More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter Nineteen

I woke up feeling the worst kind of hungover. In my eyes, a hangover from crying was far worse than alcohol could ever do, and today I was feeling the effects of both.

I had made it home shortly after two in the morning, thanking the lucky stars both Morgan and Aubrey were still asleep. I doubt they even heard me come home; and for that I was grateful.

I wasn't sure what I was going to tell people yet. Did I tell them we broke up, mutually, and are still friends? Did I say anything at all? I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid the topic forever; especially being intertwined with our friends. I picked up my phone for the first time since I crashed into bed and saw several missed texts. A few from Freddie, basically just checking up on me like the amazing guy he was, and one very long message from Auston.

Auston ❤️🥰
I know you might hate me right now, and trust me I def believe you should. But I also hope you believe me when I say that I never did any of this to hurt you. I care about you, a crazy amount, and I think it scared me into doing some pretty dumb shit. I hope you can believe my apology, I sincerely mean it Addie. I don't want to pressure you into anything, so I'll leave you alone for as long as you need. But just know I want to be a part of your life. I always will want to be a part of it. I told Freddie we ended things, and the reason being we both just want to focus on ourselves right now. Our schedules are busy and hectic, and trying to handle a relationship right now is hard on both of us; but we're choosing to remain close friends. Just let me know if I crossed a line. Anyway. I'm not even sure at this point you're still reading this, but I just wanted you to know. Text me whenever.

I feel tears spring to my eyes at his words. I quickly switch over to the texts from Freddie, feeling more tears as I reread the messages.

Freddie 🥳
Im really sorry Addie. You don't deserve this

I hope the conversation went ok. If you need to talk, you know where to find me

By the way, if you want to know I'll fill you in on what Jessica said to me

Yep. Here come the tears again. As much as I wanted to talk to Freddie, I knew right now I couldn't. I also knew I wasn't being fair to him. He had been understanding and supportive through everything; and now on top of it, all of this drama was dumped onto him. I decide to send him a quick text back, before I decide to make my way to the kitchen, where I was certain I'd be having a conversation filled with sympathy and sadness.

Addie 💁🏻‍♀️
The convo went as expected. I'm still sorry you're involved in all this. For right now I'm just taking things day by day. Thanks for always being there for me.

I hit send before I can change my mind. As I was about to get out of bed to face my unfortunate day, when Aubrey comes bursting into my room.

"Oh, my gosh, Addie!" She looks at me with sympathy. Oh fuck, she already knows. "How are you holding up?" She asks, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Not great" I tell her, mumbling. I know I need to tell her the truth about us now, but it hardly seems appropriate right now.

"What happened? You guys seemed so solid!" She tells me, and I know I have to tell her now.

"Is Mo still around?" I ask, and she shakes her head, no.

"No, he left when we found out about you and Aus" she looks at me sadly.

"How did you guys find out?" I ask, genuinely curious how they found out so fast.

"It's all over Twitter..." she trails off, and my eyes go wide.