Regarding Love

Sharon, Jared, and dates. Oh my.

January 31, 2015

"What the actual fuck?" I hear someone ask. My eyelids slowly open and I see legs at first. I look up and see Sharon.

"Sorry Sharon. We fell asleep." I mumble. Oh wait. She's probably talking about Jared.

"I see that. Care to join me for breakfast? It seems like we owe each other an explanation." She crosses her arms but I see a faint smile playing on her lips.

I move Jared's arms from around me before slinging the covers off of me. I roll off the couch and stand up. I tuck the covers back around Jared and lean down to kiss his forehead.

I turn to see Sharon watching me with an amused look on her face. I follow her to the kitchen and we sit down at the table. The cold wood sends chills down my legs. I forgot that I'm only in a shirt and panties.

"So whose going first?" I ask nervous.

"Well me of course." Sharon answers. I raise an eyebrow and she smiles.

"Okay. But before you start, I've already forgiven you. In a way I guess I wasn't really mad." I explain to her.

"Thank you sis. Remember that day at you had to work late and I was left alone at your house with Leo?" She asks and I can tell she's nervous.

"Yeah. We had a huge order the next day." I say as I remember that long night.

"That's when it all really started. I mean Leo made subtle hits on me before and I enjoyed the attention from an older guy. I felt awful about the whole thing afterwards but I couldn't shake him. It was like finally getting that feeling. The fact that he was taken only made it that more erotic." She explains and my heart hurts for her.

"Were you really that angry with me? I mean why didn't he just break up with me?" I ask confused.

"I was. I mean you're everyone's favorite. It kinda hurts that all of us are compared to you. It was better when you moved out but even our teachers would say 'why can't you be like your sister? She had straight A's and she was a good kid.' I mean we've had it all." She pauses and she looks like she'll be sick.

"Leo didn't leave you sooner because his parents were the reason that yall were engaged. They were threatening to take everything away from him if he hurt you. But they didn't know that the damage was done." She mutters.

"His parents are really hard on him. That could be why he is the way he is." I say, trying to connect the dots.

"You could be right. But Leo was getting paid to be with you. Some guys, who went to school with you, remember how Jared always protected you. They were angry so they made a bet with Leo. They bet that you wouldn't give it up before marriage. Leo was trying to win that bet."

I think back to the people that I turned down. Well, the people Jared threatened. There's a whole list of them. It could literally be anyone.

"I honestly think Leo did it so he could be independent from his parents. I mean before he proposed to you, they told him he needed to. They said that it needed to happen or he would be cut off. I don't know if he ever planned for it to get this deep."

"Well he's at boot camp now. Maybe when he gets home he'll be the guy you need. I can try to help as much as I can but I'm sure you know what happened." I say consciously.

"On Christmas? Yeah. He told me. He was beat up about it. Only when he was drunk though. He always try's so hard to look so bad." She giggles softly.

"I'm really sorry Sharon. I mean I feel like you're the one who got cheated. But I guess I'm glad that I took the angry part of him. He never took it out on you." I remember all the moments when he hurt me. Mentally and physically.