salem sat criss-crossed in front of her closet. today was the day she had to confront ryan. she had been dreading friday all week, and now that it was finally here, she regretted her decision to let ryan come over.
when she got home from work, she watched some documentary on penguins with tavia. when tavia left for her date with matt, she scrambled up off the couch and pulled open her closet door.
she rummaged through her closet, pulling out clothing items that she knew were his. all of his clothes were too big for her and were brands she never wore, like stussy and huf.
she didn't get why he wore these brands, because he would complain about his pay at the gas station.
she came across ciarán's flannel, which was bound to happen. her feelings got the best of her, so she slipped it on. she pulled the cloth up to her nose, inhaling his scent.
she inadvertently got sidetracked when she put on his flannel, and she looked through their text messages, sighing at how unproblematic they were last week.
she found the photos that ciarán had sent her, and let out a "fuck" at how attractive he was.
suddenly, she realized ciarán was distracting her from getting rid of her ex's stuff. she threw her phone onto her bed, but not before putting on some music.
she was humming along to c u girl by steve lacy when she heard a couple of knocks on the door.
she got up, her legs wobbling a bit from how long she had been sitting on the floor. she got her phone and checked the time.
great. right on time.
she shuffled her feet, not wanting to open the door immediately. she took a deep breath before opening it.
"i miss you." were the first words that left ryan's mouth.
salem winced, suddenly feeling a rush of guilt consume her.
"come inside, let's talk." she opened the door slowly, letting him in.
he went for the couch, strolling into the living room with his hands in his pockets. she sat down too, but left a distance of about a foot between them.
"so, how's your new boyfriend?" he asked in a bitter tone.
she bit her lip, hesitating. she didn't know whether or not she should tell him the truth. "let's not talk about ciarán. he has nothing to do with us breaking up." she mentally thanked herself for coming up with such a good answer in a short amount of time.
"no offense sae, but ciarán looks homeless. i don't get why you left me for him."
salem was losing her patience already, and it hadn't even been five minutes. "don't talk about ciarán like that." she said through clenched teeth. she really did care about ciarán, and she wasn't going to tolerate her ex talking shit about him. "it obviously wasn't working out anymore between us." she mumbled resentfully.
his eyes softened, "i'm sorry, baby. i wasn't thinking clearly when i called you. i swear i'd do anything just to get you back."
salem cringed at hearing him utter the word 'baby.' she was not his baby, nor would she ever be.
"i think that's sweet and all, and i'm sorry to say this, but i've moved on."
ryan may not have liked it, but it was the painful truth. in the past few weeks, salem had grown attached to ciarán and had fallen for him. she really had moved on, quicker than she thought she would, and ryan just had to accept that.
"just give me another chance, please." he begged, grabbing her hands.
she shook her head solemnly. "when you broke up with me, i realized it should've happened sooner. our relationship wasn't going anywhere and i just didn't feel the same way about you."
suddenly, ryan yanked his hands away from her's. he stood up, "it's because of ciarán isn't it? he got in the way of us. our relationship was going well until you met him."
salem scoffed in disbelief. she crossed her arms, "i hadn't even talked to ciarán until after you broke up with me."
"really, now? you must've moved on really fast because i saw you sucking each other's faces off at the party. then, he even carried you upstairs!"
salem paused, trying to recall the night she met ciarán. "i was drunk that night. i don't remember much, but all i wanted to do was forget about you." she played with her fingers, not wanting to look up at him.
"so you were using him as a rebound? is he even your boyfriend, salem?" ryan scoffed coldly.
at the word rebound, salem quickly stood up. she took a few steps toward her ex. "he's not just a rebound, ryan. god, why can't you just drop the topic of ciarán?!" she threw her hands up in the air dramatically.
in the silence that followed, a few knocks could be heard at the door.
"wonder who that could be." ryan rolled his eyes, earning a glare from salem.
she walked over to the front door, twisting the doorknob and cracking it slightly. her eyes widened, but her shock quickly went away.
"you can't be here."
a/n: yall i'm in san francisco right now on vacation and it's such a stunning city ?!! anyway i got the musty ciarán flannel and now i don't know how to act
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