The Broken Tale

I can't anymore

Song: The Truth Untold by Bts

Layla sat by the window, she clutched the cold glass in her hands, the strong smell of whiskey contaminated her breath. The cold wind blew at her and sent the tree branches in the garden dancing in the breeze. But all Layla could do was sit and watch from behind the glass window. Her eyes were sore and dry, she had shed all of her tears the past two days. She drank down yet another glass of the cold whiskey, feeling the cold rush run down her veins fail to stop the bleeding in her heart. She looked up at the pitch black night sky. The stars were nowhere to be seen that night and neither was the moon, it was completely dark. Her body hurt but the pain in her heart drowned out any physical aches.
That night had been flashing before her eyes time and time again for the past two days, draining all air from her lungs every time, the memory was like knives stabbing through her heart each time she recalled it.

...two days ago...
Layla froze. Time stood still, it felt like the stars themselves shut out on her.
"Are you fucking happy now? I love you! Why did I do what I did last night? When the woman you've been falling for asks you for it herself, it's not easy to say no! You're right, I'm a bastard and I've calling myself that for months! It killed me to see you in that hospital bed, it killed me to see those bruises and burns on you, knowing that I couldn't do anything about it!"
He started to pace around her, holding his head in his hands.
"I want to just take you and leave but I know it'll get you killed! I know by getting close to you, I'm endangering you! I hate myself and everything here! I love you and I hate myself for it!"
Layla could only stare at him. His words soon blurred into nothing, she could see his lips moving but couldn't hear a word he said.
"But you're always on my fucking tail and digging my damn head in! How am I supposed to stay away from you when you're following me around, Layla?"
"Then don't!" Layla blurted mindlessly, "I don't want to lose anyone! Don't fucking stay away from me!"
Brian laughed as if she had just told him the most hilarious joke.
"He. Will. Kill. You." He said loudly, "I can't fucking look at you without wanting to rip Ali's brains out! I need to fucking control myself for your sake but I can't if you're always around me!"
"I don't care, you're my friend!"
"Why don't you get this? Layla, every time I see you, I feel like my heart will jump out of my chest, I can't be around you without Ali noticing that, alright? Ali's a bastard but he's smart, this won't escape his notice! And once he notices, you bet he'll snap both of our necks!"
Layla put her hands over her ears and shut her eyes as she shook her head. She refused to believe what was happening around her.
"No, no, no, no!" She said over and over again to herself, "You're such a bastard! Why do you have to love me out of all the girls in the goddamn world? Why do bad things run around the entire world just to find me?"
Brian's blue eyes were fixated on her. She felt her phone buzz in her hands with a text. It took her a moment to bring herself to break from Brian's eyes and check her texts.

Ali:
I have work, hurry up and get out here.

Layla:
Ok.

Ali:
I'll wait by the car.

She looked up from her phone to Brian's beautiful and tearful gaze. Only one thought ran through her head. It didn't matter to her whether Ali would kill her or not, whether he would find out or not, whether she loved Brian back or not. The one thing that she could think of was whether or not she would lose Brian now.
"You should go now." Brian whispered breathlessly.
Layla couldn't bring any words out. There wasn't much she wanted to say, but that one ringing question kept popping up in her head. She opened her mouth to ask but Brian shook his head. He leaned in close to her until she could feel his breath on her face. He held her by both shoulders, his warm hands sent shivers down her cold spine.
"We can't control who we fall for but we can choose whether we act on what we feel or not." He said, grinning sadly down at her, "I can't act on whatever I feel for you, Laili, for both of our sakes and I don't expect you to return my feelings. You need to focus on your own safety, you need to survive until you get away from Ali. You don't need another mad guy chasing after you even if that man is me."
Layla stared deep into his ocean blue eyes shimmering in the moonlight. A small voice in the back of her head told her that this was goodbye.