Run to You

16

When I wake up, I don't open my eyes immediately. Instead, I reach out to pull Mitch closer, only to find that he's not there. His side of the bed is cold and empty. I sit up immediately, scanning the room to find it completely empty. Heart pounding, I stand up, about to search my house, when I notice a sheet of paper sitting on Mitch's pillow. I pick it up.

Scott

I'm so sorry, but I have to go. I know you'll be upset with me, but I hope some day you'll see that this is for the better. You're such an amazing person, but I need to be on my own now. Thank you so much for being an amazing friend, and for supporting me whenever you could.

Please don't try to find me. I truly think it's time we both move on. I love you so much. Goodbye.

-Mitch

I stare at the note. It can't be real. I only just got him back, and now he's gone? I set the note on the bed. I just feel numb. I keep repeating to myself that this isn't happening. That this is just a bad dream. But I know it's real.

Did he just not want me anymore? Was he just trying to let me down gently?

"God damn it, Mitch," I mumble, wiping away my tears. "Why do you do this to me?" I don't have enough energy to get up. So I don't. I just curl up in a ball, crying. I really thought Mitch and I might have a future together. I thought that he was going to stay this time. I thought he cared enough not to hurt me like he did before. But I guess I was wrong.

---

I gaze blankly at the empty vodka bottle in my hand. I got it just today, and now it's all gone. Just like Mitch. At that thought, I throw the glass bottle at the floor, sobbing as I watch it shatter into a million glittering shards. I want Mitch back. I need him. He's my other half. Or at least, he was until he left me, just like before. But hey, at least this time he had the decency to write me a note.

But it's not his fault. Maybe he was just scared. After all, one of our friends attacked him in a bathroom at a bar. Anger boils up inside me. I still need to know who it was so I can beat their ass.

"I love him," I mumble to myself. "I love him so much."

Standing up, I slowly trudge to my room, swaying because of the affect the alcohol had on me. I just need to sleep.

---

The next morning, the sound of someone knocking on my door wakes me up. I groan, sitting up and stretching. Maybe it's Mitch. Maybe he changed his mind and decided he wanted to stay after all. But even while I think this, I know it's not true. He's never coming back.

I walk to the front door, swinging it open to find Alex at the door. He looks me over.

"Damn, Scotty. You look like a mess. What happened?" I step to the side, silently giving him permission to step inside.

"Mitch left," I say brokenly once he's inside. "He's gone." For a moment, something unreadable flickers in Alex's brown eyes, but it vanishes a second later.

"I'm so sorry, Scotty. It's not your fault." He hugs me, but his embrace doesn't feel as good as Mitch's. "I can't believe he would abandon you again. He really is heartless." I pull away from Alex, shaking my head.

"I don't think so. We were talking the night before he left, and he seemed so terrified." Alex stiffens slightly.

"Of what?" I take a deep breath.

"Someone attacked him that night we all went out to the bar together. He had a giant bruise that covered almost his entire neck. And I'm 99% sure it was one of our friends. I swear to God, when I find out who, I'm gonna beat their ass." Alex frowns.

"Are you sure he wasn't lying?" I glare at him. "I mean, he obviously thrives off of your attention. Maybe he decided to fake it so that you would give him more."

"Mitch wouldn't do that. He wasn't lying. I could see the fear in his eyes."

"He's an actor. You know this. You've been in theater together since you were 10. You always say that the first thing you noticed about him was how good he was at acting." I clench my fists.

"I can't believe you would say that about someone I love," I shout.

"You don't love him," he suddenly screams. "Whatever you have with that slut is not love. Honestly, I think it's a good thing that he's gone." I grab him by the front of the shirt.

"How dare you? He has been hurt so much, and you are just so insensitive! What the hell is wrong with you?" Alex has a wild, crazy look in his eyes that I've never seen before.

"So what if that freak was attacked in a damn bathroom. He was probably asking for it!" I open my mouth to say something else, but then I pause, thinking carefully about the conversation up to this point. Then, I look at him, my head clouded with rage.

"It was you. You attacked him." His eyes widen, and he struggles frantically to get out of my grip.

"Don't be ridiculous, Scott. I would never!"

"I never said he was attacked in the bathroom. And with everything you've said about him today makes you sound pretty guilty. Just tell me, Alex. Why the hell did you do it?" As he gives up trying to play innocent, his expression morphs into a much darker one, filled with fury.

"He deserved it," he growls. "He thought that after all that time I spent getting close to you, helping you recover from him abandoning you the first time, that he could just step in and steal you away. And so I told him the truth: that he's a worthless whore, and you were going to get tired of him soon." I throw him to the ground, and he lets out a scream of pain as he lands in the broken glass from last night.

"Get your ass out of my house and never ever talk to me again."