It's Not You, It's Me (Book Two) #Wattys2018

... Everything Has Changed

POV ZIGGY

"And then he said he couldn't answer wether or not he was still in love with Toby because it was complicated!! Can you believe that guy?? Ugh, he's unbelievable!!!" I shouted on the phone, to my friend Sophia.

"The boy's obviously confused, Liz. He's trying to figure things out, poor guy. Your friend Toby really knows how to mess with them, huh."

"She sure does." I say, sighing. "But that's besides the point. The point is: He is a jerk. And he's one of those jerks that you don't really know is a jerk until they fuck things up."

"The correct term is 'fuckboy', sweaty. The tattoos and haircut should have given that away ages ago."

"They really should have." I admit. I get my keys to the house from my purse. "Whatever. He's just one of those and I suppose I have to be fine with that."

"That's right. Once again, you can't save the world, Liz. Not even if you you want it hard enough. You can only save yourself."

I smile and look at my house to prepare to unlock the front door, when I see Avi sitting in the staircase. "Wha...?" I breath out.

"What's wrong?" Sophia asks. Avi stands up and we meet halfway from where we both were standing.

"I've gotta go, So. I'll, uh, call you later." I tell her, my eyes fixed on the fuckboy, and before she could protest I hang up. "What are you doing here?" I ask him.

"I came to get some things straight with you." He said, confidently. "I did not ruin Toby's life, alright? It was actually probably the other way around."

"Did you come here to—"

"No. it's my turn to speak." He interrupts me. "She... she made me fall in love with her and then simply changed her mind! And then she changed her mind again, and then again after that and now— SURPRISE!— once again. She— ugh!!" He groans furiously. "She has this.. this thing and I feel like shit all of the time because she can't really let me go because I'm some sort of safe choice that she likes to have around but I can't just leave her because I—"

I hug him tight and he stops talking. I count to fifteen and let him go slowly. "Breath" I whisper.

We stare at each other and he sighs. "I'm sorry I kissed her." He says. "But you have to understand that I never meant to—"

"I understand." I tell him, quietly. "It was unfair of me to blame you."

He looks at me, remembering something. "And you..." he said. "You think that you know what this is? You think you get to have an opinion on this? You don't! At all! You don't understand what Toby and I had and you don't understand what Toby and your brother had! You don't get to go around deciding who are the good guys and who are the bad guys! You weren't there on the night that they fought and you weren't in the car when Toby was balling her eyes out and needed a friend. You don't get to tell me that I'm the monster."

"Fine, I'm sorry."

"No, I don't think you are." He adds. "You— you are selfish, and mean, and entitled and—" he steps closer, and I get a bit scared by his anger and closeness to me.

"I think I got it." I tell him, reaching into my purse and grabbing my pepper spray discretely.

"And you're just rude and annoying! And you don't own the diner! Anyone can go to the diner!" He comer closer and I prepare to defend myself. "Also, you are way too bossy. You can't tell everyone what to. And— and...." he grabs my cheeks and kisses me strongly, and I take my pepper spray to his face but don't get myself to press the button. He kisses me, and I kiss him back, letting the spray fall from my hands to the ground.

We get into my house in a hurry, and as he closes the door I start unbuttoning his shirt.

"Your parents..." he says.

"Nobody's home." I said, and we went back to kissing. We go up the stairs holding hands and running. And as we get to the corridor where my room is he holds me against the wall and we kiss some more, and he takes off my shirt. Then we start walking in direction to my room.

"Condoms..." he breaths, in midst of kisses.

I look around, breathing heavily. "Theo's room." I say, and grab his arm taking us to him room. I open his door. "He has some in his bath— AHHH" I shout, as Avi turns on the lights.

"Oh my God!" Theo shouts, climbing off of Toby and covering both of them with a cover.

"WHAT?!" I shout.

"Avi?!" Toby asks.

"Toby?!" I ask.

"BRA!!" Theo shouts covering his eyes. "ZIGGY— BRA!! BRA!!"

Avi in an instant grabs a white shirt that was on the floor of Theo's room nearest to us and gives it to me. I put it on.

We all stare at each other gasping for air. I take a step backwards after a minute of me starring at Toby, Toby starring at Avi, Avi starring at Theo and Theo starring at me. "This never happened." I say quietly.

And we slowly walk out of Theo's room as if we had broken something in a store and were walking away slowly with no intentions of paying for it.

I suddenly take a small step back in their room. "The shirt..."

"Keep it." Toby says, and I nod and slam their door.