"Oh, sorry," I whisper, staring straight ahead at the buttons of his shirt, knowing I'll start crying if I look at his face.
"You're alright," He responds.
I want to run away, but my feet seem to be frozen in place. "Uh, Taylor's in the bathroom if you're looking for her."
"Oh, okay." Wilbur is quiet for a second. "Who's your boyfriend? I thought I recognized him."
"Jared Tar," I feel uncomfortable as I cross my arms over my chest, still avoiding his eyes. "He plays for the Knicks."
"Ah,"
I glance up and see the corner of his mouth raised. "What?"
"You're dating a guy named Jared?"
I roll my eyes but can't help a smile myself. "Shut up. He's nice."
Will squints his eyes at me. "You're not actually dating, are you?"
"Why do you care?"
He loses his smirk and looks away from me. "Right."
My overwhelmed feeling quickly becomes too much and I walk away from him, not bothering to say bye. I find Jared and place my hand on his arm. "Do you mind if we leave early?"
He immediately gives me a concerned look. "Are you okay?"
I suddenly notice the tears in my eyes, begging to spill out. "I'm fine, I just need to go. Please."
"Alright, let's go."
I hold onto his wrist as he leads us out of the house, pushing through infinite waves of people. I feel worse and worse as we get closer to the door, heat covering my whole body as I shake and stumble. The second we're outside, I drop to my knees in the grass yard and puke, finally crying from the discomfort. I feel Jared behind me, holding my hair back and awkwardly rubbing my back. I didn't drink at all, but I guess the weed and my anxiety didn't mix well. Once I'm finally done, I wipe my mouth and stand up, my knees wobbling as they threaten to give out again.
"You okay?"
I nod and lean against him, my throat catching on my words as I continue to cry. "I just wanna go home."
We walk down the nearly mile long driveway as Jared texts an Uber for us. Once we reach the end, I sit on the pavement and hold my bare arms, freezing in the October air.
"Here," Jared sits next to me and hands me his jacket. I mumble a 'thank you' and pull it over me, glad for the warmth. "What happened in there?"
"I ran into Wilbur," I whisper, bringing his jacket sleeve to my eyes and wiping my running mascara. "Seeing him through pictures online is hard enough, but seeing him in person... seeing him with her, even though they're not dating. Smelling his cologne. The clothes of his I still have have lost his scent. Hearing his voice. Just being in his presence and knowing he's not mine hurts so badly."
"How long did you two date?"
I tuck my hair behind my ears and let out a sigh. "I mean, technically, only two weeks. But we had known each other for a couple of months before that, and we were fake dating for awhile and sort of hooking up during that. The timeline is a bit confusing."
Right then, our car pulls up. Jared helps me get up and into the car, and we ride back to my apartment in silence. I feel my phone buzz and I look down at the caller ID, my heart racing as it reads 'William'. I ignore the call but play the voicemail, holding my phone up to my ear.
"Listen, Eve, I'm really really drunk right now, and, and I know you hate me, but I miss you." His voice cracks and I wonder where he is as I can't hear the party in the background. "You're so gorgeous. You're so fucking gorgeous. I fucking hate it. I know I'll never find another girl who gives me the same feelings that you did. I thought I could never fall in love again, but you changed that, and I miss you so much. And, I mean, of course I miss your body and your lips and whatever. But I also really, really miss just being near you all the time. I miss falling asleep with you in my arms with your record player quietly playing. I miss watching stupid movies with you. I miss playing games and just looking at your face and how excited you would get each time you would beat me. I miss when I would wake up before you and I just got to stare at you and study your perfect features." He stays silent for a few seconds. "I know you'll probably delete this before even listening. I'll be fine without you eventually, but I at least want to try." The phone clicks off, signaling the end of his message.
I keep the phone against my ear as I replay the message, my tears starting back up at his words. So, he forgives me? He doesn't hate me anymore? Does he think I hate him?
I want to call Wilbur back, but the car stops for us to get out. I decide to just call him once I'm inside and alone. Jared pays the driver before we get out, and he follows me up to my place. I unlock my door and look back at him.
"Thanks for getting the car and walking me up here."
"Yeah, no problem." He responds, but doesn't seem ready to walk off. He suddenly leans down, giving me the look that all guys have when they're about to kiss you.
I jump back, leaning against the door as anger hits me. "I just ranted to you about how much I miss my ex."
Jared just shrugs. "I can help you forget about him."
I roll my eyes and go to open my door, but Jared grabs my hand and leans his face down closer to mine. My breath starts to quicken as I feel scared by him, completely aware of how insanely strong he is.
"Come on, Eve. You can't makeout with me at the party then act like this."
"Just go home," I tell him, trying to wiggle my hand out of his grasp, but his grip just tightens.
Suddenly, there's a fist against Jared's jaw. I gasp as he lets go of my hand and I see Wilbur standing there, shaking his hand as if the punch hurt. Panic sets in me as I know Jared could kill him, so I stand in front of Jared as he shakes off his shock and straightens up to punch Wilbur back.
