bad timing

sixteen

  

       I shove the last of my things into the moving boxes. I glanced around my apartment, feeling almost as empty as it looked. I had lived there for almost three years, and I had made countless memories in the small space. To say I was going to miss it was an understatement.

I slipped my phone into my pocket, carrying my box down to my car before getting into the drivers seat. I shut my eyes momentarily, placing my hands on the wheel and letting out a sigh. I pulled my phone back out, clicking on Sam's contact.

'are you home? i wanna come say goodbye before i go.'

I hit send, then start driving to his house without a response. I just assumed he was home, considering Jake and Josh had just left my apartment, so he wasn't with them. After a few minutes, I pulled into his driveway. Leaving him was going to be the hardest part of all this. I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he was with Lena, and probably would be for the rest of his life. I needed to understand that I got his past, and she was getting his future.

I step out of my car, leaving it running so I had an excuse not to stay for a while. I made my way up to his door, knocking a few times. My heart raced in my chest as I waited for him to open it. I didn't want to see him, but I knew I had to. I had no idea when, or if, I would ever see him again.

I looked at the driveway, seeing Lena's car, and another car I didn't recognize. Maybe he'd gotten a new car without telling me, he'd done that in the past. I tried my luck with turning the knob, and to my surprise, it wasn't locked. I walked inside, shutting the door behind me. "Sam?" I call, looking around. After no response, I walk upstairs to his room. It was nine o'clock, so I figured he might still be sleeping.

I knocked softly on his bedroom door, "Sam?" I ask again, hoping for a response. Still, nothing. I furrowed my eyebrows, turning the knob and opening the door a little. "Oh my god." I exclaim after peaking my head inside. All I saw were two figures on the bed, doing something I should not have walked in on. "I am so sorry!" I say, and Lena whips her head around before I could shut the door. "Just forget I was ever here! I just wanted to say bye to-" I say, pausing when I hear the front door open. I walk to the rail, looking down to see who had walked in. 

"Sam!" I say, and he looks up the stairs, giving me a confused expression. "Who's car is in the driveway?" He asks, and my jaw goes slack. "Oh, no. Oh my god." I say, realizing what was happening. I hurry down the stairs, walking up to him. "Why were you upstairs?" He furrows his eyebrows. "What the fuck, Alex?" Lena yells from the top of the stairs, wearing nothing but a blanket wrapped around her. "I'm sorry, I-" I start, but then I shake my head, "Actually, I'm not sorry. Are you fucking kidding me, Lena?" I yell, balling my fists.

"What's going on?" Sam asks sadly, looking between the two of us. "Do you wanna tell him? Or should I?" I cross my arms, glaring at the blonde girl at the top of the stairs. Lena huffs, crossing her arms as well, but not saying anything. "Can you wait outside for a second?" I ask Sam, and he nods a little, "Yeah." He mumbles, walking back outside.

"What is wrong with you?" I yell, blood rushing to my face with anger. "What was I supposed to do? He doesn't love me anymore!" She yells back, and I roll my eyes. "Oh, come on. First of all, yes he does. Second of all, if you think he doesn't love you, break up with him! This is so much worse than breaking up with him!" I exclaim, and she rolls her eyes. "We'll, he's basically cheating on me. So it's not like it matters."

"What does that mean? He's not cheating on you! I have never seen that boy so in love!" I yell, trying to calm myself down, but I wasn't sure I'd been so angry in my entire life. "You only think that because he only acts like he's in love with he's with you." She clenches her jaw. "It's not me. It's never been me. You and I both know that." She says. "He was gonna propose to you, Lena! He wanted to marry you! If he wanted to be with me, he would. He's in love with you."

She groans and rolls her eyes, "He was never gonna propose to me. If he told you that, it's because he wanted to see if you would be upset by it. He's been trying to figure out if you love him for years. I'm nothing but a fucking distraction!" She yells, tears rolling down her face. That couldn't be true. I knew he wouldn't do that. "You could've talked to him about it. What you did is gonna do nothing except hurt both of you." I shake my head.

"I've been hurting since we started dating. Do you know how hard it is? Being with someone who's in love with someone else?" She sobs, and I rub my forehead. "I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea for you and him to be together anymore. Obviously. If you feel that way, and you can't talk to him about it, nothing is ever gonna change. And now you're cheating on him, in his own bed, might I add. I'll talk to him. Just take whatever guy you're sleeping with and go."

It felt a little odd to be breaking up with Sam's girlfriend for him, but I knew it was for the best. Lena only nods, going back to the room. I opened the door, telling Sam to come back inside. He looked at me with nothing but sadness in his eyes, "She was cheating on me?" He asks, sounding heartbroken. "I take it you heard all that." I mumble, letting out a sigh.

"My house isn't very soundproof, I guess." He says, and I frown. "I'm so sorry. I also hope you're not mad at me for... breaking up with her, I guess, but you don't deserve that. I know how much you love her." I say, taking his hands and pulling him into a tight hug. I watched as Lena and the other guy walked out of the house without a word. I rolled my eyes. "I don't know what I did. She thought I didn't love her?" His voice was weak, which made my heart ache. "She didn't deserve your love." I mumble, running a hand over his hair as he hugged me tighter.

"Sam," I whisper, pulling away from the hug and looking up at him, "Were you really gonna propose to her?" I furrow my eyebrows. "Does it fucking matter?" He exclaims, raising his voice at me. "Yes! Because I just told her that you were going to!" I yell back, upset that he lied to me. "Who cares! She's gone now, and... and... it's not like you told me you loved me, so it never mattered." He steps away from me, his voice echoing through the house as he yells.

"I wasn't gonna tell you I loved you and ruin your relationship with her! Do you even know me? Why the hell would I do that?" I throw my arms in the air, my chest heaving with annoyance. "You can't go around pretending like you're gonna propose to someone just for a reaction, Sam! Do you know how much that sucks for Lena? Yes, I understand it wasn't as bad because she was cheating on you, but that's still a horrible thing to do. And if what she says is true, about how you never loved her, then what the hell, Sam? Why were you with her? Was it all just to get a reaction from me? To make me jealous?" I yell, tears filling my eyes.

"You can't just go around messing with peoples feelings like that! It's not fair, and it's not-" My words falter as I watch his eyes flicker down to my lips momentarily. I was standing there, yelling at him, and all he could think about was kissing me. He brought his bottom lip between his teeth as he looked back up into my eyes. "Don't do that! Stop playing with my emotions! Loving you has been the craziest fucking rollercoaster I've ever been on, and, god I wish I could stop because you're so-"

He cuts me off, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me in. He kisses me passionately, holding my waist tightly so I couldn't go anywhere. I furrowed my eyebrows, giving in and kissing him back the same. I put my hand on the back of his neck, pulling him even closer, if that was possible.

His lips melted onto mine, pouring every emotion we'd ever felt for each other into the kiss. Hatred, frustration, jealousy, love. I expected him to pull back after a moment, but he didn't. He only deepened the kiss, moving both of his hands to my face. "I cannot fucking stand you." I say in between kisses, running a hand into his hair. "I know." He mumbles.

I pulled away only to catch my breath, but he kept his hands on my face, looking down at me. "You said it." He whispers. "It was an accident." I reply, still breathless. "You still said it." "I guess I did, didn't I?" I ask, giving him a small smile. "I knew it. You're so in love with me." He teases, and I roll my eyes.

"I have to text my brother and tell him I'm not gonna be there today." I pull out my phone, quickly typing the message. I could feel Sam's eyes on me as I typed. "God, you're taking forever." He says, pulling me back in to kiss me again.