annie
jayden had been... off. i can't explain it. i just felt something different. there was something she wasn't telling me. i had tried to think of everything, but nothing made sense.
not until that night.
i was sitting on her bed. she hadn't said a word, but i knew she needed to talk. she was leaning on her headboard, fiddling with her thumbs. she looked so small and so broken.
"tell me what's wrong," i whispered, not wanting to speak louder in case i scared her.
"i can't." her voice was barely there.
"why?"
"because you won't look at me the same."
and i didn't understand how she could think that. she was jayden. i was annie. we were jayden and annie. no matter whether we were in front of the camera or just here, existing. we were as we always had been. so when she said i wouldn't look at her the same, i couldn't possibly think of what would make her believe that i could ever love her any less. that would be like every last star in the galaxy burning out before our very eyes.
"i will never, ever, stop loving you. no matter what. i promise you that."
a tear rolled down her cheek and she took a deep, rigid breath.
"i-i'm bisexual."
and that was it. that was what she had been keeping from me for so long. that was the breath she was holding and the tears she was saving that were now falling freely from her eyes. and all i wanted to do was hold her.
so i did.
"it's okay. i'm here. you're perfect." we rocked back and forth until she could finally breathe again, and i didn't want to let go. i couldn't let her go. not when this was how she was feeling.
i couldn't leave her broken like this.
"i still love you," i mumbled into her shoulder, "nothing will ever change that."
