The Ineffable Ruth Rhodes

34 old friends

vincent

That day was the first time Vincent had his heart broken by Ruth Rhodes.

As he watched her go, feeling a piece of his heart go with her, Remy's mother stood staring after them, too.

"Are they friends?" she wondered, perhaps to herself. "Remy's never mentioned a female friend before."

"They're old..." Vincent started, "Friends."

"Ah," was all she said. But her expression said that his response made her even more perplexed.

Vincent excused himself, debating whether he was going to go after her.

She'd definitely be pissed at him, and rightly so.

But...

It was a bit hypocritical, no? If he'd went off with Charlotte...

And even as Vincent thought that, he couldn't bring himself to feel even the slightest bit angry with her. Only hurt. He couldn't stop himself from thinking maybe she'd turn and come back to him. Maybe she wasn't going to pick Remy over him. Maybe she might've loved him, too.

But maybe wasn't enough, was it?

"Vince," a voice called.

The only person who called him that other than his mother was...

Christ above.

He turned to Charlotte, the one person he wasn't looking forward to seeing at his sister's wedding. Her hair was braided up with curls dangling from the strands beside her ear. She had a shy smile on her face, hands twiddling as she neared him. That smile that made him fall for her in the first place.

"Hey..."

"Listen," she said hastily, as though she was trying to get the words out before he cut her off. "I know this isn't the right place to rehash our past. But you weren't answering my calls, and you don't talk to me. Can we talk?"

It was okay to make small talk with her, right? He'd promised Ruth he wouldn't... but she was with Remy. They were even.

"I'm sorry," he said, and he meant it. He did forgive her, though he didn't know why she'd done what she did in the first place. "What did you need?"

"A talk," she replied. "No funny business. Promise."

He checked the time.

People were still coming— his mother was with Ale and the rest of his siblings. The actual wedding didn't start for another thirty minutes. And Ruth was gone.

"Alright," he said quietly, following her outside.

The cold breeze hit his face uncomfortably, and they could hear the faint noise of music inside the venue. It was peaceful, nevertheless, as she stationed herself a safe distance away from him, before him. His back was to the door they'd came out from.

"So why haven't you asked me?" she said, without a second to spare. She must've really thought Vincent would run off.

"Sorry?"

"You didn't ask me why I did what I did."

Vincent opened and closed his mouth, watching her pick at her sleeve. Lying wouldn't get them anywhere. And he wanted to be somewhere else... preferably with Ruth.

"I was scared you'd tell me it was because of me," he said, looking away. "Because I wasn't good enough. Because you didn't love me the whole time."

He didn't know what face she was making. He didn't want to find out either.

She laughed slightly, a hollow laugh, and huffed out a breath. "You're making this hard for me."

"Why did you call me out here, Charlotte?"

"Go on," she told him with an air nudge. "Ask me."

"What?" he asked, not because he didn't know what, but because he was hoping she'd forget about it or drop the subject.

"Why I broke up with you."

He watched her for a beat. Her eyes were trained on him. "Why did you break up with me?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked." She winked. "It's quite the story. I know this doesn't mean much to you now, but I loved you so much. So much." She smiled. "When you called me that day... my heart broke for you..." she picked her words carefully. "I thought, you didn't need a girlfriend then. I didn't think another distraction would be good, especially with everything your family was going through. So like an idiot, I ended things then and there."

Her story wasn't making sense. She chose for him, she decided to end their relationship without even asking him first. Did she even know how much it hurt him? Because she thought she was making the right choice. She was selfish. It made Vincent's stomach knot.

"You don't make any sense," he told her.

"I know," she whispered, "But I thought I did when it happened. I thought I was making the best choice for us, you know?"

"You left me when I needed you."

"I know."

Vincent sat there, her words circling in his mind like a jack in the box winder. He couldn't think straight, not with Ruth somewhere with Remy, not with all of this new information that was being shoved in his face. Did he even care at that point? What were her words supposed to do for him now that the only proof of them being together lived in their memories?

"You know I love you," Charlotte told him quietly.

He looked at the way she gazed at him, the same way she had when he'd brought her out stargazing, the same way she had when they danced together at seventh grade prom, the same way she looked at him when he told her all he wanted was to be with her.

"I know," he said. He didn't want to know. He didn't want the burden of knowing someone loved him and he couldn't even reciprocate. "Is that it?" Vincent murmured.

"This is the last time, I promise." She spread her fingers out and wiggled them, a nervous tell Vincent was surprised to see he still knew. Surprised he could still read her like a book. "I just want to know if there's any chance..."

"I can't," he strained, and shook his head. "I can't."

"That's okay." Charlotte opened her arms to him, unshed tears in her eyes. "One more hug?" she asked shakily. "As friends. As a goodbye."

Vincent looked at her sadly and placed both hands on opposite sides of her face, wiping her tears. He could do that much, at least. He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her.