Close As Lovers

Twenty-Eight.

Song: I See the Light- Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi

"The... the truth?" My heart dropped in my chest. "What do you mean?"

Wes sighed as his eyes closed and he looked away from me. I didn't miss the sadness that had washed over his face or the way his shoulders sagged, and those tiny things told me it was serious, and it had been weighing heavy on him for a while. A part of me was afraid that whatever he had kept hidden from me could change everything. After everything we had been through, that was the last thing I wanted.

His eyes met mine again, completely glassed over. "I lied about what happened when we were fifteen and each time you thought I took advantage of you. I know you're probably starting to get angry as you're hearing this, but I promise, everything I did was to protect you."

"Is it worse than what you--"

"No. Nothing ever happened. I never took advantage of you and I wouldn't have." He admitted, and even though I was mad that he had lied and afraid of the truth, I was at least relieved that it wasn't as bad as what I had believed for years. I motioned for him to continue, and he laid back on the bed, pulling me with him. He released a deep breath before he started talking, and with each word he said, I found myself slowly remembering.

***

I knew going to the party would be a mistake.

I knew he would be there.

No matter what I knew, something still pulled me to go. I couldn't stop myself from dressing into something nice-- half in hoping he would notice me again, half because I found the perfect outfit and wanted to show it off-- and then I didn't turn back around when I arrived at the party.

And if only I had listened to my gut, I wouldn't have led myself into the biggest mistake of my life.

The first hour had been okay. I talked with some friends, drank a little bit, but when the sadness finally set in, knowing he was in the same place as me and we weren't the best friends we used to be, I drank, and drank, and drank. The alcohol in my system had been enough to sooth my broken heart for the time being, and that was good enough for me.

I had stumbled through the rooms, searching for a bathroom to empty my poor stomach, but someone's hand wrapped around my arm and dragged me with them. I tugged on their shirt, trying to coherently ask them to help me find the bathroom, but all that came out was mumbles. I tried to peek around their shoulder to see their face, but their back was the only thing in my sight. The person had shoved me into a room and locked the door. When I had faced away from them, a guy with brown hair stood off to the side, a grin plastered on his face and a video camera in his hand.

I turned towards the person who had pushed me into the room, hoping he would help me find the bathroom, but when I caught sight of his eyes, my heart instantly dropped to the pit of my stomach. I had been completely wasted, but the green eyes that had locked with mine were unmistakable.

"W-Wes?" His name slipped out of my lips as the room started to spin, and I grabbed the edge of the dresser to keep my balance.

"Wow, she's incredibly gullible," The guy holding the video camera chuckled. "This should be an easy task for you, Wes."

His words had scared me, and as Wes took a single step towards me, I panicked. Something in the back of my mind had been screaming that something was wrong, that I needed to get out of there, and no matter how badly I wanted to be with him again, all I wanted to do in that moment was run away. Wes grabbed my waist, his nails digging into my skin, and I yelped. His grip loosened as his eyebrows knitted in worry, but when the other guy grunted, he immediately tightened his hold on me.