The New Separation (Book 2)

Chapter 11

Elliot

Tears were running down my face by the time I got to the car. How could he do this to me? Today, of all days, too. I should have known something was up, but I didn't really expect him to break up with me like that.

I didn't know what to do. Here I was, sitting in the car, in a completely different state, crying my eyes out. I didn't think I could drive anywhere right now, but I also couldn't stay here, staring at his dorm building on his campus, thinking about him.

I managed to calm myself down after a few minutes to think. I couldn't drive all the way back home right now, especially because moms would know something happened as soon as I came back this early. I had been planning on possibly staying the night, or at least a whole lot longer than this. I didn't need their questions and pitying expressions making me feel even worse than I already did.

There was one option, however. I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through my notes. It's gotta be her somewhere, at least as long as I hadn't deleted it. Finally, I found it - the address of Josh's apartment. Colton and I had needed it last year to pull a prank on them for April Fool's Day. I remember how we spent weeks planning it.

I stopped thinking, wiping a tear from under my eye. I couldn't think about him right now. It hurt too much. So instead, I put the address into my GPS and pulled out of the parking space.

Thankfully, their apartment wasn't too far away and sort of on the way home anyway. I really hope they were there. It was a Friday night. What if they went out tonight? Then what would I do?

About an hour later, I was pulling up in front of the apartment complex. From the looks of it, at least one of their lights were on, so that should mean someone was there, right?

I took another couple seconds to make sure I didn't look like I had been crying. Maybe if I didn't look like a mess, they wouldn't ask too many questions. Right now, I just wanted to forget about everything.

When I finally managed to go inside and knock on the door, it was Kyle who answered. Kyle, who looked so much like his brother, except with slightly shorter hair and a bit more stubble along his chin.

"Elliot?" he asked, confused.

That's when I lost it, hearing my name in a voice so similar to his. I burst into tears, sobbing almost as badly as I had when I first ran out of his dorm building. I couldn't help it. I should have known coming here was a bad idea.

Kyle pulled me inside, shouting my brother's name over his shoulder as he shut the door behind me. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the couch with Josh standing in front of me, looking panicked.

"What happened?" he demanded. "Is everyone alright? Are moms okay?"

I shook my head, trying to calm myself down. "They're fine," I said between sniffles. "Everyone's fine." Except me.

"Elliot." Josh sat down next to me, grabbing a box of tissues and offering them to me. "What's wrong? Please talk to me."

I wiped my nose with a tissue. "He broke up with me." Then I started telling him what happened. At some point, Kyle came over and sat on Josh's other side, probably after I kept cursing his brother's name and he was curious.

"He promised we'd stay together!" I exclaimed when I finished the story, my voice cracking from crying so much. "How could he do this to me?"

"He may be my brother," Kyle said, "but he's a dick."

I nodded, trying once again to stop the tears from falling. I failed.

"Sorry. Do you want me to leave?"

I looked at Kyle. He seemed like he really did care, but he was right. I didn't need him here, not when looking at Kyle made me think of him. Sort of nodding, I gave him a small smile. "Sorry. It's just... I don't know."

"Nope, don't worry. I get it." Then he whispered something into Josh's ear before giving him a kiss and standing up. I watched him grab a laptop off the table and head into their bedroom, pushing Leo back in (who had just walked out, shirtless - I didn't want to know).

"Did you want to talk?" Josh asked quietly.

I shrugged. "What's there to say? He broke my heart, Josh. I loved him. It hurts, so badly."

"I know. It's going to hurt, for a long time, because heartbreaks suck. Believe me, they're not easy to get over, but you will. The pain will end, I can promise you that."

"But I don't want to get over it. I just want him."

Colton

At some point, I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up when the door banged open. Sitting straight up, I wiped any remaining tears from my eyes as Danny flipped on the light, blinding me for a second.

"Dude, you look like shit," he said, slamming the door behind him. "What happened?"

I shook my head. "I'm fine." There was no reason to talk to him about my problems. I had already done that enough earlier. He didn't care about me, not really.

"You look like you got your heart broken," he pressed on as he started emptying books out of his backpack. "Finally tell him the truth and he break up with you?"

I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped open. "You don't care that I was dating a guy?" I asked.

Danny stopped moving his stuff around to look at me. "No? Why would I?"

"I totally thought you were homophobic. When we moved in... those two girls you saw...?"

He had to think for a second. "Oh... yeah. I don't care about their genders, it's people taking up the hallway to make out that bothers me. Did you really think I'm the type of person to judge that quickly based on something so trivial?"

I shrugged, but was relieved nonetheless. Although that just made me feel so much more guilty. I should never have been scared, then all of this wouldn't have happened. But then again, there's the reason I didn't say anything.

"I didn't know you," I said quietly. Still don't, not really, although I was getting to see a different side of him today. Was it because I kinda opened up to him this morning? I wasn't sure, and I totally wasn't about to ask that.

Before Danny could say anything else, there was a rapid knocking on our door. Since he was still standing, he went over and pulled it open.

Aleena pushed her way in. "Colton. Good, you're here. I need your help with this homework." Just as she was about to dump her backpack on to my bed next to me, she stopped. "Why do you look awful? What happened?"

I scoffed, unable to help myself. "You happened."

Aleena gasped. "Your girlfriend broke up with you because we had sex?"

"Wait, I thought you were gay?"

We both looked at Danny, who was trying his hardest to figure things out on his own. I shook my head, but Aleena spoke before I could. "Colton, gay? That's funny. He was definitely into it when we were in my room together last week."

"Aleena, enough," I said, rather harshly. "I don't have a girlfriend and I never have. My boyfriend and I broke up today, on our two year anniversary, because I couldn't deal with the guilt of what we did."

"Shit." She whispered the word, sinking down on the bed next to me. "I slept with a gay guy? Holy shit. That's, like, an accomplishment."

I groaned in frustration, standing up. I needed to get away from her, but there was only so far I could go in my own room. "Just leave, Aleena, okay? I'm not gay, I'm bi. I had my heart broken today and it's like you don't even care. I thought you were my friend."

"Colton-"

"Just please, Aleena." I shook my head, looking down at the floor. "I can't deal with this right now."

Without another word, she got up and left the room. Danny stayed a few more minutes before telling he was heading to the library if I needed him. Then I was left alone. I was glad to be alone, at least for tonight.