Practice Makes Perfect.

“Blaine? Are you going to answer me or sit there like a zombie?” Patrick asked me again but louder. A few people looked at us. I looked back over at the guy. He was sitting there with a woman with red hair. Oh my god. She had hair like me. The man, was my ex-fiance. His name was Pete. He looked up from the woman and looked at me. He stared for a minute then smiled at me. “Patrick?” I was able to say. “What's going on?” He asked me turning around and looking at Pete. “Can we go?” I asked him. “Why?” He asked. “Please, I'll tell you later. Let's just go.” I said and putting on my coat. Patrick put money on the table to pay for our drinks and left. I was outside the restaurant and looking into the window at him. “What the hell was that about?” He asked me. I put my head in my hand. “That is my ex-fiance.” I said pointing to him in the window. “That guy? I thought you said he moved?” He asked me. “He did. I mean, he could be back to see family or something.” I said. Patrick just sighed and looked into the window. “Is that his wife?” He asked me. “I'm not sure but I bet it is.” I said. “Our hair is the same color.” I said with a laugh. “You look better than her.” He said. “Do you want to talk to him?” He asked me. “No, I'm with you now, Pat. I'm over that part of my life.” I said. We walked down the street and Patrick held my hand. “Are you going to be okay?” He asked me. “Yeah, I will be. It's just weird seeing him. I mean, he was the person I really could see myself being with for the rest of my life.” I said. “How did you meet him?” He asked me. “We met through like mutual friends and he played soccer and I would run around where he played.” I said. “Do you mind if I ask about the story between you two?” He asked me. “No. I mean we were young and that's when you're really in love and stuff. He was a political science student like me. We had all the same views and we loved the same music. He actually took me on a few dates to see you guys play.” I said laughing. “Is that why you won't let me pay for you to come see me?” He asked. “I don't know. Maybe part of it.” I said. “He just seemed like a really perfect guy during the day. Then at night, he would be up all night. He would have these really bad panic attacks and anxiety attacks. I remember one night he just left. He wouldn't answer his phone or anything. He went to his parents house and his mom called me and told me he was over there.” I said. “It got worse towards the end. He could cover it up pretty well around our friends. I could tell though, some things were pretty bad. He had been drinking and I'm pretty sure he might have been abusing his medication. I mean, I started getting anxiety attacks and I couldn't sleep either.” I said. “So he just asked you to marry him?” He asked me. “Yeah. We were at a park during the evening. We were sitting on a bench and he just got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I loved him so much. I thought that whatever problems he had, I could fix. Or we could fix together. That whatever we had was so much bigger and better than what was wrong.” I said. “And you never thought he was cheating?” He asked me as we got into his car. “No, I really didn't think so. We were never like attached to the hip. I tried to give him some distance. But I really thought we were perfect for each other. He made me feel so smart and he made me feel beautiful. Every bad thing that happened to us, we were able to get over and I thought we could last.” I said. “He was such a smart person. No one could have thought he had this dark side to him.” I said. “He just moved once he got out of the hospital?” Pat asked me. “He was in the hospital for a week and then he came home and moved all his stuff out. He told me I could keep our apartment and he moved everything into his parent's house. He moved two weeks later. I tried so hard to salvage our relationship and he didn't want it. He told me that getting engaged to me was a reality check to him. He didn't know what he really wanted. He said that he loved the idea of me and what we were but that he was also in love with the other woman.” I said sighing. “He left two weeks later. I heard he got married about two or three months after and had a kid.” I said. “I went back home for a week then came back. I told most of my friends I was moving back home. I transferred schools though. I just couldn't see them because they were still friends with him. I actually talked to Jon for a while during that whole time.” I said. “He helped you?” He asked me. “Yeah. But I didn't want him in the middle of that. I told him I moved back home. I wanted to disappear but I loved Chicago as much as it hurt me. Some days it felt like every time I went out, I saw some place that we were together at.” I said. “It took a long time to get over but I think I'm a better person now.” I finished. “I'm sorry you had to go through all that, I mean I don't know what to say.” He said as we parked outside of my building. “It's alright. There really isn't anything left to say.” I told him. “Was this your guys' place?” He asked me looking out the car window and at my building. “No. We uhm, actually lived in your building. His parents had some money and so did I. I moved out the week I got back.” I said. “Jesus, Blaine. Why didn't you tell me?” He asked me. “I kinda got over it. It was pretty weird the first time I came over but whatever.” I said. “I promise I won't do that to you Blaine. I know I've screwed up a lot but I won't hurt you like that.” Patrick said. I leaned over and gave him a kiss.