I Broke The Girl I Loved

You're Not Half Bad

Evie drifted off into a deep slumber not too long after I'd started the movie. Throughout the movie, Aydrian kept sneaking glances at me that she must have assumed I didn't see since my eyes were directed at the screen.

I turned my head to face her. "Admiring the view sweetheart?"

Aydrian broke eye contact and looked down at her lap as a subtle blush crept onto her cheeks. She turned her gaze back to the movie but I kept my eyes on her, studying every intricate detail of her beautiful face. More than three minutes of silence passed before Aydrian spoke again.

"Now look who's admiring who," she said in a cocky tone.

I softly chuckled at her and returned my focus to the movie. It was about half way over and I had no care to watch the rest since, if it was up to me, I wouldn't have chosen this movie and the person who did choose it was asleep. I reached for the remote and switched out of the movie, scrolling through VUDU for something else to rent. Nothing caught my eye and Aydrian didn't speak up about any of the movies I clicked on so I switched to Netflix. My search for a movie or a show, just something to entertain me, continued while we sat in silence. Aydrian looked as though she was contemplating something with herself. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her open and then shut her mouth. I didn't pay much attention to her until she cleared her throat. I turned my head to face her, waiting for her to speak her mind.

"Are you okay?" She asked, keeping her gaze focused on the tv. I was taken back by her question but quickly regained my composure.

"Depends, who's asking?" I smirked.

When she looked over at me she rolled her eyes and slapped my shoulder which I grabbed as if I was in pain.

"I'm serious Jayce. How are you holding up?"

I blew out a breath and thought about her question. How was I? The past few days I have done my best to block out everything, knowing that if I think too hard about my dads' death or my moms' departure then I would lose it and I couldn't do that; I had to stay strong for Evie. Evie needed a constant in her life, she needed a person to depend on and I needed to be that person for her. She couldn't lose me to my own mind or else she'd have no one and I wouldn't let that happen. I hadn't even realized a tear had slipped out of my eye until I felt a warm hand against my cheek, wiping it away.

"We don't have to talk about it," Aydrian whispered as she offered me a soft smile.

Instead of responding I just smiled back. She withdrew her hand which made my smile falter a bit at the loss of her warm touch.

"I'm here when you need," she said.

"Thank you," I replied. "You know Aydrian?"

She hummed in response so I continued, "you're not half bad."

A bright smile graced her lips as she sarcastically responded with, "eh. You could use some work."

"Ouch. That hurts," I said as I clutched at my chest.

She broke into a fit of laughter and quickly covered her mouth trying to contain it when she saw Evie stir in her sleep. Her hand didn't do much to stop the laughter but luckily Evie is a deep sleeper, unlike me, and remained asleep.

"Sorry," Aydrian spoke in a quiet tone as her laughing died down.

"It's alright. She won't wake up," I said, waving off her apology.

I had clearly given up trying to find something to watch so I turned the tv off and set the remote on the coffee table. Evie shifted again so I picked her up and went to carry her upstairs to her room.