Love, Aria

Chapter 26 | Brenden

Thursday, January 23rd, 2020

I watched her walk away, and it was one of the hardest things I ever did.

She was gorgeous. She always had been. She was one of the few people in my life who I had known would always be there. Even when we broke up the first time, she was there, in some form. She was there and she was a sure presence, despite being thousands of miles away. Aria Hall was someone who was never going to leave me.

And now, she was walking away. For good.

I didn't chase after her. I didn't yell after her. She was stomping away, her last words ringing in my ears:

"I don't want a postcard."

To anyone else, that may have seemed like a strange thing to say when breaking up with someone. But I understood what it meant. I was not invited to write to her anymore. I was not allowed to communicate with her. I was cut off, completely and totally, from her life.

And after all the ways I had hurt her, I knew better than to go against that final wish.

I waited until she was out of sight, past the building and off into the night. I waited until I could see nothing but blackness, and then I turned around.

I had left Emily in the side room in my desperate and final attempt to convince Aria to stay with my terrible excuse of a boyfriend. I had left her on the couch, ready to hear the story of what had happened.

And now there was no problem with me telling her.

I walked back into the party, past the people who were still milling around on the music-less dance floor. I walked past the drunk girls screaming at each other, walked past Aria's roommate crying in the corner, and let myself into the room again, closing the door behind me.

Emily was still waiting on the couch, her legs curled up beneath her and my sweatshirt wrapped around her arms. I sat down next to her and sighed.

"What happened?"

"We're over." I shook my head, "It's done."

Emily was silent for a moment before I felt a soft kiss on my cheek.

"I'm sorry, Brenden."

I shook my head. I didn't know what to think. All I could think about was Aria's face, tearing streaming down it, as I sat there helplessly. She was right about everything she said, and my excuses did nothing to change her mind. They were all half-hearted, all half-true, and she knew it.

I sat next to Emily in silence for a few minutes, not sure if I should explain everything.

"Do you want the full story?"

She shook her head.

"You don't have to tell me. I won't mind if you don't." Emily had never been especially nosy. "I am sorry that it happened in that way, though."

She slipped her hand in mine and pressed herself against my side.

I moved away.

"Brenden, come on." She rolled her eyes and moved closer to me again, "There's nothing standing in our way now. It can be us. Don't you want that?"

I turned to face Emily and she kissed me again, tentatively at first but then with more confidence. I kissed her for a moment before I broke away.

"It's not the same."

She looked surprised.

"What?"

"I can't do this with you." I shook my head. "I can't be with you now. Now that I know everything you did, now that I know how low you were capable of stooping...I can't do this."

"You're joking, right?" Emily asked, looking at me with an expression of disbelief. "You've got to be joking. I did so much, I sacrificed so much, so that we could be together. I know that you want this, because I want it so badly--"

"I want Aria." I replied, shaking my head and standing up. "I've always wanted Aria."

"Well, get over it, because she's gone." Emily replied, becoming angry. "She's gone and it's our turn. We get the happy ending we deserve! Isn't that what matters?"

I shook my head and couldn't help but let out a short laugh.

"What is this? Who have you turned into? I want the love of my life back and you're sitting here telling me to forget about her just minutes after she broke up with me...because you kissed me. I can't do this, Emily. I can't look at you without thinking of my ruined relationship with Aria. And I certainly can't be with someone who would do something like that to their so-called best friend."

"So this is it?" Emily asked, "This is where everything ends? You're done with Aria, you're done with me, you're done with Lexie...what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know." I replied, moving towards the door. "But whatever it is, it'll be something that I can stay true to."

And I slammed the door shut. 

My vacation is over and I'm so sad 😭 But I have a quick question for you guys: would you guys be interested in reading a newsletter type thing that features undiscovered authors every week? Just because I know how difficult it is to get noticed on Wattpad and I want to be able to help out other people without clogging my message board with shoutouts. Let me know what you guys think of the idea!

-Katherine