Inevitable

Half truths

My week started out crazy. I had classes all day and work on Monday. To add to my stress, Liam texted me. He wanted to meet up and talk. I had promised Henry I would keep my distance but there was so much history with Liam. I decided to give him one last chance to salvage our friendship. I agreed to meet him for dinner on Tuesday. I hoped I didn't regret it.
Henry had a paper to write so he was spending the next few days in the library. I decided not to tell him about seeing Liam. I didn't want to fight with him about it when we had less than two weeks left. I would tell him eventually. Just not right now.
     When it came time for dinner with Liam, I was feeling guilty about keeping it from Henry. It was wrong to keep secrets from each other. I would tell him next time I saw him. His paper was due tomorrow so we made plans to hang out tomorrow night.
   I agreed to meet Liam at the Chinese restaurant we loved. Our last meal here was sort of a disaster. Hopefully, this meal would go more smoothly. As I approached, I could see that Liam was waiting for me by the front door. When I reached him, he pulled me in for a hug. I felt a little uncomfortable after the way he tried to kiss me at the party over the weekend.

"Hey Em! I'm so happy you agreed to meet me."

I pulled myself out of his hug and made my way inside the restaurant. We were seated immediately. Once we got settled and the waiter took our drink order, it got awkwardly silent. I didn't know what to say. It felt like maybe we had gone past the point of no return in our friendship. If that was the case, I was really sad that he wouldn't be in my life anymore.

"Em, I'm not sure what to say. I'm so ashamed of myself. I should have never tried to kiss you on Friday night. I'm not that guy. I don't try to force myself on girls. Even if I'm in love with them. I'm really sorry. Please forgive me."

"Liam, if you are truly sorry and promise to back off, then I can forgive you. I don't want to lose your friendship. But you need to respect the fact that I'm with Henry."

"I know, I know. I'm throwing in the towel. I get it now after seeing you with him. I just hope he's good enough for you. You deserve the world."

"Thank you. That's sweet of you to say."

"Just answer me one question and I promise to drop it. If Henry had never come into the picture, would you be with me?"

How could I answer that? I knew the answer was yes but I was afraid it would give Liam false hope. And that's not what happened so it didn't matter now. Why would he want to torture himself?

"Liam, I don't think it's a good idea to think that way."

"Why? Because the answer is yes?"

"If I had never met Henry, then yes we probably would be together. But I did meet him and I fell in love with him. And now we have to move on from that as friends."

"Okay, I'll let it go. I just want you in my life. If that means only having you as a friend, then I guess I have to accept it."

I was so relieved with how this conversation was going. It was better than I expected. Maybe Liam could still be a part of my life. We ordered our usual and Liam told me all about his experiences with the frat this past year. He planned on actually living at the frat house next year. I couldn't imagine how annoying that would be. But Liam was much more social than I was. I relaxed and it was starting to feel like old times. I missed hanging out with him.
    We talked for a while and before I knew it, we were the only customers left in the restaurant and it was obvious they wanted to close up. We paid our bill and walked out. We stood on the sidewalk still talking for a little while. I finally said goodbye and headed back to my dorm. I felt so much better now that I had resolved things with Liam.
      When I got back to my room, I texted Jess to let her know how my night went. She was even more angry at his behavior at the party than I was. I also texted Henry to find out how his paper was going. I got ready for bed but still didn't hear back from him. That was unusual for him. I needed to go to sleep since I had my big presentation in the morning so I sent him another text.

"Going to bed. Hope everything is ok. Love u. Goodnight."

I turned out the light and got into bed. Thirty minutes later I was still awake and still hadn't heard back from Henry. I was starting to get a little worried. He always responded to my texts. Maybe his phone died in the library. Or maybe he was just so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice his messages. I tried to push it out of my mind and go to sleep. I was sure there would be a message waiting for me when I woke up.
     There wasn't. I sent him another one when I got up asking if he was okay. He still didn't answer me. I couldn't wait around any longer. I had to get to class. I did my presentation and I was feeling very confident about it. As soon as I got out of class, I called Henry to tell him that I did a good job. He didn't answer. His classes didn't start for a few hours. Maybe he was sleeping. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on.
    The rest of my day was torture. I was constantly checking my phone to see if Henry got in touch with me. We were suppose to hang out tonight after I got off of work. What if I didn't hear from him at all? What if he found out I had dinner with Liam and he was pissed at me? I really hope that wasn't the case. I wanted to be the one to tell him. But that's the only thing that made any sense.
     After I got off work, I walked back to my dorm. Henry was sitting on our bench waiting for me. I was relieved until I saw his face. He looked angry.

"Em, we need to talk."