Short Stories

I'm Sorry for Loving You [Part 1]

Ian slowly opens his eyes. He reaches for his phone on his nightstand, but can't seem to find it. His head is throbbing in pain. He closes his eyes again, thinking.
He barely remembers what happened last night. Julian's party was wild and there was a lot of drinking.
Veronica looked really good last night, he thinks. She had a beautiful black dress on, with very high heels and her blonde hair was hanging loose over her shoulders, the way Ian loves it so much.
But unfortunately for him, Veronica is Julian's younger sister and Julian and him have been best friends since they were four years old.
He sighs and decides he should get up and get some breakfast. As he opens his eyes for the second time that morning he notices why he couldn't find his phone on his nightstand... it's not his nightstand. And this is not his room.
He shoots upright and hastily looks around the room.
'Shit.' He sighs, knowing exactly who's room this is. It's not just some random girl... it's Veronica's room.
Around the bed are laying two sets of clothes: his and hers.
'Shit, shit, shit!' He exclaims.
The door opens. It scares Ian as he looks up. Luckily, it's Veronica.
'Good morning.' She awkwardly greets him as she holds a cup of coffee in her hands and takes a sip.
'Hey, uhm... did... did we..?'
Veronica nods. 'Yeah, we did.'
'Fuck.'
She chuckles. 'If you wanna go you should wait ten minutes. Julian's going over to Phoebe's. And my parents aren't getting home until 5 p.m..'
Ian shakes his head. 'No, no... I, uhm... do you remember last night?'
'Every little bit of it.'
His eyes widen in realisation. 'That was your first time, wasn't it?'
Veronica sighs and sits down next to him on the bed. 'Don't feel bad.'
'I'm sorry, Veronica.'
'Please, don't be.'
A silence falls between them.
'I'll make you some breakfast, freshen up.' Veronica eventually says.
'You really don't have to. I can just go if you want me to.' Ian replies.
She shakes her head. 'No, it's okay.'
Veronica smiles and walks back out the room. Ian sighs and gets up, quickly putting on his clothes scattered over the floor. He walks into the bathroom and fixes his messy hair a bit, even though he keeps it messy most the time.
'What did I do?' He whispers to himself as he stares into the mirror.
He pulls himself together and head downstairs to the kitchen he knows all too well, visiting this house almost every day.
Veronica is standing in the kitchen, preparing some pancakes for Ian, knowing it's his favorite.
'Pancakes?' Ian asks with a slight smile, trying to hide it from his face.
'They're your favorite. I used to make them for you guys all the time, remember?' Veronica says.
'That was when you were into baking. That was three years ago.'
She nods. 'Well, I still like baking, but I just like dancing more.'
'Wait, you dance?' Ian asks surprised.
'Yeah, I started three years ago. You didn't know?'
He shakes his head. 'No. Where do you dance?'
'At Rachel's Dance Club. Saturday morning at 8.'
'Blair dances there at 9. How come I've never run into you?'
Veronica puts the pancakes on a plate and sets them in front of Ian, just sitting down at the kitchen island. 'Maybe because I avoid you.'
Ian scoffs. 'What? Why?'
'I didn't want to distract you. Blair is always so happy when you stay and watch. Plus... I don't want you to see me all sweaty.'
He laughs. 'Really?'
'I mean, yeah. It's embarrassing.' Veronica says, sitting down opposite him. 'Once I stayed almost all of Blair's lesson to watch. I'd hoped you'd notice me eventually, but you kept on watching her and you seemed so proud and... I don't know. How old is she now?'
'She actually just turned six.'
'Wow. We should really hang out with the four of us sometime again.'
'Yeah.' Ian nods.
For the second time this morning there's a silence. They're both thinking, thoughts racing through their minds.
After Ian's finished his breakfast, he decides to say something. 'Do... do you want me to go?'
Veronica shakes her head. 'I don't know.'
'Do you want to talk about it, Veronica?' He asks.
'Can you please just call me Ronnie, like you always do?' Veronica asks annoyed.
'Sorry, didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable.'
'No, I'm sorry. I mean... do you want to talk about it?'
Ian shrugs. 'I don't really remember much, to be honest.'
Veronica's face drops. A tear rolls down her cheeck. Ian quickly gets up and walks over to her, taking her in his arms as she cries.
'I'm so sorry, Ronnie. Please don't be sad.' He apologizes.
'No.' She sobs. 'I just-'
Veronica wipes her tears away with her sleeve and shakes her head. 'I'm sorry.'
Ian holds her tight as she cries her eyes out.
'You have nothing to be sorry for. I should've handled it better. I was drunk and-'
'No, you don't get it!' Veronica says, taking a step back to look at Ian. 'I ruined everything, Ian.'
'I don't understand.'
Veronica sighs and sits back down. 'Maybe you should just go.'
Ian nods. 'If you ever want to talk about it-'
'I know. Thanks, Ian.'
'Bye.'
'Bye.'
Ian turns and leaves the kitchen, taking his coat from the coat rack and walking out the front door. As the door closes behind him, he stops to think for a second. What just happened?