“Are you taking his side?”
“No! I’m not taking anyone’s side, Heather. I’m just saying that he’s a guy. They don’t think with their heads; they think with their dicks. I don’t doubt that Josh cares about you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He would do anything for you, you know that right?”
Heather’s eyes started to tear up. “I can’t trust him, Ari. As much as I try, I just can’t trust him. What is it about me that would make him settle for just one girl? I mean, look at him!”
“What? Heather, oh my god, girl, look in a damn mirror. You are beautiful. You have a rocking body, tits I would kill for, an ass that Ellie wants more than anything, and your personality is beyond amazing. Josh would be lucky to have you, and he knows that. Why are you selling yourself short?”
“I just can’t. I can’t open up my heart up to have him leave me. I can’t be left again, Ari. I can’t and I won’t allow that to happen. ” Heather’s whole body started to shake.
Oh my god, she is so not over her parents’ death. She’s nowhere near it.
“Heather, what makes you think he’s going to leave you, baby?”
“Everyone leaves me. My parents left me. I needed them more than anything, and they just left me alone. I can’t do that again. He’s going to leave me, Ari. He won’t be faithful. ”
Heather lost it and started crying. I’d never seen her cry so hard. I tried to get up and hug her, but the pain that shot through my side just about made me fall.
Then, I heard Ellie let out a gasp.
“Ari, don’t move! Heather, oh my god, sweets. What’s wrong?”
Ellie came rushing over to my side and helped me back into a sitting position on the bed. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Heather. It was like she was having a breakdown. Finally, she’s letting out the pain and hurt from her parents’ death.
“Just go help Heather, Ells, I’m fine. ”
Ellie walked over and dropped to her knees in front of Heather and hugged her. I didn’t think it was possible, but Heather cried even harder. My heart was breaking. She was so afraid of being left again that, she wouldn’t open her heart to the one man who loved her.
Ellie rubbed her back. “It’s okay, baby. Just let it out, Heather. It’s okay. ”
“I can’t do this, Ellie! I can’t do this alone anymore. They left me. Oh my god, they left me alone. ”
Ellie looked over at me and I could see the tears rolling down her face. I tried to fight the tears, but I felt them stinging my eyes. Heather had been trying to be so brave for so long. It broke my heart to realize that she’d been feeling like this for over a year.
I looked up and saw Jeff and Josh standing in the bedroom doorway.
Heather just kept repeating herself over and over again. “They left me. They left me alone. ”
Josh looked like he was about to get sick. He started to walk toward her, but Jeff grabbed his arm,pulling him away.
“Princess, what’s wrong?”
Oh shit. The moment Josh called her princess, Ellie and I glanced at each other. Heather looked up at him. I thought she was going to lash out at him. Instead, she broke down, crying again, as she got up and ran into Josh’s arms.
What the hell?
Josh looked just as confused as the rest of us. He held on to her. “What’s wrong? he kept asking.
She pulled away from him and took a few steps back.
“I’ll always love you, Josh, but…I just can’t do this. ”
She brushed past him as she went out the door. Josh just stood there for a few seconds before he finally snapped out of it. He turned and ran after her.
Ellie got up and walked over to my side. She leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.
“You okay, baby? Do you need to talk?”
If one more person asks me that, I’m going to throw something big and heavy at his or her ass.