Last Broken Heart ✔️

Chapter 32

"Sometimes," said Pooh, "The smallest things
take up the most room in your heart."
-A.A. Milne

It's 4 a.m.

My brain won't let me sleep, and I keep tossing and turning until I huff, and stumble out of bed, pulling on my joggers. I run my hands through my hair and push it off my forehead before grabbing my hoodie and slipping it on.

I rush out of my room and down the stairs, out of my house. The pub that sat at the bottom of my street was looking very welcoming, right now, and I think having a few drinks will help me come to terms with the past few days.

As soon as I walk in, I realise that it's quite empty. The sun is almost up, and I doubt anybody is going to hop down to the pub at this time. I sat on a bar stool, gesturing for the bartender to come over. I order a vodka martini and he makes it, handing it over to me. He sends me a tight smile, clearly sensing the distress.

I take a drink, contemplating downing the whole thing, but when I feel someone touch my back, I turn around to be met with bright red hair. She smiles at me, and I instantly remember her. Devyn. The girl who approached me at the party. I scrunch my eyebrows as she sits beside me, prying the drink out of my hands. She takes a drink, and I'm silent beside her.

"Hey, again." She says, smiling at me. Her eyes travel over my body and my face, landing on my lips. Her knee is resting on mine, and I glance down, at where the heels she is wearing is on the footrest of my bar stool instead of her own.

"Hi?" I say, slightly confused as to why she's here.

"Remember me?" She asks, and I nod my head. She raises her eyebrow, expecting an answer. I sigh, taking my drink back.

"Devyn. That's your name. But, no. I don't remember sleeping with you." I clarify, taking another sip of the vodka martini. Devyn sighs, twirling a piece of her red hair around her finger, her eyes straight ahead. "Did you approach me for a reason?" I ask her, causing her eyes to flicker to mine.

"I don't know." She says, shrugging her shoulders. "You looked lonely, so I thought I'd keep you company." Devyn twists a straw in between her fingers, her shoulders hunched. The tight black dress she wore looked like it was cutting off her blood circulation.

"Who are you here with?" I ask, looking around to see if she's joined by anyone, or if she, like me, is here all by her lonesome.

"I was supposed to meet someone an hour ago, but... I got stood up." She says sadly, and I feel a little sorry for her. She looks like a girl who's used to getting what she wants, and she seems like when she doesn't get it, she could burn down the world.

"Damn, I'm sorry." I say, taking another drink. She sighs, looking around the bar.

"You come here often?" She asks, and I shake my head.

"Only when I'm sad." I reply, glancing at her. Her head is tilted to the side, and because it seems that this conversation isn't going to die down, I turn my bar stool to fully face her.

"Why are you sad?" She asks, and I chuckle, shaking my head. Why am I sad? I ask myself. Leona. Meredith. My parents. Everything. "Look, we're probably never gonna see each other again, so you might as well tell me. Sometimes it's nice to confide in a stranger."

I sigh. "Fine." Clearing my throat, I take one last sip of my drink and place it on the counter, threading my fingers in front of me. "There's this girl." I say, and Devyn chuckles a little. "And, I don't know what I feel towards her. It's like... I can't wait to see her when I wake up, and I fucking love spending time with her, but... my heart's detached from my brain and won't let me act on these feelings."

"Huh." Devyn sighs, nodding her head at me. Then, she scrunches her nose and says, "Is that why you rejected me that night?"

"I wouldn't say it was a rejection, exactly." I smile, and Devyn grins, shrugging her shoulders. "But, yeah. I was at that party for her." I admit. "Everything was going so well." I say.

"And what happened?" She somehow invested. She crosses her arms over her chest and leans in.

"My ex happened." I say. I feel like such a hypocrite, talking about Meredith to this random stranger instead of Leona, who I should be talking to. "She showed up, made me question everything about our relationship, and pushed me away from the girl that I..."

"The girl that you like?" Devyn asks, and I hesitate before nodding my head.

"Yeah." I say. "The girl that I like." Because I do. I really, really like Leona. It took me months to realise, but I want her to be more than a friend. But, can I risk it? Can I risk getting my heart broken again for something that'll probably only last a few months?

I don't want to go through that much pain again, I won't be able to take it.

"She's so beautiful." I continued. "She's funny when she wants to be, and whenever I'm around her, I feel as if I'm on cloud nine. I'm always smiling around her, and I think about her more than I probably should. We just... gel, you know?"

"Okay," Devyn says, standing up and pressing her hand to my shoulder. "Why are you sitting here telling me all this?" She says, raising her eyebrow.

"What, you think I should tell her how I feel? She might not even feel the same way." I say, standing up as well.

"You'll never know unless you try, right? Otherwise, you'll be kicking yourself for not telling this girl the truth before it was too late." Devyn told me, her hand on my bicep. "And, before you know it, she's moved on with some other guy, and you'll be left in the dust, wondering if things would have been different if you had listened to me today."

I shake my head, running my fingers through my hair. "I can't- I can't tell her. No, it'll ruin everything."

Devyn shrugs her shoulders. "Well, it's up to you. I can't tell you what to do." She says, tapping my shoulder before walking away. Now, my brain is officially scrambled.

I slump back onto the stool and finish the drink. Then, I order a few more and I don't stop until I can't function anymore. My head is on the counter, and the coldness is soothing, but it doesn't help the headache I have.

Leona. Leona. Leona. That's all I thought about.