The Last Five Years

Poppy

  It took both me and Drew to get Peter into bed. He had passed out on the way home, and there was no getting him up. He was an even six foot and the muscles in his body weighed him down like he was made out of rocks. I don't know what I would have done if it had been just me.

I changed into pajama pants and a long sleeve shirt before heading out into the kitchen. I expected Drew to slip into the spare bedroom while I was gone, but I found him in the living room. He was looking at the pictures on the walls. He stared at one in particular, the one Peter and I took right after we got engaged.

In the picture, i was holding my hand out in front of me, a big grin on my face. Peter had his mouth open in a goofy laugh. We looked like the picture perfect couple.

"Coffee?" I asked, causing Drew to jump. His cheeks turned red as he nodded and followed me into the kitchen.

"So," he said, easing into a barstool. "A preschool teacher? That's great. I didn't know that's what you wanted to do."

I laughed without looking over at him. "There's a lot that you missed." I set a mug down in front of him. "Cream? Sugar?"

Drew shook his head, wrapping his hands around the warmth. "No, thank you." He stared up at me as he took a sip. "You're right. There is a lot that I missed. I can't believe Peter is a cop."

"That's not really what you want to talk about, is it?" I leaned up against the counter, my elbows resting on top of it. His eyes, almost as dark as the coffee, stared back at me. He was silently begging me to back down because he knew he would lose this fight.

After a minute of us staring at each other, he sighed. "How'd it happen?"

"The dating or the proposal? I personally love the proposal story."

"Cut the shit, Poppy." The coffee mug was slammed against the countertop, the liquid contents sloshing out of the sides. I stared at him, startled by his sudden outburst. "Why are you trying to hurt me?"

"Me being happy hurts you, Drew?" I scoffed, turning to walk out of the kitchen. "As always, you think my life revolves around you. I can't talk about my relationship with an old friend?"

"Not when you're engaged to my best friend!" He yelled from the kitchen. "And don't you walk away from me! Isn't that what you accused me of doing? Running away from all my problems?"

I whipped around, not surprised to see him standing in the door way. He looked like a disheveled angel, the ghost of a person I once knew. "Because you do, Andrew! You always have, and you always will! Why can't you just admit that you hate that I love your best friend and that I didn't try harder for you?"

His laugh was cold. "That's what this is about? You'd really like that, wouldn't you?"

"My life and my decision making have nothing to do with you anymore. You don't run or control me." We were standing almost chest to chest now, screaming in each other's faces and letting out all the anger that these last five years held.

"You think that's what I did? You think I tried to control your life?"

I wanted to yell, but my voice came out in a whisper. "Yes." I stared at his slightly trembling lower lip. His chest was heaving, and his jaw was clenched.

Then, without warning, his lips were on mine and he was stealing my breath for the millionth time in my life.