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Chapter 21 Trip

Andy's pov

Of corse she tries to run out on me. I catch her by the elevator, her shoes in her hand.

"Lenny, please," I say looking at her pleadingly.

"No." she turns and faces me. "no more begging and wanting and 'please just hang out with me a little bit Lenny' or 'please just kiss me a little long or stay in my room a little longer Lenny."

"I was in love with you," I answer simply.

"You had a girlfriend!" Her breath is ragged.

"I wasn't in love with her. I told you. I was going to break up with her."

"Going to," she mimics. "but you didn't did you? You let her OD in my parent's hotel! You left her like some piece of trash."

"I didn't leave her!" I begin to yell then stop myself. "I-I called the ambulance. I practically saved her from dying. I still feel awful that I cheated on her but she cheated on me too. For much worse reasons than being in love with somebody else."

"You could have broken up with her. She deserved that much."

"Since when do you give a fuck about what she deserves?" I look at her incredulously.

"Since I realized how awful of a person I was when I got together with you. I knew, deep, deep, down that it was wrong. But-but," she stutters, "love makes people do crazy things. Doesn't it." It's not a question.

"I broke up with her," I say it quickly and she blinks, taken aback. "After she woke up in the hospital. I visited her a lot after she woke up, but she couldn't talk for two months. The whole time she wouldn't speak I told her about.. about us," I motion to myself and then her. "She didn't get mad. She started talking one day and told me what she did when I was with you. Then we broke up. Mutual respect."

"Good," she looks down at her phone. "I need to go. I have work and my roommate will be worried."

"Let me walk you home. It's late and there are some fucked up people in New York," I just go for it.

She rolls her eyes. "I live here. I think I know how to get around my home city."

"Please," I look at her pleadingly. "It can be my prize for winning the bet."

"Wasn't the conversation we just had enough?" She raises her eyebrows.

I stick out my bottom lip, trying my best to be humorous in the extremely tense situation.

"Does it mean that much to you?"

"Yep."

"Fine," she rolls her eyes and pushes the down button on the elevator.

We ride down to the street level in silence, Lenny refusing to make eye contact the entire time. I follow her out of the building and through the streets towards her apartment. She looks extremely tired and a little drunk and the longer we walk, the more she begins to trip over the hem of her dress and her heels. Suddenly she looses her balance completely and falls towards the ground. I grab her and swing her into my arms.

"Wouldn't want you to get bruised up," I grin at her. "Why don't you just take your heels off?"

She rolls her eyes. "And go barefoot? Do you know how many diseases are probably on this sidewalk?"

"Then at least hold onto my arm so the next time you slip you'll have me to hold onto." I hold out my arm like some kind of old fashioned gentlemen.

She rolls her eyes, but takes my arm without a fight. We continue walking with much less falling on Lenny's part. She keeps digging her fingernails into my forearm every time she thinks she's going to fall. It hurts but I don't really mind. Just another reminder that I have Lenny back in my life.