Inevitable

A Love Triangle

We walked out of the store hand in hand. My co-worker Lauren was staring at Henry with her mouth wide open. I couldn't really blame her. I had the same reaction every time I saw him too. When we got outside, it had started pouring rain. Henry grabbed my hand and we made a run for it. I quick jumped in his car and Henry got in on the driver side.

"I'm soaked! I can't believe it's raining so hard. Can we go back to my dorm so I can change into something dry?"

Henry agreed and started the car. Within a few minutes we were parked out front of my building. Neither one of us made a move to go back out into the rain.

"On the count of three, let's make a break for it. 1, 2, 3!"

We both jumped out of the car and ran towards the door. I quick swiped my ID and pushed the door open. We were both dripping water all over the floor. I looked up at Henry and his hair was matted down on his head. I started laughing at how he looked like a wet, angry dog.

"What's so funny?"

"You. You should see your hair."

"Don't make me tickle you again."

"No please don't!"

He reached under my jacket and wrapped his arms around my waist while we waited for the elevator. I don't think I would ever get tired of the way it felt to be in his arms. I craved that feeling when we weren't together. When we got up to my room, it was empty. As soon as I closed the door, Henry grabbed me and pulled me against him. He leaned down and kissed me hard. So much for dinner!
A little while later, we were laying in my bed wrapped in each other's arms. Jane had texted to say she was staying with Bill tonight so we had the room to ourselves. I hated that Henry had to leave but I had to get some school work done anyway.

"Let's order a pizza so we don't have to go back out in the rain." Henry suggested. He grabbed his phone and ordered before I could even answer him. I didn't like that he was always paying for everything but he always insisted. Thirty minutes later, Henry's phone beeped letting us know the delivery guy was downstairs. He jumped up and threw on his clothes and left my room to grab our dinner. While he was gone, I got up and put on my pajamas. I heard a text message pop up on my phone. When I checked it, I saw it was Liam. I hadn't spoken to him since he left the frat party on Friday night. He had texted over the weekend but I just ignored it. I had so much going on with Henry that I didn't have the energy to deal with Liam as well.
Before I could open his text, Henry came back with a pizza and two iced teas. Smelling it made me realize how famished I was. We sat on my floor and devoured the pizza. It was now almost eight and time for Henry to go.

"You should come with me and hang out with my band. I don't want to leave you yet."

"I wish I could but I have some studying to do. I didn't get anything done last night. Someone distracted me."

He smiled and leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my lips. He lingered for a moment and I was tempted to drag him back to my bed and make him stay with me.

"If anyone is a distraction, it's you. This body. I just want to stay buried inside of it."

I could feel the effect of his words throughout my whole body. It took all the strength I had to let him leave. He finally let me go and walked out the door. I felt so alone after he left but I quick pushed it away so I could get my reading done.
An hour later, I had read 3 chapters of my psychology text book and needed a break. I picked up my phone and realized I hadn't yet read Liam's text. I opened it up.

"Hey Em, can we talk? I feel terrible about how I left things on Friday night."

I was glad he had reached out. I didn't want this to be the end of our friendship. I decided to call him. He picked up after the first ring.

"Em! I'm so happy you called. I thought you were avoiding me."

"No, I've just been really busy over the past few days."

"I heard about what happened with Henry. I'm so sorry that happened to you Em. You deserve better than him."

"Actually Liam, Henry and I worked it out. We are still together."

He didn't say anything right away. I can only imagine what he thought about me forgiving Henry. But it didn't matter. I knew Henry better than he did.

"Em, how could you forgive him after that. It's disgusting what he said to his friends about you. How do you know he's not still using you?"

"Because he told me he's not and I trust him. I don't really want to talk to you about this Liam."

"I'm worried about you Em. I feel like this guy has you fooled. Guys like that don't have girlfriends. They have hook ups."

"You don't know Henry. Don't presume to know what type of guy he is. If you're only going to badmouth him, I need to get back to studying."

"Wait! I'm sorry. I just care about you so much Em. I don't want you to get hurt. I'll drop it. I wanted to talk to you to apologize for how I reacted the other night. That was really messed up. I'm just so mad at myself. I've messed it up with you so bad. I should have told you sooner how I felt. I don't blame you for moving on."

I thought about how different things would have been if Liam had told me how he felt before I met Henry. And I felt relief that that's not what happened. But I needed to keep that to myself. I couldn't make Liam feel worse.

"Liam, can we just move past all of this? I hope we can still be friends. I know that's not what you want but that's all I can give you right now."

I heard him sigh on the other end. I felt guilty because I knew exactly how he felt. It's how I felt about him since last year. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Let alone one of my best friends. But I couldn't turn back time.

Finally he responded. "Okay, we can just be friends. Because I know this thing you have with Henry isn't going to last. And when he breaks your heart, I will be there for you. And I will help you pick up the pieces. And maybe then, you will remember everything you felt for me before. But until then, I can wait."

I didn't know what to say to him. Part of me was furious at him for saying that Henry was going to break my heart. The other part of me was just so happy that he wanted to be friends again.

"You don't have to say anything Em. I will let you get back to studying. Talk to you soon." With that, he hung up.