Y/N knew something was up with Zack Martin. He was distracted and not very talkative anymore. On top of that, he was late for their date on the shuffleboard deck. They were supposed to be going against all the old couples, but he hadn't shown up. She had to sit and watch the old ones scooting around the deck, trying to win the game against the others without breaking their hips. It was humiliating when the older women would shoot her apologetic looks or when the older men grumbled to themselves that boys today were awful. 

This hadn't been the first time Zack had been late for their dates. Sometimes, he slept through their dates, but that had happened at the beginning of their relationship. Lately, though, he would be a few minutes late one night and an hour late the next. But this was the first time that he hadn't even showed up to a date. Unfortunately, she knew exactly what was going on with him. She knew that he was cheating on her because this was exactly what her ex-boyfriend did to her two years ago. She had lived through this already. She knew, and it broke her heart.

Y/N suddenly stood up from her seat close to the shuffleboard deck. She couldn't stand watching the old people play any longer without Zack being there. It was humiliating. Instead of waiting her any longer, she would go find him. 

It didn't take that long for her to find him. He was standing behind the smoothie bar, which was strange because he wasn't even wearing his work uniform. There was something going on right now, she knew it deep in her bones. It wasn't something good, either. No, it was something bad.

"Of all the days that you decide to work, you chose the day of our date?" Y/N asked Zack as she approached the smoothie bar. Zack let out a little scream; she thought that he was going to jump the counter. He stood up a little straighter when he saw her and tried to nonchalantly hide something behind him. "Where in the world have you been?" she continued. "I've been waiting for over an hour!"

"I've been working," he answered her lamely. She knew there was something wrong with this situation. There had to be something he was hiding -- literally and figuratively. "I totally forgot to tell you that Moseby wanted me to take this extra shift today."

"I know you're lying." Zack's face fell as he hung his head slightly. With just that movement, Y/N could see dark hair behind Zack, telling her that he was hiding something from her. "You've been lying to me about a lot of things, Zack."

Before he could say anything to her, Y/N reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the way of the person behind him. What she saw next shattered her heart. Maya, her best friend, was standing behind Zack with a surprised smile on her face. 

"What are you two doing?" Y/N asked incredulously. She looked between the two of them as pain shot across her chest. Terrible thoughts raced through her mind, but all she could focus on was: "Zack, are you cheating on me with Maya?"

Both Maya and Zack grew very still as they stared at Y/N. Her worst fears were slowly becoming more real and real when they didn't answer her. Of course she was right about that. She knew it was a bad idea to introduce the two people she loved most in this world to each other. This was how it happened last time, before she came on this awful cruise. Maya knew that, though. Why in the world would she repeat Y/N's history?

"We have to talk," Zack finally said softly. Y/N really thought she was going to burst into tears right then and there, but she was better than that. She would cry in private instead of making a scene at the smoothie bar in front of all the other passengers. "Not here, though."

"Of course," Y/N answered shortly. "Follow me."

She turned on her heel without waiting for them to answer her. If she had wanted to hear them speak, she would've already started crying. There was no way she would want to hear them explain whatever they were doing together, anyway. Her mind had already detailed out the months long affair that they had behind Y/N's back because she was so gullible and trusting, even after everything she had been through with her last boyfriend. 

Y/N didn't really know she made it to her bedroom until she stepped through the door into her and Maya's room. Her eyes were full of unshed tears, but she quickly made them disperse before she whirled around and looked between her best friend and boyfriend, wondering why they would ever want to hurt her like this.

"I know you have a lot of questions," Zack said before she could say anything to him. He had his hands out toward her, like he was trying to ward her off. "Here's an answer to one of them: Maya and me have never done anything together. Whatever you're thinking, we have not done it. I promise you."

"He's telling the truth," Maya said, jumping into the conversation. Her brow was creased as she gazed at Y/N. "We've never done anything with each other. I would never do that to you, Y/N."

Y/N didn't really know who to trust more, Zack and Maya or herself. She had gone through this before and knew how it would end. Her ex-boyfriend denied everything for the longest time until he finally came clean to her a few weeks after she accused him of cheating. That was a dealbreaker for her, no matter who it was. After her ex-boyfriend came clean, there was no way she could ever trust him again, and that was it for them. She didn't want that to be the case with her and Zack and even Maya. 

"None of this is making any sense to me," Y/N whispered. She looked between Zack and Maya, hating how they were in this situation together. She loved both of them a lot, and she didn't want to do this, but she knew she had to. She wouldn't be disrespected anymore. "I'm not blind, guys. I have been through this before. I know what a distracted boyfriend looks like. I know. You don't have to lie to me."

"I did not cheat on you with Maya," Zack said firmly. His face fell as he dropped his head slightly, like he was ashamed about something. "But I do have feelings for Maya."

"And I have feelings for him," Maya continued softly. "When you found us a few minutes ago, we were telling each other that we can't do anything together because we both love you more than our feelings for each other."

"I knew it. I knew this was too good to be true."

Y/N turned away from them, clenching her jaw to keep the tears at bay. Life just had a funny way of repeating the worst things that had happened to her. Why couldn't this have been different? Why couldn't her life have given her one thing good? Apparently, that was not good enough for her. Tragedy always had to strike at the most inopportune time.

"Y/N --" Maya started to say.

"I don't want to hear it right now," Y/N said, shaking her head. She steeled herself before turning back around to face them. "I just want to be alone to think about things."

"Think about what?" Zack asked like he really didn't know. "Maya and I didn't cheat on you. I still have feelings for you. What else is there to think about?"

"I don't want to be with someone who has feelings for another girl," Y/N said sharply. She couldn't believe that he actually thought everything would be fine and dandy after telling her that Maya and him both had feelings for each other. "You're confused now, Zack. What do you expect me to do? Who says you won't get confused in the future? I can't be with someone like that."

"Are you breaking up with me?" he asked her.

As much as it pained her, she said, "Yeah, I am."

"Y/N, think about this," Maya said quietly. "Is this really what you want to do?"

"I expected more from you, Maya," Y/N said, ignoring what she said to her. "You know what happened with my ex-boyfriend. You were the one who told me to break up with him. What is so different now?"

The two of them fell silent, so Y/N walked over to the door and opened it for them. Did they not listen when she said that she wanted to be alone? Did they not care? She wanted to be alone to cry and scream and yell. She wanted to be alone.

"If you two won't get out of here right now, I'm going to get Kirby."

Maya was the first one to leave. As she passed by Y/N, she glanced at her with tears in her eyes. Y/N wouldn't be swayed by that, though. She would hold strong until she was alone. It took another minute for Zack to finally leave without another word to her. He wouldn't even look at her, either. She was glad for that. She could finally be alone.

---

Y/N leaned against the railing and stared out at the dark sky that housed thousands upon thousands of stars twinkling against the moon. It was such a peaceful and beautiful night out tonight, one where she should have been enjoying it with Zack. Now, though, she couldn't because he had broke her heart in a million little pieces.

She thought that her luck had changed with Zack Martin. He was the one boy who had cared about her more than anything in this entire world. If he did care about her that much, why in the world would he continue dating her even when he had feelings for Maya? He should have respected her more than that to tell her what he was feeling. In the past few months they had been dating, she had opened up to him more than anyone in this entire world, besides Maya.

Speaking of Maya, Y/N thought that their friendship would weather more storms than this. Everything had been icy between the two of them after she found out that Maya and Zack both had feelings for each other and that Zack didn't know who to choose. She couldn't believe that Maya would do that to her, either. Maya knew that trust was one of the hardest things to earn for Y/N, yet she broke it easily without a second thought. 

This trip had started out perfect, but it had ended up in flames, just like her life. 

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" Y/N asked once she saw Zack approach her out of her peripheral vision. She didn't dare look at him, though, because she knew her resolve would break seeing those hypnotic eyes of his. There was no way she was going to change her mind about her decision. "Why don't you listen to me, Zack?"

"I can't let go of you that easily, Y/N," he said in a rush. Zack sounded so certain, so sure of himself. But how could he be so sure of himself when a few hours earlier he revealed he had feelings for Maya, too? She wouldn't let her guard down around him now. "You have been the best thing to happen to me in such a long time."

"Apparently so was Maya."

"Her and I talked and agreed that you are more important to us than our feelings for each other. That's what we were originally talking about earlier, too."

"So, you're saying that you're still not over her, yet you're trying to win me back."

"Well --"

Y/N sighed, shaking her head. She couldn't believe he was actually trying to get her back like this. It obviously wasn't working. Nothing would work now to win her trust back, not with how bad it hurt. "Zack, I don't want to hear it," she said softly. "I'm tired of being treated like second best to everything else. I'm tired of letting guys break my heart. I'm just so tired."

"I'm sorry," Zack whispered. He leaned against the railing next to her, hanging his head low. "I'm sorry for everything, Y/N. I only ever wanted to treat you like you deserve. Apparently, I can't even do that because I ruin everything I've ever loved."

Zack Martin really had the audacity to tell Y/N that he loved her? They hadn't said those three words to each other yet. Why would he tell her that now, of all times? Didn't he realize that she was heartbroken? Didn't he realize that she loved him, too? She would never say it to him now, though. He broke her trust; he broke her heart. There was no fixing that again.

"You should go, Zack."

He remained silent for a few seconds. Y/N knew that he wanted to say more. She was glad he didn't. Instead, he pushed off of the railing and began to walk away from her. As a tear slowly slipped down her cheek, he said, "I hope you find what you deserve in this life, even if it isn't me. You deserve the world, Y/N. I love you."

She didn't dare tear her gaze away from the water as he walked away from her, leaving her alone on the deck. Her vision grew blurry as more tears formed in her eyes, making it hard for her to see anything in front of her. In a period of a few hours, Y/N had lost not just her boyfriend, but her best friend, too. Those two people were the ones she could be herself with, yet they had hurt her in more ways than they could ever imagine. That was why she was better on her own. She was better alone, that was for certain. And that was what she was going to do now. It was better than allowing people to hurt her again and again, over and over.