A/N: I'm sorry if this sucks, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Thank you for reading! Please excuse any errors.
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Everything seemed to have changed, but it wasn't for the better. It was worse, way worse. Pain and heartbreak is the only outcome of a deranged relationship between a man and a woman who doesn't want to try for each other. And believe it, she was in pain.
Locked in her apartment, Karai spent the last week binge-watching her favorite show on Netflix while struggling to eat and struggling to eat more than ice cream and take out. Her boyfriend had called their relationship off because he "just didn't want to fight for something that's not meant to be." They had been arguing more and she found herself distancing from everyone, even taking time from work just to sit and sulk in her pajamas.
Most people understood, her closest female friends especially, and her boss believed she was truly sick as Karai is a hard worker and has barely missed any days. But there was one person who was worried about her beyond belief. Joe spent his days without Karai wishing she would return and of his texts or simply pick up the phone when he called her. He is her best friend after all and he has a right to worry about her
But it was more than that to Joe. He missed her voice and her smile, the smell of her perfume, and the warmth he felt whenever he was around her. She was more than a friend to him yet she didn't know and Joe was too chicken to express himself, worried that she'd kick him out of her life completely.
He still needed to see her though.
On his day off, Joe drove himself to her apartment and hesitated before knocking on her door. She answered frustratedly, thinking it was someone else. Her hair a mess on her head and her face bare, not a trace of makeup to be seen; a grey tee-shirt covers her torso and a pair of purple plaid pajamas cover her bottom half.
"Hey, beautiful," Joe greets with a shy smile.
"Hey, J," Karai responds and turns around the walk back to the couch, the door wide open for Joe to walk through and join her in the living room. "What're you doing here?"
"I missed you," he says. "You've been ignoring me."
"Don't take it personally. I've been ignoring everyone," Karai says without emotion.
"Well I can't help but take it a bit personal since I am your best friend and I haven't spoken to you in a week," Joe irritatedly says. He didn't go there to argue or to be pushy, but he can't help himself and expresses his concern with her departure and behavior. "I've been worried sick about you and you know how my schedule is, so you know that I can't just get up and come over here whenever I want to."
"Joe, please," Karai begs. She doesn't want to hear it right now and her patience is growing thin. She knows he's protective of her and that he cares about her, but he needs to tone it down a bit. "I just got out of a relationship and I'm just trying to move on. Please don't make me feel bad for doing what I think is best for myself."
"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, Karai. But are you sure that distancing yourself from everyone who cares about you is what's best for you? I mean c'mon, he was a fucking prick who didn't know how to love you. He didn't deserve you anyway and yet here you are letting him get to you."
Karai stands up and looks over at Joe who had been standing all this time. Her eyes are dark, clouded, and her anger is laced in her words. "You are the last person to give relationship advice, Joe. Don't come to my apartment and lecture me on how I'm supposed to react to being broken up with. You need to stop being so over the top and overbearing-"
"Overbearing? Are you kidding me right now? No one has come to check on you, Karai! Everyone thinks is healthy for you to act this way!"
"Because it is! I am going through a breakup, let me be. No one has come to check on me because it's normal for people to react this way when heartbroken. I know you're protective of me and I know that you care about me, Joe, but please-"
She doesn't get to finish her sentence as Joe grabs her and places his lips on hers, his lips soft yet firm and warm. He doesn't know what happened or why he did it, but he did. And he begins to regret it once she pushes him away. Her eyes are as wide as his and it takes her a moment to gather her thoughts into a line.
"I think you should go," she whispers, her eyes now locked onto the deep wood floor of her apartment.
"I'm so, so sorry-"
"Please go," she begs.
Joe's feet move before his brain realized what's happening and he walks to the door. He turns to look at her once more but she's not there. Shutting the door behind him, Joe curses himself for what he did and the relationship he just ruined. He has no choice but to drive himself home and on the way there, he prays that she'll forgive him and that they can go back to normal. But his subconscious doesn't let him believe it for a moment.
