I smile as I take an inhale, becoming surrounded by his fragrance. I could wake up like this every day. I came home last night and knew I'd made a mistake. I knew giving Liam another chance wouldn't work because the reality is, even though things between Seth and I were supposed to be just sexual, they weren't. At least not for me they weren't.

I was going to propose a change in our relationship last night but I'd decide to go the dirty route about it. To be honest, I think it worked. He'd given me so much last night and not just sexually. Every touch and caress held so much intimacy it had made my heart swell. I didn't think the tattered thing even worked anymore, at least not the way it had last night.

It wasn't just sex last night, no. Seth had given me a piece of himself and I'd given him the same, it was absolutely beautiful. I knew that I knew now that Liam would never be the one because he could never be the one. Whether I liked it or not, it always came back to Seth. It was something that I used to hate, but I didn't hate it anymore.

"Mmm, last night was amazing, Seth." I flutter my eyelids open and my smile slowly fades as I see the empty space beside me. I reach out to touch his spot but it's cold, not even remotely warm. I sit straight up, holding the sheet to my chest, "Seth?"

I turn on the lamp next to my bed, not being able to see properly in the dim, early morning light. I blink a few times, adjusting my eyes. I look around the room and it looks oddly clean, too clean. I get out of the bed and grab my robe off the floor before slipping it on. I tie it around my waist, covering my body, as I look around.

I look over to the chair in the corner of the room that had held his duffel bag and notice its's missing. His boots are gone. His jacket is gone. I close my eyes and picture where everything had been to think if I'm missing anything and no, it's all gone.

I open the door and hurry to the bathroom. I open the drawers frantically, noticing all of his things missing. I hear my phone going off back in his bedroom which has me hurrying to answer it. I pick up my phone off the bed and a sob escapes my lips when I see the name of the alarm, That Was The Last Time, It's Over. I drop it on the bed like it had physically wounded me.

I clutch my arms around myself, trying to hold myself together momentarily. I take a few deep breathes, steadying my tears. I'm not going to lose it, no, I can't. A sob escapes me again and tears silently flow down my cheeks traitorously as I stare at the bed. I think of everything that happened on it last night.

I gave him my complete trust, all of my control. "I gave him everything." I feel my chest heave heavily as I see flashes of the two of us, every kiss and touch. I gave him a piece of me that I didn't even think existed inside of me anymore. "I can't-" I sob. "I can't believe I let him do this to me." And I loathe myself for it because I'd technically done this to myself.

I snatch my phone off of the comforter, wanting to never see it again. I leave the room, feeling numb, just absolutely numb. I stumble over my feet in the hallway because I can't see straight, I'm blinded by the tears silently streaming down my face. Then I stumble into a body.

I look up, hoping it's him but it's Rhys. He looks down at me with a mixture of sadness and anger. I don't say anything. I just try to hold back the tears but it's impossible.

"He left not that long ago." He gives me a small sad smile. "I'm sorry, Rae."

"For what?" I can barely say the words. "I'm fine." I sob again, "everything's fine."

"I know, Rae. I know." Rhys wraps his arms around me and I cling to him. "I'm sorry he hurt you."

"I'm fine."

Everything's just fine.

✩✩✩

It's been six months. Six whole months since Seth left me cold and alone in that bed. I hadn't called him nor had I sent him a text. I saw him in passing every now and again at school but when I did I made my feet move as fast as humanly possible in the opposite direction.

Liam and I are still together and things are going surprisingly great. I'm in love with him, at least that's what I tell myself. I mean, I love the way he treats me and the way he caters to all of my needs. He takes care of me.

I swipe some blush across my cheek bone then step back and look at myself in the mirror. I stare at my green dress and feel a pull in my chest. The color green will always remind me of him and, rather unfortunately, green looks phenomenal on me. It makes my red hair pop and my skin look iridescent. Just like how he used to make me feel.

I shove the thoughts that had started to surge forward in the back of my mind. Who knew what he was up to these days, definitely not myself. If he and Rhys were still close, I didn't know because I'd moved out soon after everything. I couldn't stay there anymore, so I got my own place.

It's a small one bedroom apartment but it is a brand new luxury apartment. It has an amazing view of Boston harbor and it belongs to me. It's mine and not full of memories of a certain someone.

There's a few knocks at the door which tell me Liam has finally arrived. I grab my clutch off the kitchen counter and head for the door.

"Hey, handsome." I smile as he steps through the door, flowers in hand.

He kisses me deeply, handing me the flowers. "For the birthday girl."

"They're beautiful, Liam." I lean into the large bouquet, taking a whiff. "They smell so good."

"Just like you, love." He makes his way into the apartment, going into the kitchen cabinet above my fridge to grab a vase. "How was your day?"

"I started my internship at Seriphina today."

He walks over, grabbing the bouquet from me, "that's wonderful. How was it selling artwork?"

"I loved it. You know art and sales is a great combination for me." I watch him as he sticks the flowers in the vase expertly. "You know, you'd have a knack at being a florist."

He lets out a huff, "doubtful."

"Where are we going tonight? You told me to get all fancy," which is not different from the majority of our dates "for what?"

He smiles, "it's a surprise. You ready to go?" I nod and he comes over to me, placing a kiss on my forehead. "You really do look exquisite this evening, Raegan. I'm so lucky you're mine."

I walk to the door saying, "you know, you're not so bad yourself." He lets out a chuckle as he follows suit, closing the door behind us and locking the door with his key.

✩✩✩

"How does it feel to be the big two two." He jokes, sipping his glass of Chardonnay from across the dinner table.

"About the same as the big two one." I joke but, in truth, everything had changed. Me at twenty-one was an entirely different person then who I am today.

Last year at this time I had just moved back to Boston from Georgia. I was this damaged little thing that had lived with Rhys, trying to repair myself only to be broken again by the entire reason I'd left in the first place. Seth.

I had done a complete one-eighty in the past year and I was proud of myself for it. I'd gone back to school, maintained a good gpa, gotten my own place, and on top of it all I had Liam. He'd helped get me my internship. He'd helped me when I was looking for my apartment. He was everything good for me.

"So, birthday girl, it's present time." He gives me an enthusiastic smile as he pulls a rectangular box out of his coat pocket. He hands it to me, "hope you like it."

I fiddle with the box for a moment before opening it, it's a beautiful white-gold bracelet with a charm dangling from it. I take the bracelet out and stare at the charm questionably, "The Statue of Liberty?" What that had to do with anything is a mystery.

"That leads me to your second gift." He pulls out a piece of paper from the same jacket pocket and hands it to me. I place the bracelet back into the box and grab the paper.

I read the first few lines of the acceptance letter and stare up at him in bewilderment. "The School of Visual Arts? This is an acceptance letter from the School of Visual Arts."

"Okay, I know you're probably wondering what that's all about but hear me out before you say anything." He takes a deep breath before continuing. "So, I recently got a great job offer in New York and I wanted to wait to tell you about it because I want you to come with me, Raegan."

I can feel my face pale slightly. "Liam, I just started my internship."

He holds up his hands, "I know, I know. I've thought about it all. It's a summer internship. You can stay here while I go set things up in New York, find us a place to move into together."

"You... you want us to move in together?" My head is spinning. What is even going on?

His eyebrows scrunch together, "we've been exclusively together for six months now and known each other for nearly a year. I don't think it's too far-fetched to want to move in together, Raegan."

"No, no it's not. It's just," I think for the right words, "you just caught me off-guard, Liam, that's all." Completely off-guard.

"So, take the summer to think about it then. Stay here, think about it and, if you do chose to come with me to New York, know that I've already taken care of everything."

Because that's the type of man Liam is, the kind to make it nearly impossible to say no.