It was around three in the morning when Vanna was suddenly awoken by the front door slamming shut. Her heart was racing about a million miles a minute and she clutched the blanket she was wrapped up in tightly. Heavy footsteps were bounding up the stairs and floorboards creaked out in the hall. The footsteps stopped right in front of the bedroom door. Vanna quickly shut her eyes tightly, pretending she was asleep. The doorknob turned and the door squeaked open to reveal a rough looking Nash. His shirt was all messed up, his hair looked like a mad scientists, and his breath wreaked of alcohol. He meandered over to the bed, stopping at the edge of it. Vanna could feel his wandering eyes rake her body hungrily.
Nash stuck out his hand, trailing his fingertips over her body. He stopped when he was right above her heat. Her heart pounded in her chest and she was almost wondering if he could hear it. Her breathing became more shallow and her chest felt heavy, as if someone was sitting on it. She clenched her teeth, doing anything she could muster to not move and to pretend she was still sleeping.
"I know you're awake, pet." Taylor says, showing no emotion in his voice.
Vanna stared at Taylor wide eyed and clutched the blanket tighter around her body.
"Are you drunk?" She asks stupidly, clearly smelling the alcohol on his breath.
"Obviously." He says, rolling his eyes. "But I'm sure the bottle doesn't want to live in my cupboard because I just bought it, so I'd better finish it now."
Sarcasm and pain lined Taylor's voice as he took another swig of Fireball Whiskey. He set the bottle on his nightstand harshly before trying to unbutton his shirt. When he couldn't get the buttons undone, he collapsed in his bed in failure. A few moments later, he had fallen fast asleep. His snores filled the room as Vanna covered him up with the blanket. She felt terrible seeing him like this.
Vanna slid herself off the bed and threw on a heavy sweatshirt. She crept quietly out the door before going downstairs and into the kitchen. She rummaged through some drawers until she found a pad of paper and a pen. She wrote Taylor a letter before grabbing her bags and sneaking out the front door, making sure to lock it behind her.
Her ride back to her house seemed to go by very quickly. She emptied her bag into her clothes basket before collapsing into her bed and plugging in her phone. It was 6 am, and she was completely exhausted. She heard movement in the other room, and then a quiet knock on her door.
"Come in." Vanna said unenthusiastically, rereading text messages between her and Taylor.
"You're back early." Crystal said quietly, sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Yeah, things got kind of complicated. I felt like I was only hurting him, so I decided that I should remove myself from his life." Vanna explained vaguely, not making eye contact with Crystal.
"What happened?" Crystal asked, rubbing her hand side to side lightly on her back.
"He asked me to move in with him, and of course I couldn't say yes!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "And he got all offended and upset and stormed off. He came back at three am all drunk and then just passed out like it was nothing!'
"Sounds pretty psycho if you ask me. It's a good thing you're home." Chris says, making an o shape with her mouth.
"I know. I'm glad to be home too." Vanna says, falling back into her pillows.
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Taylor woke up with an absolutely pounding headache. He rolled over to see if Vanna was still asleep, but he saw that the space next to him was empty. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and padded into the spare bedroom. He looked out the window and saw that her car was gone. Maybe she just went to run some errands?
He walked back into his bedroom before retrieving his phone from his bedside table. He had a few missed calls and some texts; all from people he didn't want them to be from. One message in particular caught his mind though, however.
From: Marlee
Had a lot of fun with you last night babe, should do it again soon ;)
Taylor's face flushed as memories of last night flooded into his head. He had gotten drunk and went to his ex girlfriend Marlee's house. But what had happened? He himself couldn't even remember. He slammed his fist down on his leg, feeling angry at himself for being so stupid. He quickly unlocked his phone and replied to Marlee's message.
To: Marlee
Haha, what do you mean?
He felt a sick pit in his stomach start to form. Deep down he knew exactly what had happened. He just want to reassure himself before beating himself up. A few seconds later, he had his answer.
From: Marlee
You came over and we had sex last night, silly! Don't you remember? :)
Taylor's stomach dropped through the floor. He threw his phone on the bed before rushing down the stairs and quickly grabbing himself a glass of water.
"This can't be happening to me." He says to himself, grabbing a fistful of his hair and pulling on it. He plopped down at the breakfast bar, and that's when he saw Vanna's note.
Taylor,
Seeing you so hurt and distraught has made me realize that I am doing more harm than good in your life. As much as this hurts me, I don't think we should be seeing each other anymore. I'm sorry that I cannot commit to moving in with a significant other right now. It's not that I don't love you, it's just that I already live with someone and I don't want to move away from my friends and job. I hope you understand and do not hate me.
Your friend,
Vanna
He read the closing about ten times in a row. It stung like a mother fucker. "Your friend".
No "sincerely yours".
No "love".
Even just a plain and simple signing of her name would have been better than reading those two horrible little words:
Your friend.
