LOVERS | sean lew

xl.

The empty backyard she was in was becoming more suffocating than the mass of teenage bodies gyrating against each other inside. Geo left with a few of his friends to get home, and Bailey and Kaycee were still there, chatting amongst themselves while Sapphire was left alone with her thoughts getting more piled up like blocks inside her brain. It was like she was drowning in tar inside her head. Dangerous.

Bidding a mumbled 'i'll be right back', she dusted off the little bits of lawn grass on her lap and behind, and decided to brave the wild Brat, kid-friendly party once more.

Maneuvering around the sweaty bodies, it was her goal to find the kitchen where the water could be. That was what she was trying to look for an hour ago, and that's what she was going to get now that her throat was just screaming for hydration.

She bumped with atleast a dozen people by then, before she finally reached the kitchen that was not as crowded but there was still a couple almost making out by the corner. And gladly, a whole showcase of drinks ranging from Dr. Pepper to Fiji was displayed on the counter. Without any second thoughts and with a relieved sigh, she reached for the last Fiji bottle.

But someone else beat her to it, and she knew damn well who it was.

"Why does this feel like deja vu?" The lucky person mumbled, cocking his head to the side teasingly. "And why do I feel like I'm just gonna give this back to you?"

Sapphire didn't know how to respond, or more specifically, she didn't know how to function infront of her boyfriend she slapped almost an hour ago. She almost didn't want to remember the crunch of her hand coming in contact with his cheek.

"Here. You probably need it more than me," Sean muttered. "Take it."

"Thanks."

Then it was lingering silence between them, the familiar tension they've gone over all too well rising just as fast. It was like there were words floating around them in a jumble, but they didn't know which ones to choose to say.

"I deserved that slap. Probably deserved more than just that, but I deserved that."

His words were the needle that broke the bubble she was in, and Sapphire physically deflated, almost tiredly, as she shook her head with a sigh and handed the water back to him. "You didn't deserve that. It was just me.. in the heat of the moment."

"But that was better than just your silence, Saph, it was better than just getting nothing from you."

"You think your silence didn't kill me? Then imagine me, waiting for just a single text from you, telling me where you were and what you were doing so I would know if you're okay," Sapphire quietly muttered over the loud music. "I know you're busy, I know, I know, I know. We've talked about this, not even a few months ago. All I asked was communication, and just keeping each other updated. But I guess that's where we got it wrong, and I realized that I was being more of a mom than a girlfriend."

"Wait, what?" Sean's eyebrows furrowed. This isn't what he thought of beforehand, and he most definitely did not expect this turn in the conversation.

"We have our own lives, lives that were there before we met each other. I don't have to know every single thing that happens in your life, and I should understand you're busy — like really understand that your work is important, and it's something you do for your future, and I don't want to interfere with that with my bitchy fits about your attention." The girl almost felt too serious, too much of an adult with the way she talked. "If we want to keep this relationship healthy and steady as young kids who are out there doing shit in the industry that could probably ruin us any time, then we have to do what we have to do while trusting and understanding each other and ultimately, being mature about it. Adult stuff, shit we're not supposed to be dealing with because let's face it, we're kids.