Never Too Late

Chapter 6.2: Breakup

When I drove back to my house since it was Harvey's car and he was supposed to drop me off, I pulled over by the side as Harvey woke up. I turned to him, and he was having this peaceful and silent moment. It was pretty nice. I'd never seen him like that before.

"Hey." I said. "It's okay now."

"Thanks." He chuckled and turned to me. "I wouldn't have done this without you. Thank you, Liyah."

"Conflict resolution, that's my thing." I smiled.

"Hey about that thing you said to Winnie where you said she could have Alex back." He started. "Did you really mean that? Is that really fine with you?"

"You know, of all people I'd be telling my secrets to, I never once thought in my whole life that I'd be telling them to you." I said, and he smiled. "I didn't really mean that. I was just trying to act cool."

"Look, Liyah... It doesn't matter what Winnie thinks. It doesn't matter what Janine thinks. You forced Ken to be in a relationship with you just so you could stick it to Alex's face. It's obvious that you still have feelings for him." He explained. "And just an advice from a friend who just went through that awkward apology with you, don't force yourself with Ken. You don't have to look cool around Alex. He loves and accepts you. If you really can't stand Alex, then break up with Ken. He cheated on you anyway."

"It's not a matter of a cool reputation." I replied. "Like I said, I don't want Janine to get hurt because of me. I've done that to Nick before, and I'm not doing it again."

"But what if Alex is pushing himself to Janine the same way you pushed yourself to Ken?" he asked, and it just struck me. He was right. "Would that just be leading Alex to another pointless relationship? You have to do something, and don't think it's too late. Like I said, if there's anything I learned from you, it's that it's never too late to make things right."

"You know..." I chuckled. "It's funny how all that is coming from you, Harvey, the same Harvey who pissed me off everyday at school and just sang annoying things and I once thought was screwing with my best friend. I'm glad you changed a lot. I'm proud of you."

"Oh, come here, you bitch." He laughed as he patted my back. "But in all seriousness, I think you should get back with Alex. You two belong together."

"You really think that?" I had to ask. "Do you even think I'm capable of storming in to Ken's dorm room and break up with him?"

"You're Liyah Loveworth!" He exclaimed with excitement. "You beat up the bullies back at Neptune High! You kept a dying cancer patient alive and made her wishes come true! You made the guy you love fall in love with you! You helped Laura with her pregnancy and her parents, and you bravely faced Winnie despite the bad blood between you two! You can do this, tiger!"

I had to let Harvey's words sink in. So I knew what I had to do. A few weeks before classes started, I drove back Berkeley, and I headed for Ken's dorm right away with my storming confidence. I knew he was there, and I was hoping to find Natasha there too. Anyway, I stormed in and pounded on his door with the adrenaline of a horse. Ken opened the door half naked and out of breath. He was sweaty all over too.

"Liyah!" he hadn't opened the door completely. I figured he was hiding something. "What are you doing here?"

"Surprise!" I kicked the door open, and there she was, Natasha only in her bra and panty and lying on Ken's bed. "Oh hey, Natasha! So nice of you to take some overtime with your work buddy!"

"Look, Liyah. I know how it looks-"

"Oh, like my ignorant boyfriend is cheating on me with his co-worker?" I pretended to be angry about it, but I just wanted to be one of those bitchy girlfriends for fun. "You know, if you wanted to break up with me and just do all night with Natasha, then you should've just told me. I could've gotten back together with Alex before he got together with Janine."

"I wanted to talk to you about that." He put some shirt on. "I knew all along that you were pining over Alexander. I'm not an idiot."

"What? I'm not pining over him! He's just my ex!"

"Don't you remember the day we met?" he chuckled. "Laura set us up on a blind date! She told me you needed someone to get over your ex with, and when I met Alex, I knew you had something with him. I figured he was that ex you were trying to get over. But he came in the loft with you, and I could feel him trying to win you back! There was that time when you called me over to have sex, and you fell asleep, and you kept saying 'Alex Alex Alex'. I knew so I asked Laura, and she thought you were forcing yourself to me. She thought setting you up with me would help, but obviously, you could never get Alex out of your system."

"Did I really say that while I was sleeping?" I asked, not angry at all. "That's humiliating."

"See? That's what I mean!" he exclaimed. "You don't care! As far as I was concerned, I was still a fuck buddy to you even after you asked me to be your boyfriend!"

"I'm not gonna lie." I crossed my arms and laughed. "I never really had any attachment to you. Alex was right. I didn't care about our relationship. I pretended to care by doing all your work for you, but we never really got serious."

"I know." He laughed back. "You were trying to make Alex jealous, weren't you?"

"Guilty as charged."

"Liyah, you don't have to force yourself to me." He said. "If you want to be with him, go be with him. It doesn't matter who's jealous."

"You're right." I smiled, and he smiled. We couldn't contain the comedy, so we both laughed.

"Oh God!" he continued to laugh. "This is like the best breakup ever."

"Yeah, I guess." I said. "Well, I had sex with Alex over winter break, so how about we call it even?"

"Okay." He offered a hand. "If this is a breakup, then it's been a pleasure working with you, Liyah."

"Yeah, you're like my male prostitute." I shook his hand.

"Now, go get him." Ken concluded.