as Michael finally reached her. He used the pad of his thumb to gently brush away some of her steadily falling tears. "Please say something, I feel like an idiot just rambling on here. I mean, I know what I did was wrong-"

"Please stop talking, Michael."

He was immediately silent, his hand froze from wiping her tears, still resting gently against her cheek.

"I'm far too in love with you to ever say no to you." Her voice still trembled as she spoke, biting down on her lip to try and cover up a sob.

"I swear to God, Amy you're the only one I ever want to be with, and I want to be with you forever."

As Michael wrapped his arms tightly around Amy, she collapsed into his chest. Her sobs becoming muffled by his light blue button up shirt, he kissed the top of her head as he soothingly rubbed her back. "Please don't ever leave me again." She whispered into his chest.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Michael's lips for the first time in 5 weeks as he kissed Amy again on the temple. "Never again, Amy. I love you."