Sometimes Pain's the Only Way that We Can Learn || ✖️Solby✖️

Chapter 5

(this chapter is in Sam's point of view)

From the trip, I had a pretty good idea of how things are here.

Colby seemed to enjoy it, and I found out we had a lot in common, so all in all, it was pretty good.

I got my keys out of my pocket, but before I opened the door, he spoke. "If you want, you can come to the party on Saturday night. You'll have a chance to meet new people," he said. "Thanks for the invite, I'll go," I replied.

When I got in, I decided I'd spend some time mentally preparing myself for Saturday. I know how his parties get, and now that I'm going to one, I need to get over my awkwardness in social situations.

The next two days were uneventful and went by fast, but Saturday came. When I woke up it was pretty late, probably because I went to sleep so late. I started to get ready after eating breakfast so I could have a bit of time to figure out how to not be so awkward.

By about 8:45 I knocked on the door and Colby answered it. "Hey man, what's up!" He said in an oddly cheerful tone that sounded kind of fake.

He lead me to the area where everyone was, and I took a deep breath, hoping I wouldn't mess things up too bad. He told me to follow him and he walked over to where there were less people. "Guys, this is Sam. Sam, this is Corey, Jake and Brennen, they're who I hang out with most," he said. "Hey, I'm Sam," I said with a small wave. "'Sup Sam, I'm Jake," the one with the piercings and dyed hair said. He looked like the definition of an e-boy. "I'm Corey," the guy sitting next to Jake said. "And I'm Brennen," the last guy said. "That's cool, um..." I said, almost immediately running out of things to say.

As time passed and I got a few drinks in, I started loosening up and interacting with people.

I was sitting with Colby and his friends when, out of the blue, he got up and said he'd be right back.

"Alright, does anyone else not notice how weird he's acting?" Corey asked, "he's always so loud and annoying." "Maybe he's just not feelin' it today," Brennen shrugged. 

I looked around for him and spotted him, just as he went outside.

"Well, I don't know, but he just left," I said. "I think I know what's up," Jake groaned, "let's go get him." 

We got up and left the room, stepping inside the elevator.

"So, what do you think it is?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure he's just thinking about his ex-girlfriend, as things are normally," Jake answered.  We got to the main floor and saw no sign of him, and figured he was outside.

We went outside and started looking for him, and Brennen suggested we split up. I went with Jake and we went left.

"So, what exactly happened?" I asked. "I'm not entirely sure, he said he broke up with her, and then about a week later found out she was already with someone else, and started wondering if she had already been seeing someone behind his back. He noticed her reaction seemed extra, but that it also could've been genuine, I think he's just a bit confused," he explained, "but when his mind starts to wander, he tends to get in trouble."

A small wave of concern came over me. If he's lost in his head while out wandering by himself in the middle of the night, what could happen?

We finally saw someone wandering the sidewalk dressed in black, about the same height and build as Colby, but it was too dark to see much else. "Colby!" We yelled. He kept walking.

Jake sighed and looked at me. We walked faster to catch up. As we got closer, we knew it was him. "Colby," Jake said, "You can't just be wandering around by yourself out here!"

He glanced at him then at me and gave us a sad look, still not saying anything. "Colby, what's going on?" I asked.

He shook his head, still refusing to say anything. I looked at Jake, who was on the phone, informing Corey and Brennen we'd found him. 

"I'll tell you what's up, but once we meet up with the other two, and let's go to your place," he said finally. I noticed that his voice sounded shaky.

We walked in the direction of the apartment in silence, meeting Corey and Brennen there. I unlocked the door and went into the living room, sitting down on the couch.

"So, what's up?" Jake asked. Colby took a deep breath and said, "I was right." "About?" He asked. "She did," he answered.

"I know it's in the past and that we're over and everything, but that fucking hurts," he sighed. "It's been close to a week and a half, but she called me earlier and told me she was seeing that guy for about five months before it ended and started rubbing it in my face," he said.

"I'd spent this whole time hating myself for breaking her heart and she has to come and tell me she didn't even want to be with me for a whole five months!" He yelled. "What the hell did I even do to deserve that?"

"Maybe you're not the one to blame," Brennen said. "No, I know it's on me," he objected. "It's always my fault. That's what she always said."

From the sound of it, she was toxic, and, in my opinion, he really needed to let go of her.

"Honestly, I don't think it's your fault," Jake said, patting his shoulder and trying to console him. "No, it was. I just know it."

"If she called just to rub it in your face that she cheated, she sounds like a bitch, and if she's that, it was probably on her own that she decided to cheat," I said. "It's not. She'd never do that without a reason, it's my fault!"

Moments later, the anger disappeared and he started crying uncontrollably. "What did I do wrong?" Was all he would say.

We all glanced nervously at one another.

"I'm just so bad. I mean have you seen him? I'm so ugly compared to him. Maybe that's it, I'm just all around disgusting, yeah that has to be it. He treats her like a queen, I couldn't even do that, and he's so attractive, and I'm just gross. I deserved it!"

Jake left my apartment and the rest of us followed him. "What are we doing?" I asked. "He's crashing at your place. There's too many people in his apartment and he needs some privacy right now," he answered.

I didn't exactly like the way he just said that out of the blue, but I agreed, so I just let it slide.

We went inside to his room, squeezing past all the people and grabbed a pillow and blanket and left.

Once back in my apartment, we set the pillow and blanket down and he got comfortable. He was still crying, but not as uncontrollably as before.

"Sorry for not asking before, but are you cool with him sleeping here?" Jake asked. "Yeah, it's fine," I said. "We're gonna go head back to his place and kick everyone out and try to clean the place up a bit, come over if you need anything," Jake said. "Alright, see you guys later," I muttered and waved.

Gosh, the poor guy. I mean, it's not uncommon to be cheated on, but it must be terrible to find out that someone you love or loved didn't exactly feel the same, but I also think it's incredibly cowardly to do that.

Imagine not having the guts to break up with someone so you just hurt them even more.

I went to my room and got ready to go to sleep, but obviously that was pretty hard.