Breakaway | d.h

Chapter Ten

"This is Dan,"

"You actually talk to this guy?"

"Yes, he's my best friend."

"Well don't get too attached to him,"

"Too late,"

I stared back into Lances eyes. They burned into me like fire; there was no turning away now.

Even though I knew we were in public, I couldn't bring myself to feel any less than uneasy.

"Hey there sexy," he grinned and made his way to where we sat, knowing exactly how he could work his way under Dan's skin.

I quickly looked away and held my silence. I knew that once I spoke, I would feed his spark.

"What? You don't want to talk to your wittle Lancy boo?" He mocked; leaning into my face with alcohol on his breath.

"No," I winced at the smell, it always made me want to vomit.

By now I knew that Dan would be kicking himself trying to figure out what he should do. Some people's eyes lingered still, but most people just wrote him off as the typical drunk guy. Which he was, in a way.

"What do you mean? I came all the way here. Even with Britney here," he slurred, sounding hurt.

I wanted to feel bad, but how could I forgive him? He was always drunk and the glow I used to see in him had gone out long ago.

"Lance, why don't you come back when you're not too drunk to talk right," Dan suggested as he tried to keep his cool.

"Lancy let's go. I'm really tired," The blonde girl, Britney I assumed, whined.

Lance bit his lip, "No. You go ahead. I'm staying here with Katie."

I raised my eye brows a bit taken back from his sudden change of mind, and finally remembering my name. I turned my eyes to the girl, who looked a bit lost. She was obviously too drunk to realize what was going on.

"I said go," Lance warned, giving her a light push towards to door.

She sighed and turned around, her heels clicking against the floor as she stumbled around but eventually made her way out of the café.

Dan looked at me, giving me a look that asked if I wanted to go. I shook my head.

Lance pushed his way beside me in the booth. Leaving Dan to awkwardly face the both of us. I remembered back when Lance and I clicked. I remembered that one day when we danced around in the rain and he told me he loved me. We were like two free birds, until he caged himself. And strung me along for the ride.

Where did we go wrong?

Why did he feel the need to get piss drunk and have sex with every girl he met? Why did he force me into doing things I never wanted to do? What happened to the love we shared?

What happened to us?

"We got off on the wrong foot, Dan." Lance grinned forcefully.

I sighed and began to chew my nails like I usually did when I was stressed. What was he up to? What changed his mind?

"Erm, yeah I guess we did," Dan mumbled a bit unsure of his answer.

We sat in silence for a moment, not really sure of what to say to each other. I was about to break the silence when Lance spoke up. "I'm going to get a coffee, I need to sober up."

Before either of us could agree, he was in the line up, fumbling with the change in his wallet.

I leaned on the table, getting as close as I could to Dan.

"What's going on?" He whispered, keeping his eyes on Lance.

I shrugged, "this is the nicest he's been to me in a while, so i'm not really sure."

"Alright, well just nudge my foot or something if it gets too uncomfortable for you," He assured me with a shy smile.

I quickly sat back down in my spot as Lance made his way back to the table, a large black coffee in hand. I never understood how he could drink it black; without the comfort sugar and milk provided it was way too strong.

He sat down at the table, beside me again of course. I looked at him for a moment. A black t-shirt sat comfortably on his shoulders while some muddy blue jeans found their place on his legs. He looked as if he wore fresh clothes for once.

"So what are we?" Lance asked, his voice lowered to just a soft hum.

I looked over at Dan nervously for help, suddenly feeling terrible for running off with him. Even though Dan treated me like I was worth something other than sex.

"What do you see us as?" I answered him delicately, keeping my foot against Dan's just in case.

He sipped at his coffee and looked out of the window. Only one word escaping his chapped lips, "broken."