I Didn't Know I Could Break Your Heart

Tyler stood in front of the cafe, tapping his foot to the tune of the music that was playing on the patio. He heard his name being called and looked up. As soon as he saw her, his instinct was to smile, wave and run to her. But he knew that he had to be strong. He knew all that he was here to do was to talk to her and to get her advice on what had happened. He had always been able to do that with her.

Marrietta, on the other hand, could not help but smile when she saw him. He was easily the lesser of two evils. Tyler had only kissed another girl and had one night with her. That had not been so bad. Rodger... he had been in a good enough relationship with another girl to propose to her.

She ran up to Tyler and kissed him straight on the lips. The blood in their veins boiled. A thirst for the other sprung up inside both of them, enveloping them in something that was almost unnatural. The passion that was spreading through their bodies was unmeasurable by the highest scale. All either of them knew was that they were in the perfect kiss and that that one kiss was all they would remember for the rest of their lives.

Tyler pulled at Marrietta's brilliant red hair, forcing her into his body. She prodded his mouth open with her lips and gently touched her tongue to his. The lust that had laid dead between them for so long was now ignited, causing a violent reaction in both of their bodies. One second they were intertwined like they were one perfect being and the next they had shot away from each other, as if they had just been shocked.

Brown eyes stared into blue, frozen, timeless. Tyler reached a hand forward and grabbed her. They edged closer together until their noses were touching, neither ever taking their eyes off of the other. His hand ran cautiously up and down the side of her body, as if he was afraid to break her. Shouts were coming from onlookers now, but the two of them were deaf to the calls.

Marrietta's eyes closed. Her whole body was tingling. Tyler's fingers traced the contours of her jaw painfully slowly, his nose still brushing up against hers. He was studying her as if she was something completely foreign to him. He was looking at her as if he had never touched her before in his life. He was memorizing her image as if he expected her to be gone the very next moment. She was just waiting for him to kiss her again... waiting... waiting...

Until his lips finally hit hers again. A feeling that was familiar to her but had been lost for years, over took the logical part of her mind. Her hands found the intimate notches in his body where she had placed her hands on him so many years before. His fingers ran through her hair as if it were a well-known path that he traveled every day. Thinking had gone out the window. Sense had followed close behind.

***

Marrietta lay restlessly in the bright white bed in the hotel room. She had wrapped the sheets tightly around her body and was watching begrudgingly as Tyler pulled on his underwear. He glanced back at her and noticed her look. Sighing, he came and knelt in front of her on the floor.

"That really didn't help with the problem I came here to talk to you about," He whispered seriously. He took her hand in his and said, "Mary, I love you, but you're engaged. I love you, but we can't do this to each other. It's been eight years."

"Eight years is nothing," She murmured with a small smile, "I have a feeling we'll always love each other and... well..." She trailed off, drawing patterns in the carpet with one of her fingers. "I'm not exactly sure if I'm engaged anymore."

"Because of this?" Tyler asked, raising on eyebrow.

"No, something else," She mumbled sadly.

Tyler sighed and looked down at his watch. Running his fingers through his hair, he replied, "I really want to stay here and talk to you, believe me, I really do. I want to kiss you again... so much. But I'm so f*cked right now that it's not even funny... I proposed to my girlfriend today and I just cheated on her. Again."

Marrietta blinked. Her mouth dropped open slightly and for a couple minutes she just stared at him. "You... you proposed to your girlfriend... today?" She managed in a strangled voice. He nodded uncertainly. "Shit." Marrietta mumbled and then louder, "Shit!"

She jumped from the bed and rushed over to wear her clothes lay by the door. Pulling on her underwear as fast as she could, she called over her shoulder, "What's your girlfriend's name?"

He stared at her for a moment, unsure of what was going on. All he knew was that no matter what he said now, she was going to leave. He didn't want her to leave. Swallowing nervously, he mumbled back, "Her name is Jennifer."

"Shit!" Marrietta exclaimed as she jumped into her jeans. Tears were now flooding out of her eyes causing her mascara to streak down her face. She was turning for the door when she realized that Tyler was still there, on the floor, in his underwear, wondering what the hell was going on. "A girl named Jennifer called and told me that my boyfriend had... proposed to her." She explained shakily, purposely skipping over some details, "And I... I thought it was Rodger, not you. And... well..." Marrietta tapped her foot nervously on the floor, unsure of how to say this to someone who had just said such wonderful things to her. "I still love Rodger. And... I still want to marry him."

Tyler blinked. Be a rock. Don't show any emotion. He told himself firmly. But the words in his head refused to come out of his mouth. He couldn't tell her that he still loved Jennifer or that he was still going to marry her. He couldn't say that this was just a mistake for him too or that Jennifer meant more to him than Marrietta did. So he knelt there on the floor, silent, staring at her with big, blue eyes.

She gazed back at him for a moment. Her hand was fluttering on top of the doorknob. A full minute passed with no sound. Then Marrietta grabbed the doorknob, flung open the door and left the room. Tyler just looked upon the empty hallway blankly, completely lost in the world.