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The kiss lasts a couple of seconds before Aaliyah pulls away, a gasp escaping her lips. Tommy chases her lips, eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed.
"We shouldn't have done that." Aaliyah puts her fingers to her lips, frowning.
"Why not?" Tommy asks, a frown slowly making its way onto his face.
Aaliyah groans, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Tom, you know I have a boyfriend!"
"Yeah, but he treats you like shit!" He whisper-shouts at her. "All you ever talk about is how he's ignored you for the past week and how much you 'love' him. Doesn't that sound parasocial?"
"It does, but this is practically cheating on him! I get that he's a loser who does nothing but sit and play video games, but he's my boyfriend, Tom." Aaliyah sighs, laying down on her back.
"He's your boyfriend, but you don't even love him anymore. When's the last time you told him?" Tommy asks.
Aaliyah speculates, wondering when the last time she told him was. "I think the last time I said it was the day we met?"
"Aaliyah, that was over a week ago." Tommy moves closer to her and wraps his arms around her, comforting her the best he can.
There's a silence between them, one that contrasts the silence minutes prior. Aaliyah sat up straight, wrapping her arms around Tommy while he tucked his head in the space between her neck and shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Tom. I shouldn't be playing with your emotions." Sighing, Aaliyah pulls away and lays down, putting her arm over her eyes. "I really do like you, Tommy. It's just-"
"Just Cole, huh? Aaliyah, you should've broken up with him the day he started ignoring you. If he truly 'loved' you, he would've done something meaningful by now." He looks her in the eyes, noticing a tear gleaming on her cheek from the only light in the room. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry. Maybe you're right, maybe everyone's right! I should just break up with Cole and date you." Aaliyah dry laughs, finally realizing how naive she's been.
"But breaking up with someone just to get with another person isn't good. Don't get me wrong, I would love to date you, but you need time to move on from him. I wouldn't want you to break up with him and then immediately date me an hour later." Tommy tells her, rubbing the tears off her cheek with his thumb.
Aaliyah's eyes close, and a small breath of air escapes her lips. "Man, why are you so good at relationship advice if you've never even been in one?"
"I just say what I think needs to be said. Also, I'm friends with Phil; he gives me advice on all kinds of things." Tommy says, turning on his left side to look at her.
