The Not So Perfect Love Story

23|| The talk with James

It was because they were two parts of a whole.

He did not belong to her, and she did not belong to him. It was never about belonging to someone.

It was about belonging together.

- Renee Ahdieh, The Rose and the Dagger

23|| The talk with James

Sebastian's POV....

I watched as she walked out of my house, head held high, shoulders squared with confidence, her walk brimming screaming importance and commanding attention.

A slight cough makes me shift my gaze to the man standing next to me and I quickly scan him head to toe, and notice the obvious loss of weight, the slouch of his form and the darkness under his eyes.

This wasn't the boy I knew growing up and this certainly wasn't the man Charlotte fell in love with.

"Why do you look at her like that? Who do you think you are?" James snapped at me.

"And who exactly are you to be questioning me?" I asked him using the calmest voice I could.

"Stop playing with me Bash, I need to know what your thoughts about her are. I need to know if you are competition." He said seriously and it affirmed my previous thought, this really isn't the person she fell in love with.

"It would only be considered a competition if she was a prize to possess. She is so much more than that, James." I say to him as I turn to walk back to the living room to clean up the mess.

"I know that Sebastian! I knew it when I fell in love with her, I knew that when I accused her and left her, and I know that now when I'm here begging for to take me back. She is so much more than a possession or prize that you'd flaunt everywhere you went. And that is why I need to know what you think of her, what you feel for her. I can't lose her again and I am not going to lose her to you."

"She doesn't want you anymore James, why don't you give her the peace she is asking for?" I ask tired of going in circles with him.

"Let her decide that for herself Bash. She is her own person." James replied smugness dripping in his tone.

"How many more times do you need to hear it from her!? She's said no so many times, James, leave her the fuck alone!" I screamed because it was pitiful to see the man I once called my best friend be reduced to this.

"I won't ever do that! I love her and she loves me. She hasn't denied loving me Bash, do you not understand that? She still loves me and is just giving me a hard time because she wants me to realize how much I hurt her. You are the one that should back the fuck away and let her make her own decisions."

I froze in my tracks as I processed what he said. 

Was it possible that I misread our interactions? Was it really her being a friend to me? Does she really want to get back with James? Is that why she stopped me from beating the shit out of him and forced me to talk with him now?

Do I really not stand a chance?

"I know her love for you is still present and I will never stop her from loving you. She is her own person and she has the right to choose and decide for herself. And she deserves to be let go of when she's had enough." I say, my tone firm and on edge.

"Do you know why she wants us to talk it out, don't you? She wants to make sure you know her and I are still a thing. She is too good a person to say no to you to your face, Bash, accept it." James said his face dripping with satisfaction at being able to get to me.

"I'll give you what you want James, exactly what you want. Yes, I am in love with Charlotte. The beautiful woman who once dated my best friend, a boy who broke her heart without a second thought. She deserves so much better than that, and I will strive to be just that for her. I am so in love with her that the moment she accepts my love, I will put a ring on her finger and show to the world that I am the man she chose for herself. So, if what you really want is to treat this as a competition, then I will give it to you, James." 

Now it was me who was smirking in satisfaction at James' riled up form.

"You won't get her Bash. She is mine, only mine." He growled.

"She is not a possession." I replied.

I walked over to the door and held it open for him to leave my house, wishing for a split second for him to leave my life too before the regret pooled in.

James stared at me with hard eyes, challenging me to take his girl away, and then started walking over to the door. Right before he stepped out, he stopped and scoffed at me, then continuing on to his car and driving away.

And I stood by the door my mind whirring with the things he said, about her wanting him and not me. About her being in love with him even now. And my mind started planting those questions again; should I really be trying to woo her even with the information I have now?

But then I remember her smiling at me and I know she deserves to smile like that forever. And for that I will make sure to show her my love and give her the choice to pick me.