YOUR BACK WAS PRESSED AGAINST THE WALL AS THE SHAKES AND RATTLES CONTINUED. you took deep breaths, your eyes shut tight so you wouldn't have to look around and witness your home fall apart.
as the dust settled and the ground beneath you steadied, your phone buzzed on the kitchen counter.
you were surprised when you saw his name, but you weren't disappointed, nor were you happy. honestly, you couldn't put words onto the way you were feeling. at first, you thought your mind was playing a sick trick on you. but as the vibrations continued, you figured that you weren't going insane.
you and vinnie had broken up over a year ago, and you hadn't talked since, but you could never bring yourself to delete his contact. it made it all so final, so real. deleting the last memory of him made it feel like you wanted nothing to do with him, and that couldn't have been farther from the truth. you loved him, with every fiber of your being. but unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.
the amount of hate someone got for loving someone else always blew right over your head, so when it happened to you, you didn't- no, couldn't understand what you had done wrong.
everyone around you always said that it was just because people were cruel, and enjoyed watching people with more than them in pain. but that wasn't a good enough answer for you, you were always the type to need a definite answer, no blank spaces to fill in.
your mental health took a huge toll on the relationship, and on top of vinnie's, there was honestly no way you guys could make it work.
since then, you'd stayed off of social media, never posting anything and rarely visiting any sites for entertainment. you found joy in other things.
after the break up you moved back home and enrolled in university, giving education a second chance. you didn't necessarily cut all ties with your friends in la, but you didn't put much effort into keeping in touch with them either. you kind of put that chapter of your life behind you, no second glances.
but when you got accepted to ucla, it was the best of you four options, so you moved back to californa, and prayed to god you wouldn't run into someone you once knew.
by the time you actually started classes, there were no more dorms left. so you were forced to live in an overpriced la apartment. you found a job at an art gallery and made your apartment as home as possible.
what you didn't miss about la, were the earthquakes. which is why when you realized his call was real, you were quick to accept the request.
"hey."
your heart dropped when you heard his familiar voice on the other end of the call. nothing had changed. he sounds exactly the same as the night you walked out the front door and never came back, leaving him, along with yourself, heartbroken.
your stomach did flips, yet whether it was a good or bad reaction, you were unaware of. but as the silence thickened, the flips began to scamper through your veins.
"hi," you muttered, leaning your head against the wall as if that would help keep your balance.
while you waited for an answer, you finally looked around your apartment. it was a mess. your mirror was half shattered, broken glass covering your floor, and your vinyl and books were scattered all over your living room carpet.
your hands were shaky and you're feeling slightly nauseous, the lump in your throat making it harder to breathe. you kept pressing yourself further into the wall, unsure if your legs would be able to support you much longer.
"did you feel it too?" vinnie asked, the worry in his voice slurring his cautious words.
his voice sounded hoarse, something that happened often due to the amount of screaming he did for his videos. you wondered what content he posted nowadays.
