We Were Happy

3

Gracie's POV:

I remember the day I thought Zade was cheating on me. We'd been dating for about six months at the time.

At around 5 pm I got a text from Hailey.
"Hey, I know you're not feeling well right now but I think you should take a look at this.... I'm sorry." The text said.

I opened the article attached to it,
"Has Zade Crawford finally been spotted with his girlfriend?"

I scrolled past all the rambling and viewed the picture that was attached to the article. It was Zade, he had his hand on a blonde girl's face, and it looked like he was kissing her. She was facing away from the camera and Zade's eyes were closed as he kissed her.

Below the picture, it said
"Zade and a mystery girl were spotted kissing at a bar last night."
Zade went out last night with his friends but he didn't say anything about a bar. What he told me was that they're going bowling and then going to Chris's house for a bit. He came back home around 12 and he seemed fine. My heart shattered as there were more details about what the source said to the media outlet.

"He had his arms around the girl the entire night and they looked really happy. It looked as though they'd known each other for a long time."

Zade would probably be home in an hour or so. I waited on the couch.

I didn't cry.

I know that would just make the situation worse. If he did cheat then he doesn't deserve a single tear from me. I took Mia and Hailey in on a conference call and we discussed the situation. Both of them were pretty sure that Zade would never do anything like this but I didn't know what to believe. They said that the only possible explanation was that maybe it's an older photo from before we got together and someone sent it now. But why would anyone ever leak it now?

My mind went to a million places as I waited for him to get home. I didn't know what I would say to him. Was there anything to even say? What if he did cheat on me? Would I leave?

I heard the door open and I saw Zade. He seemed unbothered. Maybe he hasn't heard about the article.
"Hi, baby. How are you feeling? I missed you so much." He said, smiling.
I looked at him but I didn't say anything. No words came out of my mouth, instead, I just stood up and walked over to him with my phone in my hand. I stopped close to him and looked up to see his eyes looking at me confused.

"Where were you last night?" I asked, my voice breaking.

"I told you, baby. I was out with my friends. What's wrong?" He said, reaching out to touch me but I backed away.

I showed him the picture and the caption under it.
"Were you actually with your fucking friends, Zade? Or were you somewhere else? Don't even think about lying to me right now." I said angrily.

"Okay, I don't know where that picture came from but that was not last night."

"Is it real?"

"Yes, but I swear nothing happened last night. I wasn't drunk. You know I don't drink. I'd remember if anything happened."

I slapped him, tears falling from my eyes. I couldn't even look at him right now.

"You fucking cheated. Didn't you?"

"Please let me explain. Please try to understand."
"Understand what, Zade? That you fucking cheated on me and you're trying to give me an excuse for it?" I yelled.

He reached out to touch me again but I pushed his hands away.

"Please. Please understand, Gracie. That didn't happen last night."

"When did it happen then? After we started dating? The day you came over and told me you loved me? The day you decided to come to Paris with me? Huh? How dare you, Zade?"

I pushed him again and he fell to his knees. He held my arms and looked up at me, his eyes red.

"You made me a fucking fool. I can't believe you, Zade."

"Please, Gracie. You don't understand."

"No, Zade. YOU don't understand. How long has it been going on? How long have you been cheating on me? Did you even think of telling me once?"

"I would never cheat on you, Gracie. Please."

"You already did, Zade. And you have the fucking balls to sit here and look at me like that and tell me that I don't understand?"

I was screaming at him at this point as he looked up at me. Tears fell from his eyes.

"I love you so much, Gracie. Please let me explain."

"How dare you? Why should I even listen to you? Just so you can do it again?"

"I could never do that, Gracie. Please."

His hands held mine desperately as he looked up at me. I pulled myself away from his grip and went up to our room and locked the door. I heard him knocking a while later but I didn't open it. I heard him slide down on the floor and he sobbed softly. I cried as I sat on the bed. I didn't know what else to do.

"That's my ex-girlfriend." He said from behind the door.

"She came over to my office yesterday. She said she had a kid and that it was mine but I didn't believe her so I got a DNA test done the same day and it wasn't mine. She wanted my money but I told her there was no way I was going to give her any. She was furious and she told me that I would regret this and that she would make my life a living hell... That picture was taken probably a year ago when we were still together. I swear, Gracie. That's not what happened last night. I didn't tell you that she came to visit because I didn't want to freak you out or make you overthink."

"Please. Please believe me. I would never cheat on you. I love you so fucking much. Please open the door." His voice sounded broken.

"I understand if you don't trust me but you could ask any of my friends. They would never lie to you. Please just open the door. Please, Gracie."

I opened the door to see him sitting next to it. He looked up at me as tears still fell from his eyes. I sat down next to him and leaned my head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and we stayed like that for ten minutes, neither of us said anything.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it. I didn't know she'd let it get this far. I'm sorry that I led you to believe that I cheated on you. I never would. I love you so much, baby."

I just sat there sobbing into his chest but I couldn't say anything. I felt so guilty for slapping him and accusing him of all this stuff. After twenty more minutes of sitting there, he picked me up and carried me over to the bed, and then laid down next to me. He wrapped his arms around me and whispered,
"You're the only one I want. I promise. I don't ever want to lose you. I'm really sorry, my love."

As I look back on my memories of that night, I find myself praying that he had cheated on me that night. It would have saved me 9 years of patience and suffering. I wish he had cheated on me so I had an actual reason to leave instead of saying he's too focused on his career. 6 years of marriage and this is what it has led me to. I wish I didn't have to divorce him but I'm tired of being an accessory. I'm tired of waiting.