"I need you to move out" said Kimberley, trying to keep her emotions under control.
"What? Why?" asked Justin, looking up at her from the newspaper he was reading.
"We need to make our split known as well" she told him. She watched his face fall and she immediately felt bad for him, It wasn't his fault that things had turned out this way. He had nothing wrong, Kimberley had just fallen in love with someone else.
"I don't understand Kim" he said as he put the newspaper down and held her hands when she sat down next to him.
"It's time to move on" she mumbled, her eyes fixed on her hands. She felt a wave of emotion go through her as it started to sink in that this was really over for them. She had accepted it a long time ago that she had fallen out of love with him, but he was still always there for her even though he knew something wasn't quite right.
"I don't... what has brought this... oh, right, yeah" he said in realisation. "This doesn't have anything to do with where you went last night, does it? And who you were with?" he asked even though he knew the answer. Kimberley bowed her head.
"I'm sorry" she said and really meant it. Justin was a good man.
"I wish you had just told me sooner. I mean, it was so obvious but you always told me different" he said, placing a comforting hand on her arm.
"I'm sorry for lying to you" she said, wiping away the tears that made their way down her face.
"Hey, it's okay. I know this must have been hard for you" he said. Kimberley started to cry more. She wondered how he could be so relaxed about it.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" she wondered out loud. Justin laughed slightly.
"I love you Kimberley, you know I do. I just want to see you happy and I see that Cheryl does that, not me" he replied while wiping a tear away from her face. She leant into him and hugged him for a long time.
"You're going to make someone very happy one day" she said when pulling back from the embrace. She kissed him quickly but softly on the lips as a way of saying goodbye.
"I hope Cheryl continues to do that for you as well" he said with a smile. He nodded to her before standing up and going to the spare room of the house to pack. Kimberley stayed downstairs with her head in her hands until Justin came back downstairs with his suitcase packed. She had no idea how long it had been but this showed her she wasn't quite ready to let him go just yet.
"We'll stay in touch, yeah?" she asked, he nodded back to her and they shared another hug.
"Where will you be staying?" she wondered.
"I'll go to mums, that way I can see Chloe more as well" he said while opening the door.
"But that's miles away" she stated. She knew she shouldn't be feeling like this but she justified to herself that it was because they had been together for so many years and now they were saying goodbye.
"There's nothing left for me here now" he replied it a slightly sad tone, letting his guard slip a bit. Kimberley knew he didn't mean it in a nasty way, it was just the truth. Kimberley nodded.
"I'll see you soon?" she asked.
"Yeah" said Justin. "See you soon" and with that he was gone. Kimberley sat herself back on the sofa and began to cry again.
She wasn't sure he long she had been sitting there in silence before her phone started ringing. She had a custom ringtone for Cheryl so she knew it was her calling.
"Hey babe" she said into the speaker.
"Kimba you sound awful" said Cheryl instead of saying a normal greeting.
"Yeah, been a hard day, that's all" she replied, not wanting to elaborate over the phone.
"Is... is he gone?" Cheryl carefully said in a quiet voice.
"Yeah... he's gone" she answered. She had, had an emotional 24 hours and couldn't physically get any more emotion out at that minute.
"Want me to pop over?" she asked.
"Not if you're busy" replied Kimberley, getting up and looking at herself in the mirror. She looked surprisingly okay considering all that had happened.
"I'm coming over, I'll be there in ten" Kimberley smiled at the younger girls words.
"Okay" she replied, then the line went dead.
