I Didn't Know I Could Break Your Heart

Tyler's hand hesitated on the door knob of his apartment. After all that Marrietta had said, he was afraid of what he might find inside. Jennifer was a sensible person, in theory. She had always listened to him when he had explained what had happened before, but for some reason, the fact that it had been Marrietta who he was supposedly 'engaged' to, made him think that this time it would not be alright.

He turned his key in the lock, opened the door and slammed it behind him in one swift, fluid motion. Breathing heavily, he surveyed the living room. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. Everything was in its place, there were a few DVDs scattered across the coffee table, and a cat sat calmly in the corner of the room.

Rewind, Tyler thought, suddenly panicked. He stared at the cat, eyes wide, and it stared straight back at him. Big yellow eyes blinked at him, as black fur sparkled in the evening light. It stood up slowly and walked to the other side of the room.

"Shit!" Tyler screamed, racing across the room. A black cat just crossed my path, a black cat just crossed my path! I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die! He barreled into the bedroom, shut the door and locked it. Closing his eyes, he took a few calmly breaths and then, to himself, he said, "It was just a cat... just a cat..."

"You're scared of a cat?" A voice asked, amused. Tyler turned around to see Jennifer sitting on the bed in her sweats, flipping calmly through a magazine. "His name is Hugo. He won't bite you."

"Bite me? You think I'm afraid of a black cat biting me?" He exclaimed, exasperated. "That thing is out there, walking around our apartment, just... crossing back and forth, back and forth, waiting for its next victim! That black cat crossed my path Jennifer! You know that I am very superstitious! That thing could kill me!"

Jennifer raised one eyebrow at him coolly, "So you weren't lying about being superstitious? Like you've been lying about everything else you've been doing for the last month?" She looked at him sadly, "If you didn't want to be with me, Tyler, you could have just ended it."

"No, no, Jen, that's not what happened at all," Tyler pleaded, crawling up next to her on the bed. He stayed near her feet, in an attempt not to get hit if he said something wrong, and placed his hands in the form of a prayer. "Jen, Marrietta is engaged to another guy. His name is Rodger he some... business guy, I don't really know, I don't even really care all that much. Jen, I'm not engaged to both her and you. But... I'm hoping I'm still engaged to you?"

She stared at him for a second with cold eyes. Her fingers bent and then smoothed out the corner of the magazine she was reading; in a few more bends it would tear right off. "Wait." She said, her voice guarded, "How did you know what this was about. I didn't tell you anything. You would be completely confused if you weren't engaged to both of us! You wouldn't know a damned thing!" She screamed, her voice rising, "How dare you try to get out of this without even a little acting skill! How dare you cheat on me again! You are slut and a man whore, Tyler! I hate your f*cking guts!"

"No! Wait!" He begged, grabbing her arm as she tried to get up. She turned around and smacked him hard across the face, but still he held on. His blue eyes had filled with tears as he tried to pull her back onto the bed with him. She wasn't budging. She was fuming mad and ready to leave for the first time in years. "Jennifer, please."

"No!" She exclaimed harshly, trying to shake her hand out of his grasp. Tears had started to fall from her eyes and it was easy to see that all she wanted at the moment was to get out of the situation she was in. Scratching at his fingers, she added, "I'm in over my head, Tyler. I should have never come here with you. I should have never left college for this! I mean, are you f*cking kidding me? This is your idea of giving me a good life?"

Tyler's mouth dropped slightly at her statement. He had never known that she had believed and had held onto all of the promises that he had made to her. Dropping his hand from her arm, he whispered, "Go." His gaze dropped to the floor, fighting back tears, "You deserve so much more than this, Jen. I love you... but I don't treat you like it."

Jennifer nodded slightly. She was shocked that he had actually let go. She had almost reached the door when he called out, "Wait, just one more second... let me find it..." Tyler dug through his coat pockets until he found what he was looking for. He tossed a small black box across the bed. "I was going to give it to you today. I bought it when I went out."

She stared at it for a moment before grabbing it. Inside lay the most beautiful diamond ring that money could buy. The band was gold with flecks of silver through it and the diamond was surrounded by the twelve birthstones. Engraved on the band was the word Forever. It sat there ironically, unable to wipe itself off of the band.

"Take it," Tyler urged, "I don't want it around here. Sell it, pawn it, give it away, whatever." He took a deep breath, "I'm not very good at engagements anyways."

Hesitating, Jennifer looked down at the ring. A long minute passed and then she closed the box before stuffing it into her pocket. Her mind was made up and she was leaving. She didn't care that the ring was exactly what she had described to him one winter night when they were sitting by the fire. She didn't care that he seemed to be genuinely sad that she was going. For as long as she could remember, she had been building up the courage to leave. And now she was, no matter what.

"I love you!" He yelled as she ran out the front door. A pain like no other ate away at his chest. Two girls that he loved were now gone from his life and neither of them were coming back. His fingers wrapped around the phone that sat on the bedside table and he dialed a familiar number. "Rudy?" He asked when someone picked up.

"Hooters or the alley?" Rudy said immediately, recognizing the pain in his friend's voice.

"Alley, definitely the alley,"