Page 73 of Fragments of You

“If that were true, do you honestly think I’d still be standing here?” A tear slips past my lashes, but I angrily wipe it away. “I would have run to him the instant he returned, but I didn’t.”

“Maybe not, but we both know you wanted to,” he sneers.

“Don’t turn this around on me. I did nothing but love you. I stood up for you when people questioned our relationship. I defended you. I supported you. I chose you. And look what that got me. The fool who couldn’t see what everyone else could... I guess it’s true what they say, a leopard really can’t change its spots. Shame on you for making me believe they could.”

I spin around, heading toward the door, not even bothering to put on my shoes as I swoop them up and run outside barefoot.

“Yeah, run to him, Paisley,” Felix calls behind me. “We both know you were just waiting on your out anyway.”

I turn so fast I damn near eat the gravel currently pricking into my feet.

“Go fuck yourself, Felix. In case my abrupt exit didn’t make it clear, let me just make sure we understand each other. This engagement”—I tug the ring off my finger and throw it toward the house, not giving two shits where it lands—“is over. My sister is all yours. You two deserve each other.”

“Paisley, wait!” Regret blankets his words, but I’m done listening.

I take off in a full sprint, wincing with every step as rocks jab and prick my feet, though they do little to slow me down.

My hands are shaking so violently when I get inside my car that it takes me far longer than it should to get the damn thing started and in gear.

I have no recollection of driving away. One minute, I’m in Felix’s driveway, the next, I’m sitting in front of Iris’s, my cheeks stained with tears. I don’t know why, but it was the only place I could think to come.

I can’t go to Nash.

Or home, with my sister.

Nowhere is safe anymore.

I wish I could say the shock of Felix’s confession has worn off, but that wouldn’t be true. I feel like I’m stuck in a nightmare and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to pull myself out of it.

While Felix’s betrayal is one beyond comprehension, somehow, Nash’s knowledge and lack of action in the matter is somehow so much worse. Because when this happened, Nash and I were still together, and I still naively believed that we shared everything with each other. I would, of course, later learn that I actually knew very little about the boy I had spent most of my life loving. This information only further proves that point.

My sister... Felix... Nash... I can’t wrap my head around any of it.

I haven’t even shut off the car when Iris appears on the porch. She probably knew the second I pulled into the driveway, given the amount of security cameras installed around the property. Her parents always were the type to go a little overboard with things like that. Made it very hard to sneak out when we were teenagers, which was probably the point.

Killing the engine, I numbly climb from the car, having lost feeling in most of my limbs a long time ago.

Iris gets one look at me and she’s running toward me.

“Paisley?” The concern that creeps onto the edges of her pretty face confirms what I already know—that I look like I’ve just walked out of the wreckage of a tornado. Emotionally, that’s exactly how I feel. Like every part of me is now scattered to the wind and I have no hope of reclaiming what I’ve lost.

“I...” Without being able to form a sentence, I dissolve into a puddle of tears.

Iris’s arms are around me in an instant.

She doesn’t ask why I’m here.

She doesn’t ask why I’m upset.

She simply lets me have my moment, and boy, do I have it.

I cry harder than I have since the day Nash left, the pain making it almost impossible to breathe.

“Felix... He...” I stutter, not able to say the words aloud.

“It’s okay,” she soothes, rubbing my back. “Deep breaths, Paisley. Just breathe.”

I do as she says, pulling in a shaky breath and blowing it out. It doesn’t help, so I try again, only marginally successful at calming myself down.

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