{COMPLETED} ✔ December Bloom

forty'six

It's not his fault this time around, I know it isn't.

He's just Braden.

He's oblivious to the fact that I'm in love with his girlfriend.

I'm not going to blame it on him this time.

He doesn't know.

And neither does she.

I frowned, my fists clenching at my sides as I suddenly remembered my current situation, my mind slightly hazy from the memory rush I had just had.

I walked up to the door, pressing my ear against it to try and hear what was being said but there were only a few muffles.

I was desperate to hear what was going on.

Braden has told me to wait outside while he went in to sort this all out…

I wonder how it's going.

I don't know what he's doing. Is he going to break up with her? Or are they going to continue their relationship?

I know, this is wrong of me to think this but I can't help it, I wish that they would break up and it would be over.

But if they do break up…

I don't know how I'll handle it. Braden and the tutoring thing was basically the only thing that kept us glued together.

I know the tutoring thing is ending soon and this relationship…well, I guess it'll end. But there's a fifty-fifty percent chance because if I know Braden (and I do) he's going to turn on the charm that usually keeps the girls.

And if their relationship ends…will I even get the courage to tell her?

That's the problem.

I may have a hard, arrogant exterior but on the inside, I'm basically just scared.

Okay, I have problems. Real problems with commitment sometimes and it's really rare of me to stick with one person for more than four months. That was my longest relationship record with, (surprise, surprise) Ella. I thought that she would be different I don't know why. She was just really, really good…-if you get my meaning- and I guess I didn't want to let go of that. That was the only reason I stayed with her for so long I think. I mean, I can't find any other reason.

What?

Come on, it's hard to find a good screw sometimes (again, in the nicest way possible).

After the whole Ella-thing, my relationships started to go downhill and I never really stayed with one girl for more than one to three and a half weeks.

Anyway, like I have stated before, I don't cheat on my girlfriends, never have and never will. Just because I end a relationship early, doesn't mean I'm seeing someone else.

Although that's usually the idea the girls all get. Insert eye roll here, please.

I came to a sudden realization of how long I've been standing here, staring at the door. A pretty goddamned long time I guess…

The door in front of me flew open, a slightly panicked Braden in the doorway.

"Dante, get your ass in here!" he yelled.

I was taken aback.

"What?"

"She fainted."

"Fuck."

"What the fucking hell did you fucking tell her?" I growled as I laid her gently down upon the bed in the nurse's office.

He flushed and shrugged, muttering something that I couldn't hear.

"What?" I asked at the same time a short, gray-haired woman came in, her blue eyes twinkling kindly as she surveyed the scene before her. She was an old woman, spindly and wiry in her hair and frame. I assumed this was the nurse judging by the name on her lapel badge which read, 'Nurse Rose'.

"Right, well done boys for bringing her to me. Okay, please wait outside, she'll be up and about in a bit. For now, she just needs to rest a little." the nurse said, glancing at the both of us over the top of her bifocals.

I nodded before turning around and silently following Braden outside to where a couple of plush seats were, flopping down in one with a sigh.

Braden just stood awkwardly, not looking at me but at the closed door of the nurse's office.

"What did you tell her?" I asked him again, a little more quietly.

Braden shook his head.

"It's all so screwed up. I don't even know why I did it. I just, I guess I just wanted to try, one last time." he muttered, mostly to himself.

"What? Try what? Braden, what's going on?" I asked him again, concern etched in my voice.

"I don't even know. I just…argh!" he told me, annoyed and slightly angry.

"Braden. Just tell me what you told her." I said to him, my tone firm and dangerously low.

He sighed, a silence drifting over the two of us.

I glanced at the office door, hearing low murmurs from behind it.

"I told you I was different, right?" he suddenly started, making me nod slowly, cautiously even.

"Well, when I found out that I was…different, I was…afraid. I didn't like it and I thought that Norah was my last chance. Remember that slight spell where I was being…uh, a little pushy and pressurizing, trying to get her to sleep with me? Well, that was one of my convincing tactics to try and make me believe that I was different. It didn't work. So…I did the one thing that I thought would convince me to believe in, for sure." he said breathily, sighing sadly. He seemed very reluctant to tell me.

"Braden, what is this 'different' thing? I don't understand!" I said, almost yelling at him.

"Dante, please. I don't even understand it."

I rolled my eyes, feeling very tired all of a sudden.

"I give up." I muttered angrily, slouching angrily into the chair and folding my arms.

Another silence descended over the two of us.

"I lied and said I loved her." he told me suddenly, making me turn and yell at him.

"What the FUCK?!" I all but screamed at him, my eyes wide.

He flinched.

"I'm sorry." he apologized.

"Don't apologize to me! Apologize to Norah!" I yelled at him, my heart racing.

How could this happen? How did it happen?

If I decide to tell Norah, how does she know I'm not lying like Braden? How…

Fuck, I am so screwed and confused.

"Braden, how could you do this?" I asked him, exasperatedly with a little more calmness.

He shook his head.

"I don't know."

Suddenly, the door opened and the nurse popped her head around the door, claiming that Norah was asking for Braden. He nodded and Nurse Rose withdrew her head from the door gap as Braden stood up, walking towards the room before stopping and turning around.

"I'll tell you when the time is right." was all he said in a sad tone before vanishing inside the office.

I was stunned.