THINGS LIKE LOVE.
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 ONE: THE BREAKUP.

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

IN A BITTER ATTEMPT AT ACCEPTANCE, JULY KEATON WISHED SHE COULD BRING HERSELF TO HATE DAVID DOBRIK. But he didn't deserve it, in-fact, he didn't deserve anything she could give him, for that matter. Her love, her affection, her trust ━━ he didn't even deserve her hatred. He didn't even deserve her acknowledgement, but with a burning pit of anger in her abdomen, the young woman sat stiffly on the kitchen counter, silently seething as she awaited his due return to the house she'd, just earlier that day, called her home.

It was a strange feeling, to be so unbelievably angry and so numb, all at once. It was as though she was trapped in purgatory, trapped between wanting to be strong and wanting to fall into a heap of misery.

Natalie's absence from the house was felt by nobody more than July. The two women spent the majority of their days (and eveninhs) together; it was only inevitable that they'd end up forming a somewhat sisterly bond. But as much as July adored Natalie, she was simultaneously glad that the assistant had chosen that particular week to take a family vacation. She didn't want to imagine how uncomfortable it'd be for her to be around during what was inevitably about to happen.

The front door opened within five minutes of July taking a seat on the kitchen counter and in reaction, her entire body stiffened, the realisation of what was about to happen hitting her all at once.

David casually strolled down the short entrance walkway, blissfully unaware of the storm that was awaiting his arrival just a few steps away. Having heard the quiet murmur of the kitchen radio playing (July's attempt to fill the suffocating silence of the empty house), the scruffy haired man walked into the room with his camera held up in-front of his face, his beaming, crooked smile contrasting greatly against July's bloodshot eyes and paperweight frown.

Immediately, his steps faltered and the camera was quickly shut off and discarded on the countertop. It was one thing for July not to greet him with her usual cheesy grin, but for her to be in such a state send David into an immediate panicked spiral.

July's heart physically ached as she stared at her boyfriend, expression blank and stomach twisting when he had the audacity to look worried about her.

She could've laughed at the irony, if only she trusted herself to open her mouth without sobbing.

In seconds, he was stood in front of her, hands instinct reaching up to cup her flushed cheeks with his hands, staring into her eyes with a thick layer of concern shining in his own. The woman wanted to flinch away from his touch, and almost did, until he broke the silence, eyebrows furrowed worriedly. "Juls, babe, what's going on?"

July swallowed, eyes flickering down to her lap before they moved back up to meet with his. Seconds from crying once again, she cringed away from his touch and tightly shut her eyes, shaking her head with a shaky exhale. "Don't touch me, David."

David's stomach dropped.

"Babe," He frowned, his face falling as he quickly pulled his hands away from her face, respecting her wishes but wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms and never let her go.

The couple existed in a blanket of tense silence for a steady stretch of time. July spent the time staring at David and seeing a man she'd never met before, one who was miles from the man she'd fallen in love with, all those years ago.

She was forced to feel and watch every crack of her 'perfect' world beginning to fall apart around her.

It was nothing short of emotional torture. She felt like she was physically surrounded with lies and mistrust. The flowers, the early morning cuddles, the lengthy talks about their future. None of it felt real anymore, and that thought was tearing her up from the inside out.

July barely managed to maintain a monotone, clean tone as she spoke up. "Did you have a good time at Jonah's?"

David stared at her as if she'd grown a third arm, shaking his head and and furrowing his eyebrows in frustrated confusion. "I don't want to talk about Jonah right now━"

Sliding off of the counter and onto her sock-clad feet, July pulled the offending piece of paper from the front pocket of her hoodie and slammed it onto the counter in-front of her boyfriends eyes.

Keeping her voice as steady as she possibly could, July watched his gaze automatically move down to the piece of paper and his face fall in devastated realisation. "I'm going to assume that I wasn't meant to find this."

David inhaled sharply, his head snapping up and his eyes landing on July's disgust laced expression and tear stained cheeks. "July, listen to me━"

"How dare you?" She shouts loud enough to make him wince at her sudden change in attitude, slamming her hands down onto the marble countertop as she, belatedly, fell apart right there in their kitchen. She was blindingly angry, so much so that she didn't even realise how loudly she was screaming. "What kind of person scripts a breakup speech? Do you know how fucking messed-up that is?"

She was clutching the counter to stop herself from physically falling into a heap of tears on the floor, right there and then.

David took a breath as he attempted to approach her, only to be met with a vicious wince. "July, please. I can explain."

The woman chuckles tearfully, shaking her head and looking up to meet his gaze. "I don't want an explanation, David." She swallowed, and took a moment to digest everything once again. There she stood, in the middle of the kitchen she'd once been able to envision herself raising a family in. Now, all she saw was bleak colour and tainted memories. "I just need to know when you realised that you don't love me anymore."

David clenched his jaw as he shook his head, taking a step toward her, instincts screaming at him to make her stop crying. "No. No. Don't say things like that."

"Things like what, David?" She stared at him, expression crestfallen. "You mean the truth?"

"Things like love." David slammed his hands down onto the countertop with a sudden burst of anger, but it immediately drained away and he was left to slump in defeat when July stared at him with heartbreak in her eyes. "You know that I'll always love you. Fuck, I've told you so many times. I love you and I always will, no matter what."

"Right." July nods, pressing her lips together and looking down, gulping thickly. "You love me. Just not enough to have a future with me, right?"

David didn't say anything ━ but his silence told July everything she needed to know.

She assumed he must've been planning to break-up with her for a while, given the undertone of the drafted letter. That knowledge hurt her more than she knew was possible.

It was the idea that, as they'd been falling asleep the previous night, wrapped in each others arms as they always did, he knew that, soon enough, she wouldn't be there anymore. That was what broke her more than anything else.

July wasn't about to become the girl who begged a man to continue to be with her when he quite obviously didn't want to be. She'd promised herself that she'd never be a woman who depended solely on anyone besides herself.

It was that thought that arose the idea that, realistically, David didn't deserve to hear another word from July; but she just had one a few more thing to say before she'd be able to call it quits, for good.

"You're a cold hearted asshole, David Dobrik. I hope you know that." July's tone was flat and full of loathing as she looked directly at her boyfriend for the first time in a good handful of minutes. He looked pained, but stayed silent as July took a deep breath. "Fuck you. We're done."

To that, David had no response. He stared at her with an unreadable expression before, thirty seconds later, he finally musters up a handful of words in response. "I- I don't know what to say."

Nodding and laughing shortly in disbelief, July turns on her heel and strides out of the kitchen and through the living room. She couldn't bare to look at him for even a second more.

With bile rising in her throat along the way, she walks into the guest bathroom and slams the door shut behind her, securing the locks before falling to her knees, the small bath mat barely breaking her fall.

Five minutes pass and, making the easy assumption that David had been the one to slam the front-door on his way out, July was once again in the house alone, curled up in a ball against the bathroom door with her fist in her mouth and sobs wracking her delicate frame.

She'd always thought that she and David were going to last forever, that they'd prove all of the people who doubted their relationship wrong and stand strong until the end of time.

She only then realised that their forever was over before it'd even begun.

🦇 MAEGAN'S AUTHOR NOTE.
I cried all over again oh my ): From here on out,
the plot & story style changes pretty drastically
from what it used to be. This isn't a social media
book anymore & the majority of chapters will be
written in the same style as this one. I hope that's
okay with everyone!