“Why am I never enough for you, huh? Why is it that there is always something about me or what I do that isn’t satisfactory?”
“You’re over exaggerating, Aiden.”
“No, no I’m not. I always have to make sure that I’m exactly the way you want me to be, and I hate it! I thought that you loved me for who I am, but I was so wrong. You don’t love me one bit, you just love the idea of me, the idea that I’m exactly who you want."
“Stop it.”
“Oh, I have to stop? Am I stepping out of line, Rosella?”
“Yes, you are. Stop talking to me like this.”
“Truth makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t it? I wonder why.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that everyone around you is so focused on getting your approval, that they never ever tell you how they really feel.”
“Oh, is that so? And how do they really feel, genius?”
“They hate you! They curse your name behind your back because you have this personality that makes everyone want to be in your life, myself included. I wish I could just leave like every other guy did, but I can’t.”
Her slap stung like hell, my ears now ringing.
“Why can’t you leave? Surely there’s nothing holding you back, me being such a control freak after all. Well?”
“Because I love you! No matter how much of a control freak or a terrible person you may be, I will always love you! And I hate that.”
I walk out on her, both of us knowing that I’m coming back.
******
“Dude, she’s not good for you. You need to break up with her.”
“I’m trying man, but I love her. And as much as I can’t bear to say this, I can’t live without her.”
“Of course you can.”
Asher looks at me, his glasses slightly sliding off his nose.
I push it back up, and then he takes it off, just to put it back on again.
“I can’t, I need her.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t need her, you have me. And I say that you have to break up with her.”
“Oh, so you’re being a control freak too now? Great, my life is just great.”
“I’m trying to be a friend, alright? I’m trying to save you before she breaks your heart again.”
“Well, this isn’t what a friend would do. A friend would ask me to keep trying with her because she’s too good to let go.”
“I would have said that a year ago when it was true, and I would have meant it. It isn’t true anymore, Rosella has changed, and so have you. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again, okay?”
I look at him, immediately regretting calling him a bad friend when all he was doing was trying to help.
“Okay.”
“Okay what?”
“Okay, I’ll break up with her.”
******
“What do you mean ‘you couldn’t’? All you had to say the golden words ‘I’m breaking up with you’ and that’s it. What is so impossible about saying that?”
“Pretty rich coming from you, ‘guy who can’t be in a relationship at all because he’s too afraid to try’?”
“Hey, don’t go too far, we’re talking about you here.”
“That’s all we ever do, isn’t it? Talk about me, all the time. ‘What is Aiden doing?’, ‘what did he screw up this time?’, ‘how does he feel about it?’ Maybe we need to start talking about you now.”
“There is nothing to talk about. I just don’t want a relationship right now.”
“Yeah, right you don’t want a relationship. I know you, Ash, you’re just scared.”
“Okay! Okay, I’m scared. I’m scared that no one will want to be in a relationship with me. Happy? Now let’s get back to the important thing, you and Rosella. Why don’t you just break up with her?”
“Why are you scared to be in a relationship? You’re an incredible guy and honestly, any girl would be lucky to have you.”
A light blush forms on Asher’s cheeks, but he shakes it off quickly.
“So, Rosella.”
“Asher.”
“What? What do you want me to say, huh? That I’m unqualified to advise you on relationship matters, that I can’t commit to anyone, that I’ve been in love with…”
He stops talking abruptly and gets up from the sofa.
“In love with who?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we fix your love life before discussing my practically non-existent one.”
“You’re in love with someone, and you didn’t even tell me? I thought we were friends.”
“It’s funny that you’re the one saying that, it really is.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Buddy, I feel like I don’t even know you anymore. You’re in love with some girl, and you didn’t even tell me. I can’t believe you.”
“It’s not – well – it’s complicated.”
“Of course it is, isn’t everything? Now, this conversation is far from over, but I need to go and break up with Rosella, so I’m leaving.”
“Good luck.”
As I turned to leave, I heard Asher sigh in relief.
Oh, I wasn’t letting him off the hook that easy.
******
I hold on to the wall as I inch towards Asher’s apartment, knowing that I will fall down if I let go.
I knock on his door, and he opens immediately, almost as he was waiting by it.
I let go of the wall, and my knees buckle. Asher catches me, almost as if he were expecting it, and leads me to the sofa, not saying a word.
“It was – it was terrible Ash. She said so many things, about how she knew I was the type to not commit, that I was just like every other guy who had left her, and how she should have broken up with me sooner. I – I don’t know what to do. How do I even begin to live the rest of my life without her?”
He lets me rant and cry on his shoulder, just offering generic words of comfort.
Before going to his bedroom to sleep, he gives me a hug, and I don’t let go of him.
As he pulls away, I notice that he’s crying too.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“I just – I just hate seeing you in pain,” he says, hugging me again.
“I don’t know how I’d survive this without you, you’ve always been there for me man. I love you.”
He mumbles it back.
This time, when he pulls away, I notice for the first time, that his eyes look at me in a way I’ve never been looked at before.
I don’t look away.
I’m involuntarily pulled towards him, and now my face is only inches away from his.
He looks away.
“What – I thought you – I thought that…”
“You just broke up with the love of your life and you’re vulnerable. I’m not going to take advantage of you, especially not now.”
“Please do.”
“Aiden”
“I’m giving you permission to take advantage of me. So do it.”
“No, I won’t. I won’t stoop that low.”
I kiss him before he can say anything else.
He resists the kiss at first, but soon kisses me back, confirming that the feelings I had felt a few seconds had been felt by him too.
We don’t break the kiss as we move to his bedroom.
******
I wake up with a splitting headache, lying on Ash’s bed alone.
As the memories of last night come back in fits and bursts, my headache threatens to break my head in half.
How could I have lost control so much that I managed to sleep with Asher, my best friend since high school?
Why didn’t I stop myself at any point in the night?
I vaguely remember him not agreeing to kiss me, and me pouncing on him like some sort of an animal.
I cringe in embarrassment.
“I told you that you were vulnerable and taking advantage of you then would be wrong. I wanted our first time to be just perfect. Now you regret last night, don’t you?”
Asher sits down on the bed, looking apologetic.
“It was my fault entirely, what happened yesterday. I – I’m sorry. You’re right, I was vulnerable, I was just using you to forget Rosella. But –,” I take his hand, “I don’t regret last night, not one bit.”
He looks at me, surprised.
“Really?”
“Really.”
******
I go back to Rosella’s to get my stuff back.
As I pick up the boxes lying in the hallway one at a time, I feel content, happy that this part of my life is finally over.
Rosella stands at her door, looking at me.
I smile at her politely, and she smiles back.
As I load the last of the boxes into the elevator, I look back at her and say, “I hope you find someone, I really do. Someone who can understand you better.”
“I wish the same for you, Aiden.”
As the elevator door closes, I realize that I already found someone.
And I’m not letting him go.
******
It’s been a few months since I and Asher started dating and living together, and those few months have been absolute happiness, the kind I had never felt with anyone else before.
As we sit on the sofa, cuddling and watching a movie, I kiss his forehead, and he hugs me tighter.
“I love you, Asher.”
“I love you too Aiden.”
******
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90 comments
I am so glad that the ending was the way I wanted it to always be! Loved it so much! :)
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Thank you so much, I'm so glad you liked this intense romance!
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I had a lot of fun reading it! :)
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As, I'm reading this I am just thinking to myself, how we all need a friend like sweet Asher. And then for them to end up together in the end made me so happy! Love it:)
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I know right, Asher is such an incredible friend! I felt so happy after having them end up together, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading it and leaving a comment! Also, could you please fill the form in my bio?
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Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Thank you so much for your input, I'm sure it will greatly help in my future stories. I appreciate it :) Also, could you please fill the form in my bio, 'cause it would be of great help to me.
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Thank you so much, really appreciate it bro :)
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Short stories definitely benefit from lots of dialogue - I'd only suggest balancing it with more setting and inner dialogue so we can "see" your characters and their world a little better. But there is a lot of emotion in this piece - I enjoyed it!
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Thank you for your comment, I'll be sure to incorporate more of your suggestions in my future stories! Thanks for reading it!
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Could you please fill the form in my bio, it would be of great help to me :)
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Love this story! I loved the way you smoothly fell into the point at the end!
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Thank you :)
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I loved this so much! It was so well writen! very good!
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Thank you so much!
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Your welcome!
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uh...your quiz questions... I felt like were invading on our personal life...so no, I am not going to answer them, sorry. Also, I hope any and all up-voting is helping.
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It's okay. I just want to use the information I can get about different cultures so that I can improve my writing in the future, you don't even need to put your real name :) And the upvoting is helping, so thank you.
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welcome. almost done with the last page whew! It's a lot of work :)
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This may be an off-the-wall question but is Aiden a boy or girl? I got lost for a second...
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Aiden is a boy :)
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Ooh! This was really good, I especially liked the “As the memories of last night come back in fits and bursts, my headache threatens to break my head in half.” I’m not sure why but it’s such an engaging sentence! 💜
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Thank you so much, I'm so glad you liked it!
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Aw!!! This was so cute. I loved it! I loved how you used almost all dialogue and kept my interest peaked. Amazing, really.
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Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it!
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I love how you used mostly dialogue and it's still such a powerful story! Really incredibly intense romance! I think a little more internal dialogue would reveal a bit more about the characters' inner feelings, but nonetheless, this was beautiful!
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Thank you so much, I appreciate it! I got very attached to these sweethearts, and I'll be sure to take your suggestion for my future stories!
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The story is sweet. The dialogues were good and it kept the story together. I just have one suggestion, it would be nice if there was a little more descriptions otherwise the story was great. Great work.
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Thank you so much for reading the story, I really appreciate it! I will be sure to keep your suggestion in mind for future stories, thanks a lot!
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welcome. keep writing
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I would love to know your thoughts on my three new stories: 'Merry Christmas to Me', 'Game Over' and 'Not Worth It', whenever you get the time
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Sure I'll read them and write my thoughts
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If you don't mind have a look at my stories as well. I've only written 3 stories.
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If I had written this, it would have the disclaimer "Based on true events". I felt like I was reading my cousin's story I watched as I grew up. You wrote this very well. I could see them in my mind like a movie.
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Woah, really? That's so cool. I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you for reading it! Also, could you please fill the form in my bio, it would be of great help to me!
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Good and very believable dialogue. I am sure I have had some of those conversations
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Thank you so much, really appreciate it! Could you please fill the form in my bio, it would be of great help to me :)
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It would be really weird in my country, but I really liked the story (mostly the "it's complicated" part). I was like "Wait, but they're men." Check out mine. Would love to hear from ya.
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It's seen to be weird in my country too :) but just because it's weird doesn't mean it's wrong. We can love who we want to love. Thank you for reading! Could you please fill the form in my bio, it would be of great help to me!
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What an amazing story! It was a little confusing at some parts because I couldn't tell who was talking but overall, a great story. Please write some more! I want to read more!
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I'm sure that if you read it again, it will make a little more sense as to who is saying what. Thank you so much for reading it, if you want to read more, check out my stories 'My One', 'Finally', 'An Unfortunate Series of Events' and 'A Good Day', the first and last one are romance stories if you want to read some more fluff :)
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Could you please fill the form in my bio, it would be of great help to me :)
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What a heart warming story. I am falling in love with your warm love stories... really. They have such an easy, satisfying feel.. they leave a lingering effect.. loved it.
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Thank you so much, that really means a lot!
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I love the dialogue in this story.
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Thank you!
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Could you please fill the form in my bio, it would be of great help to me :)
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wow! it was a kind of cute story and i loved it.
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Thank you for reading it and leaving a comment! I'm glad you liked it!
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you're welcome.
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Could you please fill the form in my bio, it would be of great help to me :)
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I will ASAP. :)
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I tried to open it but it is not.
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Love this story! You are very talented!
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Aww, thank you for reading it!
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You are very welcome! Keep writing!
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Could you please fill the form in my bio, it would be of great help to me :)
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Done!
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Thank you!
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