Not Just Another Boy

Chapter 13

I woke up on Michael's couch to the smell of bacon and eggs. I almost smiled momentarily at the smell, then I realised what had happened last night.

Tom. Drunk. Cheated on me.

I almost started crying again, wrapping my blanket around my bare arms. Tears started escaping.

Michael came over and put my plate down on the coffee table. He gently wiped my cheek with his thumb.

I couldn't find words. Luckily, Michael could.

"I made you bacon and eggs." He said, handing me a plate and cutlery.

I smiled the most I could in thanks, realising I was hungry.

He sat there sipping his tea as I ate, eventually turning on his TV.

We watched Oprah reruns together in silence for what felt like forever. He didn't care that I wasn't talking. He knew that all I needed was someone.... To be there. So I didn't go insane.

"You know something?" I finally said.

"What?" He said.

"This is the first time in my life someone has made me bacon and eggs" I said, almost feeling like I had I cry again.

"Really?" He cried, exasperated. He seemed intrigued, pursing his lips in thought.

"Your mother?" He questioned.

"Vegan" I replied.

"Sister?" He asked.

"Couldn't be stuffed." I answered honestly.

"Tom?" He said cautiously, urging slightly away from me.

"Tom?" I said, sarcastically letting out a strange giggle. I had such mixed emotions for Tom right now even my laugh couldn't handle it.

"Tom hasn't ever made me anything. It's a one side relationship. I put in the effort, he puts in himself, which when I was younger, was enough. Now... I feel like I don't even know Tom anymore. I mean, who is he really?"

Michael was listening carefully, almost like a therapist would.

"Who is he?" He questioned.

"Yeah. I think I've been so deluded and blinded by my love for Tom I have only seen the man I wanted to see. I don't know who he is. I never really have. I thought I did.... But who is with me, and who he is with the rest of the world is becoming an increasingly different person. Your guess is as good as mine which one is the real Tom Wright." I said, feeling as though I had just let out a bottle of feelings that have been welled up inside of me for quite some time.

"That's what you do when you love people." Said Michael.

"What?" I asked, suddenly realising my tears were long gone, now replaced by rational thoughts.

"You try as hard as you can to keep things together. You do whatever it takes. When you love someone, and I mean really love someone as much as you love Tom, which is rare, of course you are wondering who he is. You're growing older, Diana. You and Tom fell in love as teenagers... You're an adult now. You are taking a step back, and asking yourself the hard questions."

I had never known anyone who spoke with so much certainty.

"What do I do?" I asked him, realising there was a raw and desperate quality to my voice.

"You continue loving him. The only way you know how." He answered.

"Maybe we are different people... He's an international footballer.... I'm just, me. But I can't imagine my life without Tom..." I trailed off.

"So, at the end of the day you both have beating hearts... You both have warm blood coursing through you. You're both humans. Two people. Who used to love each other, and probably still do, behind all that has been built up on these two humans, loving each other. It doesn't matter what society labels you. Don't you see? All of this heartbreak is caused by stress and pressure.... Built up by a deluded world. At the end of the day, you and Tom are just humans. Two hearts bonded as one."

".So... I head back. And what, just forgive him for being a dick?" I asked.

"No, of course you don't. You give him hell. bare your all. Tell him how much you love him... How much he's changed. Maybe threaten him with "time apart" if he doesn't clean up his act." Said Michael, standing up and taking my plate and his cup to the sink.

"He cheated on me!" I cried, realising the facts.

"I know..." Said Michael calmly.

"But I love him more than I've ever loved anyone. I don't want to forgive him. I'm so angry at him! But I don't want to break up with him. I just want to go back to the old us. The old Tom and Diana." I said sadly.

"Then tell him that. Maybe I haven't said this yet... Or suggested it strongly enough... You are a beautiful, strong, smart and caring girl Diana. You don't deserve to be cheated on! Of course not! I think you deserve much better than Tom! However, you love him. And I understand.... You love him as unconditionally as I loved my wife. I'm not saying forgive him by any means... But maybe hear him out." He said, coming back to the lounge room and sitting down across from me again.

"I have to go to training... I'm sorry." He said, standing up after a lot of silence.

"Feel free to stay here if you want. Help yourself to food, movies, wi-fi. I'll be back at 7pm. Maybe I can bring Tom with me?" He asked.

"For dinner?" I suggested, although not able to picture it in my mind.

"No, maybe not. That sounds terrible." He said, cracking a smile.

I almost smiled back, remembering how jealous Tom was of my relationship with Michael.

"Maybe just tell Tom to meet me on the rooftop..." I said, picturing the pretty platform on top of the building. Surrounded by garden.

"Okay" he said, nodding. He got his bag, muttered his goodbye, then shut the door with a bang behind him.

My reality sunk in.

I was alone. On Michael's couch. 18 years old just yesterday. I was a mess. I missed my family, I missed my own bed at home, I missed feeling excited about life, and I missed school that day too. My boyfriend was a dick, but I still loved him, and I want to go back home. I missed everything about my home.

Most worrying of all, I still missed Tom.