Anywhere With You • {J.C.}

||Forty-Six|Something Bad||

For the entire drive home, Harlow cried. From the moment she closed Julian's apartment door, the tears came pouring down. She couldn't believe what she had done—what they had done. Not only did Harlow lose her estranged best friend, she had also done the unthinkable by sleeping with him. She was upset with herself for falling into Julian's obscurity. He was practically a stranger now and yet, she had given her body to a man she didn't know anymore.

He was different now—more sad and careless. That small light she had once saw in his eyes was barely there—it was dim now with no will to glow.

But that was the least of Harlow's problems—cutting Julian from her life for good was the lesser of her troubles. She had a man waiting for her at home—probably sound asleep—under the impression that she was innocently staying with her mother as she had claimed.

Tyler wasn't just some boyfriend, no, they lived together. For nearly two years, Tyler had been Harlow's life partner—her chosen life partner.

Which was why she didn't even have time to wash the smell of Julian off her skin before crumbling on the sofa—losing herself completely in her emotions. She muffled the sounds of her uncontrollable sobs with her hands, practically suffocating herself with her wet palms. She wanted to die—she wanted to reverse what had been done. Harlow never would've slept with Julian had she known his reaction after the deed was done.

Tyler stumbled through the apartment in a sleepy stagger—his eyes widening at the sight of Harlow slumped on the arm of the couch, crying into her hands. Her legs were tucked into her chest as her shoulders shook. By the looks of it, something terrible had happened—possibly a death. By the way Harlow sobbed, it wouldn't have surprised Tyler had that death been her own mother.

Tyler had never seen Harlow so visibly shaken—so emotionally torn up in the years he had known her. He hadn't even had time to use the toilet, not to mention brush his teeth. But seeing how distraught Harlow was, morning breath seemed to be the least of their problems.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tyler made his way to the couch, plopping next to the crying beauty. Her bloodshot eyes wavered his way, but only for a moment. Fresh tears began to spring from her eyes at his kind concern.

Tyler reached for his girlfriend, making a desperate attempt to comfort her. But Harlow shook her head, scooting further down the couch away from his touch. "Don't. Don't touch me, please." She sniffled, wrapping her slender arms around her legs. Harlow rested her chin on her knees, remembering that Julian had done the same, but from a different angle. The thought caused her stomach to twist—pain somewhere other than the back of her throat arising.

"Harlow, look at me, please. What's wrong- what's going on? Why are you so upset?" Tyler pleaded, ignoring her demand of keeping his hands to himself.

"I did something... something bad." She admitted, wondering if Tyler could smell the scent of another on her skin. It had to be obvious, right? What she had done was in plain view—written right on her face.

"What do you mean?... What happened to you? A-a-are you okay? Did someone hurt you?"

Harlow was shaking her head, her face contorting in sheer distress. Without missing a beat, she said it. "I cheated on you."

Tyler's concern quickly vanished—his face fell at the thought of Harlow in bed with another man. It was so out of the blue—so out of left field that at first, he thought she was joking. But when seeing the guilt had yet to leave her eyes, Tyler knew it wasn't a joke.

He slowly moved away from her, sighing softly before calmly cradling his head in his hands—his elbows on his knees. He saw his face—that pretty boy from the Lounge—the face of the band that was slowly losing it's momentum. "It was Julian... wasn't it?" Tyler asked; already knowing that it was.

"I'm so sorry, Tyler... I'm so sorry- I didn't mean for it to happen, it just... it just happened."

"And you didn't think about me once while it was happening? Not once?"

"Tyler-"

"Just answer the question, Harlow. Did you think about me at all while you were with him?" Tyler hadn't raised his voice at all, but his tone had become stern.

"Yes... I even tried to stop it, but-"

"So he raped you?" Tyler scoffed, knowing that wasn't what happened. "Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"No."

"So you thought about me- I crossed your mind and yet... you still went through with it?"

"I'm sorry." Harlow whispered; she had no excuse for what she had done—no explanation as to how or why she ended up in Julian's bed with her thighs wrapped around his waist.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I trusted you. Was going to your mom's a lie, too? Or did you know where you were going before you went there?"

"Tyler-" Harlow began to protest—she wanted to spare him the details.

"It's the least you owe me... the truth."

"Fab told me that Julian wanted to see me, it wasn't supposed to be like this-"

"So you didn't plan to have sex with him, it just happened? But, you knew it was a possibility, right?"

"No-"

"I think you did- I think you knew because you lied to me. Why else would you tell me you were visiting your mom when really, it was to see an old boyfriend-"

"He was never my boyfriend."

"Oh, so... fuck buddy, yeah, because that sounds so much better." Tyler stood from the sofa with a drawn out sigh, scratching the nape of his neck.

"I only went to see him to say goodbye-"

"You told him goodbye nearly two years ago. Or has this been going on for a while?"

"No! No, this is the first time I've seen him since that night at the lounge, I swear."

Silence fell over the room—the only thing breaking up the quietness was the sound of Harlow's sniffles. "Did you at least use protection?"

Once again, silence.

"Please don't make me answer that." Harlow whispered, begging Tyler to save himself from the details.

He nodded with pursed lips—Harlow didn't have to answer, he already knew. "It's alright. I, um... I lied to you, too. I wasn't out playing poker with the guys." Tyler mumbled, starting back toward the hall. "I was actually with my mom, getting my grandmother's ring... to ask you to marry me."

"Tyler..." Harlow whispered, feeling as though she had fallen from the highest point of the earth—plummeting straight down.

"I'm glad this happened. I'm glad you showed me where your heart really is. That way, I don't have to waste mine anymore." Tyler started to leave. He needed to get his things and remove himself from the situation until further arrangements were made.