Consumed by you

Chapter 1

Present

June 21st 2023

It was a regular start of summer morning for me, nothing about it could've prepared me for the shock I was about to live through. I was just skimming through in the Walmart of my hometown when I saw him. At first I had the usual panicky feeling, the knots forming in my stomach, the sweaty palms and the feeling that I was seeing things and about to faint.

No, it can't be, he said he was never coming back to Rusville.

That's what I told myself for a good 5 minutes to convince myself I was just going crazy while hiding in another aisle. No matter how much I didn't want it to be him, I had to accept that I only knew one person with those straight and bulky shoulers, while having a skinny body shape and those big brown curls that would come to this lost little village. It was the man that once knew me better than I knew myself, the one that knew my biggest secrets and the man that ruined my perception of love forever all those years ago.

5 years ago

February 6th 2018

I don't know what had been in the air tonight but I just have this feeling like something life-changing would happen. We were just drinking with my buddies at one of my good high school friends's house. Jack had been home alone for the weekend and he had organized a small get together since we didn't usually have the opportunity to party in a while. We were a couple beers down, enough to feel the alcohol in our veins and the shyness of everyone going away. Suddenly, one of us told the group we had been invited to this big party which we all agreed to go.

He's the first person I saw when I entered the house. Of course, I already knew of Julio Fidar's existence but to me, he could not care less about if I would show up to this party or not. We never went to the same school, had any friends in common or even talked to each other but there was something about him that I could not shake. Most people would've considered him ugly and most of my friends did, but none of them understood the way I saw him. I don't know how or when it happened, must have been the alcohol, but somehow I got the courage to go up to him and admit the small crush I'd been having since I once saw him come in the restaurant I was waitressing at. He obviously laughed and we didn't leave each other alone for the rest of the night. What you have to know about me is I'm usually a very shy, anxious and introverted person but the second alcohol hits me I become different, I get a huge confident boost and I will say whatever goes through my mind.

After hanging out and drinking with Julio and his two best friends, Liam and D.J. for most of the night, the party was coming to an end and everyone had been trying to find ways to go home for half an hour. That's when the guys also decided to leave. D.J. had been very flirty with me all night just like Julio and I knew they were both hitting on me even though they were best friends. I gave a hug to Liam first, then D.j., while he tried giving me a peck on the cheek, and finally to Julio. He all of the sudden grabbed my head and tilted it so he could look straight in my eyes and leaned in for a kiss. My brain went panick mode and I pushed him away, out of the door frame.

- OK BYE!, I shouted

I then slammed the door shut and ran back to the party.

Did I really just reject the guy I admitted to having a crush on and slammed a door in his face all in one night??

I got out the taxi after tipping the driver with a five dollar bill around 45 minutes later. I can't lie I was pretty drunk. First thing I did when I came home was change to comfy clothes and get ready for bed all while trying not to wake up my mom so she wouldn't realise I came home after 3 AM. That's when I heard a notification pop up on my phone.

"You're a difficult one aren't you? I like difficult."

It was from Julio.