"Can't y-you just f-finds-someone else?" I hiccup into Alex's chest.
He holds me tighter and rubs my back while we stand in the middle of his bedroom. I knew when he asked to talk to me privately when we got back from the Matthews' Business headquarters that something was up. I just didn't expect it to be him fucking breaking up with me.
"I'm gonna try my love, I'm really gonna try." He mumbles into my head. "It just has to be someone my dad and my Uncle approve of and you know them, that's not going to happen any time soon."
"S-so you're just giving up?" I say angrily while squeezing him as tight as I can.
"I'm never giving up on us, my love." He says a bit louder. He somehow tears me free from his torso and wipes my tears away. "We just need to go on a break-"
"WE ARE NOT GOING ON A BREAK!" I say with a whole new level of fear in my voice. This can't be happening.
"Brooklyn, I can't be with you while I'm the leader of the gang!" He says sadly while holding my shoulders. He doesn't know how stupid he sounds when he says "gang".
"So you're breaking up with me until you find a replacement good enough for your father?" I say bitterly. Alex wipes a few more of my tears away and purses his lips.
"I need to know you're safe and I'm not going to have time to be a good boyfriend or watch you twenty-four-seven." He says.
"You don't need to-"
"Brooklyn, you got kidnapped in the thirty seconds it took you to walk fifty feet away from me." He says with a bit of anger in his voice. I don't know if he's angry at me or himself and honestly, it makes me sad and angry.
"That doesn't mean..."
"It sucks ass, I know, but I'd rather have you alive in a year than hurt or worse in three months."
"A YEAR?!"
"This is the hardest conversation I've ever had." He sighs before hugging me. "And I was the one who answered the door when they told me my dad died."
"Now's not the time for that, Alex. You're in the middle of breaking up with me." I say into his chest, my throat tightening up.
"Don't say that." He says with a tight throat of his own. I freeze, tears completely gone, and slowly move away from him. I see tears in his eyes. There are actual tears in his eyes. I did that. Me and his stupid breakup plan to keep me fucking safe.
"Then don't do it." I beg, moving the hair out of his handsome face. "Just forget about the job and the stupid Matthews Business and... y-your family... Oh I'm starting to see why you can't just give up the job."
"Brooklyn, you aren't safe when they know you're my girlfriend. You aren't safe if they know I love you this much." I almost gasp when a tear falls from his eye.
"Then c-can't we just tell people that we've broken up?" I plead, my chest tightening up and fear filling every inch of my body. Alex's eyebrows furrow and he wipes a few more of my tears away.
"We need to break up." He mumbles.
"We need to break up." I repeat, as if I'm in a dream. This can't be happening.
"And we need to move on within the next month, two tops." He says with a frown.
"What?"
"We need to show people that we weren't as serious as they thought, it's the only way for them to stop targeting you." He explains while holding my hands.
YOU ARE READING
Timing Is Everything
Teen FictionLife isn't supposed to be interesting for Brooklyn Parell. She goes to school, gets decent grades, has a few close friends and doesn't stand out (or like to). She's never been to a party, never had a boyfriend, never had a job... the list goes on an...
