the cheater
Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know.
She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home.
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Flashback
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I returned to our apartment late one morning. I had spent the first few hours of my day at a nearby gym, trying to get a workout in before facing the busy day that I knew was ahead of me. With Starbucks in hand, I swung open the door once it was unlocked, then used my hip to shut it behind myself.
The apartment was silent, as expected. I also expected the piles of boxes I was met with the second I made my way through the door. We had just moved into this new place and had tentatively reserved the whole weekend for unpacking. I also knew he'd be gone for a good part of the day, which would leave me with well over half of the work. I made a mental note to tease him about it later as I headed down the hall and to my room. I quickly changed out of the sweaty clothes and into another older shirt and pair of shorts.
I headed back towards the main living space then, only to get sidetracked and to stop in front of Mitch's closed bedroom door. Curious as to just how much he had gotten done, I opened the door. What I saw inside was the last thing I had expected. His room hadn't changed at all from the night before when I last saw it. However, it wasn't empty; he was still here.
Instead of sitting on the bed, he was sitting opposite of the doorway I was standing in. His knees were curled up and being pressed against his chest. His arms were wrapped around them and his head was also laying on his knees.
"Mitchy?" I asked quietly. He suddenly lifted his head up. As his eyes met mine, I instantly noticed they were wide and red.
"Scott," he echoed. He quickly reached up to wipe away any tears that had fallen with the back of his hand. Sensing his distress, I crossed the room, then knelt down in front of him.
"What are you still doing here?" I reached out and placed a hand on his knee, only to have him flinch. "What's wrong?"
He opened his mouth to speak, only to cut himself off with a silent sob. I reacted immediately, bringing my hands up to cup his face. I used my thumbs to wipe away any extra tears that had escaped.
"What happened?" I spoke much quieter than before. He sniffled quietly, then his eyes met mine.
"Guess who's single again."
"Oh, Mitchy." He sighed quietly, then tore his eyes away from me once again. I couldn't help but fall down onto the floor next to him. He kept his head low, even as I pressed right up against his side. "Talk to me, please," I spoke. He still remained silent for a moment.
"I went over to his apartment. We were gonna hang out... had plans all week," Mitch finally offered. I turned his way, overly willing to listen to him and help him.
"But... there was someone there... with him." I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to figure out just where he was going with this. Finally, upon thinking back on all of the times I had spent with the two, simply observing them, I realized something that I truly didn't want to.
"That son of a bitch," I muttered. "Did he..."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"I just wanna make sure--"
"He answered the door shirtless. And he opened it a bit too far. Saw someone sitting on the countertop, shirtless too."
"Did he say something about it?"
"He didn't even try to deny it. He just admitted it. His name was Jack. They've been... seeing each other for a month. Apparently he knew about me too."
"But you two have been..."
"Six months was a few days ago." Of course it had to be. I continued to watch the boy, but had to do something once I saw another tear slip down his face. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, then slipped it down between his back and the wall.
"Come here," I muttered. A bit of confusion crossed his face, and I knew I'd have to take matters into my own hands. I turned to face him, then slipped my other free arm underneath his legs. I picked up off the floor without too much of a struggle, then set him down on my lap. He watched me carefully as I did so, but quickly relaxed once I put him down. From there, he wasted no time wrapping his arms around my neck, then burying his head into the crook of my neck. Only a few moments passed when I heard the all too familiar sound of him beginning to cry once again.
"Shh, you're okay," I tried, just wanting to comfort him. I ran my hand gently along his side, hoping that it would do something as well. I kept saying things such as that, anything to help soothe him, for seemingly ever. And I probably could've stayed there and kept doing that for a very long time.
"He doesn't deserve you. No one does." Instead of helping him, those words caused him to sit up in my lap and stare down at me. I could tell he was thinking of a couple things, mainly along the lines of 'that's not true', 'you're just saying that', or 'but I deserve someone'. But nothing fell past his lips.
"Y'know," I started, glancing around his room. "You could've at least started unpacking or something while I was gone." He quickly gave me an 'are you kidding me' look. I once again reached up for his face to brush away the newest tears. "Sorry, bad time for a joke." I could see him relax a bit once I admitted my mistake. He leaned forward to rest his head on my shoulder.
"Who needs a boyfriend when I have you." I sucked in a breath at the comment, that being one of the last things I expected to come out of his mouth. And god, if there was only some way I could let him know that I was more than willing to be that for him.
"I promise I'll up my game for when the next one comes around, that way you won't need to deal with assholes like him anymore." He let out a small, humorless chuckle. "Do you want anything?" I offered after a bit of silence.
"Just you... please."
"Yeah. Of course."
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