It Had to Be You (A Christian Yelich Story)

Chapter 10: Anything

Christian just shrugged. No words escaped his lips.

Anna wasn't sure what he meant by it, but she decided to proceed with her explanation regardless of his lack of blatant approval. "I'm so sorry. I know how this looks." Her voice trembled a bit. "First of all, I've known Eric since he played baseball in Korea. I met him there while visiting a friend who was teaching English at the time."

Christian's eyes looked even more hurt and disappointed. "So you lied."

"And you looked through my personal items without permission. We both made mistakes."

Christian shook his head disapprovingly. "I was at least honest about sneaking through your shit. You flat out lied to my fucking face. Multiple times. Once when you said you met him in November. Again when you said you were meeting friends tonight. You probably lied about the friend in San Diego too. You went out with Eric then as well, didn't you?" Christian was angry at this point. Even his face was reddening.

Anna took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Eric and I are friends. We've been friends since we met. The Brewers were already alware I had a pre-existing relationship with him when they hired me, so I knew I wouldn't be judged for spending time with him in public. Please try to understand . . ."

Christian cut her off. "This all just sounds like a bunch of convenient fucking bullshit, and I think you know it." His tone was rattled and harsh. He ran both of his hands through his hair in frustration. "You should go. I need to get to bed."

"Christian, please listen. I like you. I wanted to protect what we have going, whatever that is. I know I lied, and I know it was shitty of me to do so, but I had our collective best interest in mind."

"Have you fucked him, Anna?"

Anna was hurt he was moving the conversation in this direction. "We never had sex. We went on a few dates, and we came close a couple of times, but we never followed through with it. We decided it was best to just remain friends over a year ago."

Christian almost looked in physical pain. "You seemed awfully close tonight."

"Just friends, Christian," she whispered, but she knew she was losing the argument.

"I'll see you around, Anna." Christian ended the conversation the way he had started it — with a shrug — and opened the door to signal she should leave.

Anna took the hint, but instead of returning to her room, she made her way to 306. She knocked on the door and hoped he was still awake.

Her heart jumped when the door opened. "Anna?" a groggy voice questioned her. "What's going on?"

Anna instantly started sobbing. She had only known Christian for a short while, but she was quickly discovering that their relationship actually meant something to her. She looked forward to him, and the idea of losing that feeling of excitement in her life made her stomach flip flop. She actually thought she might vomit.

"I don't feel good," she muttered through her tears.

Eric embraced her into a warm hug and then invited her into his room. "I told you not to eat that ice cream."

"I know. You're so wise," she joked while trying to stifle her sobs. "I should always listen to you."

"I know he's mad at you, but he'll come around. Don't fret too much."

They sat on the side of Eric's bed, and Eric leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Do you want to stay here tonight? You can watch me play video games for a bit. That always calms you down."

Anna nodded her head aggressively. "Yes, I'd like that a lot, actually.

Eric chuckled. "Or I could help you pull yourself together and you can return your cute butt to Christian's room and tell him how you feel about him right now."

"I like the easier the option. The one with the video games. Anyway, I don't know how to verbalize how I feel, so it's probably best to just cuddle with you tonight."

Eric sighed. "Anna, you're one of my favorite people, but you're not great at taking chances on others. Let me help you take this chance."

"Do you even like Christian that much? Isn't he sorta boring? Like blah blah blah baseball blah blah blah burritos." She did a terrible Christian impression.

"I like Christian a lot! If I didn't, I wouldn't want him near you. And, yeah, he's a little bland, but there's nothing wrong with that. Not everyone can be as spicy as me, ya know?"

"You want me to be with a bland man?"

"I want you to be with the man who can make you the happiest. If that's Christian, great. If it's Matt Damon, cool. If it's Kanye West, maybe not."

Eric smiled while he joked, but Anna could see a hint of sadness in his eyes. He was such a happy person most of the time that any hint of unhappiness was easy to read on his face. "Go see him. Make him listen to you."

Anna chewed on her lip before kissing Eric's cheek. "Will you walk me over there to help make me brave?"

Eric smiled. "Anything for you. Anything,"