Earlier

Half an hour after Maria shattered his heart, Tom descended past a couple waterfalls until he reached one people were sliding down despite the two-metre drop. The water fell as a trickle, but the surrounding pool was deep enough to catch their tumbling bodies. Shawn, Emma, and Prae stood at the top of the falls while Mitch was in the water alone. On a bamboo bench overlooking the falls, Maria sat, and as Tom approached, sniffles came from her crumpled form.

Had Mitch rejected her? It wasn't Tom's business anymore, although Prae had implied Mitch had feelings for Maria, and his eyes kept darting to the woman. Was she upset over their break-up? A small spark of hope flickered in Tom's chest.

"You okay?" he asked, kicking himself seconds later. He couldn't help but invite more pain into his heart.

She turned around, and her blotchy face morphed into a smile. "You're back."

Was she having second thoughts? As much as the possibility thrilled him, he couldn't trust that optimism. It was far more likely she'd struck out with Mitch. The man she actually liked. "You're crying."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you. When you started confessing about Prae, I thought... It was stupid. I should have told you differently after the trip."

Tom chewed on his lip. Did she think his feelings would magically transfer to a woman who cared about him after her confession? His heart wasn't as fickle as hers.

"Is that why you're crying?"

"I'm no better than my or your ex."

While she was right and hadn't blamed him or waged an emotional abuse assault on him, her actions still stung. "At least you told me instead of doing it in my bed."

When she cried again, Tom sat beside her, cursing his instincts. Not only did he not get the girl as the honest guy, but he had to console the woman who'd hurt him.

"I never wanted to be this person," she muttered.

"I didn't want to be this person twice, but here we are." Bitterness laced his voice.

"How do I make this better?"

He shrugged. Stay away from Calgary and never flaunt your inevitable new relationship came to mind, but he kept it to himself. It would only make her cry more. 

A question still burned inside of him, and perhaps in this state, he'd get a sincere answer from her out of guilt. "Did you two ever do anything?"

"Not while you and I were together. We kissed in Samet months ago."

Then Mitch had shown in countless of her social media posts and she'd doted on him at work until they'd fought on Christmas Eve. Christmas day and New Year's swung by, and Tom thought he'd impressed her.

"I was a rebound," he muttered.

More tears left her eyes. "I wanted us to work out badly, but my feelings for him won't disappear. It's not fair to you to pretend they don't exist. None of this was your fault."

That was the problem with dating. He had the best intentions, and it counted for nothing while someone who treated love with reckless abandon won. Another dreaded question rested on his tongue. "Did you tell him?"

Maria shook her head. "I'm surprised I can talk to Prae or you. I wish those waterfalls led to a portal I could jump into to stop myself from hurting you."

Tom squeezed her hand for probably the last time. It was small and slightly calloused. "It hurts a little less hearing that."

"You are a great guy and you'll be the centre of someone's universe one day if you aren't already."

Her gaze flickered to Prae, who was shaking her head atop the waterfall as Emma spoke to her. Prae waved at them both, took a deep breath, and slid down the falls, swimming toward the edge of the pool moments after. If only their roles were reversed and Maria was excited to see him, but he'd still be hurting Prae.

"That's the first time she'd done that," Maria said.

The only reason Maria was pushing this was to cast guilt away from herself. How could he consider another relationship when the last ones only stressed his many flaws? Flaws he'd revealed to Prae. "I can't deal with it right now."

"Things I should have said a month ago," Maria muttered.

"Sounds about right."

"I know it's cheesy, but if you want to be friends, I'm down. If you can't, I get that. Friendship with my ex was a minefield."

Spending more than the obligated work time with Maria seemed daunting. A constant reminder of his failure. But she was hurting from what she'd done, much more remorseful that his previous ex. Maria had cared about him in some capacity, just not the way he needed. "Thanks, I'll consider it."

They sat in silence until Prae climbed to the bench with her things to join them. Mitch and the others weren't far behind, which only meant drama. He'd have some cocky quip about the relationship ending or some smooth line to cheer Maria up and whisk her away. Tom's stomach twisted into knots as he thought about it.

"Tom, you've returned." Prae's beaming face couldn't warm his heart today. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Not really, but neither is she, so I suppose we're even."

Maria stared at her hands and hunched over more. Prae's gaze flickered between them both and her fingers tapped against her shoulder.

"Sorry, bad joke. How's the water?"

"It's freezing. Spring hasn't arrived yet." She wrapped her wet sarong tighter around herself. Her lips would turn blue if she kept that up.

He dug into his bag and offered her a dry towel and a hoodie. She accepted both with a smile and a gentle 'thanks'. As she slipped on the hoodie, she inhaled and smiled for a second, blushing seconds later when their eyes met. His heart beat quicker, but that could also have matched Mitch's footsteps on the rocks.

"Tommy Boy, you're back. You taking on the falls?" Mitch called out.

Maria shrunk even more as he approached. His gaze hardly left her, and he shifted from foot to foot like he wanted to bolt toward her.

How had Tom missed that attraction in the past? Mitch had bought her sandwiches after the party, the exact ones Maria had requested earlier then practically confessed he was in love with her. On Tom and Maria's first date, she had insisted her friendship with Mitch was non-negotiable.

Mitch studied Tom as if his question about the falls didn't have an obvious answer. Tom would not jump in alone or with friends taking pity on him.

"No, I'm good."

"What's the plan for today now?" Mitch looked at everyone, who shrugged and avoided eye contact with each other.

"Maria should see all the falls. It would be a shame if she didn't. I can go with her, and we can join anyone who'd rather be elsewhere later." Prae's gaze met Tom's, and he nodded. 

He'd prefer to navigate these trails alone than deal with awkward conversations. If Becca had come, he'd have had an ally, but she—like Tom—wanted nothing to do with that womanizing, relationship-destroying prick.

Once everyone was ready, Tom waited at a distance to shoot photos and avoid overhearing the likely rehashing of the break-up now that Maria was speaking to their friends again. He'd assumed they had all left, but the blond source of his misery lingered.

"Hey." Mitch leaned against a tree near a life preserver and safety reaching-pole.

Tom was tempted to ignore him, but the man deserved to be hassled after his actions. "Have another lecture ready for me?"

Mitch played with the string on the life preserver. "Nah, I came to see how you were doing."

"Why?"

"I didn't mean for our conversation to mess up your relationship. I was trying to help Prae."

His downcast eyes and his slouched posture were a look Tom couldn't recall seeing on the man. Mitch had never cared what Tom thought of him. Why start now?

"Prae can take care of herself."

"I know, but she was so destroyed by involving herself in something she craved but couldn't have."

Tom's heart ached because that mirrored the events with Maria today.

"It wasn't my secret to share, and I've messed up your friendship."

Prae was her supportive and sweet self, although she had gone with Maria over him. But she also understood he needed time and space after today. "Things are still alright between us."

"Good, she needs that."

Tom had assumed it was the opposite, that he depended on her more and her actions were more altruistic. His heart warmed a little knowing she needed him.

Mitch tucked his hand in his pocket. "For the record, that woman is a god-damned angel. You need to consider what I said yesterday."

Why Mitch was so adamant about Prae? It didn't get him ahead with Maria anymore, but perhaps it would soothe her conscience to make it easier to move on, and that was his angle.

Either way, Tom would not mask his pain with Prae's affection as Maria had done to him. He'd already hurt Prae enough. Anything more would be cruel because he didn't wish his crushed heart on anyone.

"It's bad timing. I won't risk her feelings by making her a rebound, and we hardly have a month left of the school year."

"There's always next year." When Tom was quiet, Mitch's mouth formed an O. "Or maybe there isn't Anyway, I also came to say that Shawn and I are free later tonight if you want to grab supper, or drinks, or whatever you're into."

Why had Mitch chosen today of all ways to grow a conscience?  He was the last person Tom would trust. "I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity, it's..." Mitch pushed his unruly hair away from his eyes. "You don't think I understand rejection and one-sided feelings, but I do. I know what you're going through, and it's brutal. It sucks less when you can lean on someone who's trudging through the same shit. Anyway, the offer's there for tonight. I'll leave you be."

He jogged up the path toward the next falls. Tom shook his head, missing the days when Mitch was just a shallow asshole and his actions were predictable. Now, Tom hadn't a clue if the man was sympathetic or manipulating him.

*** 

Thanks for reading! 

Fun little tangent about this particular falls, I sprained my ankle falling down it the wrong way. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have been have had to rest it and spend the weekend reading, and then subsequently start looking for apps with free books because I was supposed to take it easy and I was trying to save money, and I wouldn't have found Wattpad. Seemed fitting to work them into this story,