AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What?” My brows draw together as I stare at him. No one ever said a word to me. I knew my family would be upset, but I didn’t think they’d treat him like that. Especially Sophia. She’s always loved Wyatt.
“It wasn’t just them either. Lincoln, Nate, Cole, Hunter, and Nick all gave me shit for months. Lacey, Delaney, and Olivia would give me sad smiles, but they didn’t really want to talk to me. Sammie and Kendra wanted to talk to me too much. They loved to throw it in my face and tell me how much I fucked up and how I lost the best thing that was ever going to happen to me. The boys no longer looked up to me. The girls looked at me with disgust and Sophia was kind enough to tell me they all were going to make sure they never dated anyone like me.”
“Wyatt…” I whisper as the first tear slips down my cheek. I never thought about what he went through. How the entire crew would treat him after we broke up. Whenever I’ve seen them, they were still so loving. I guess I just assumed they were the same with Wyatt.
“And that wasn’t even the backlash I got from my own family,” he says softly. “Blake reamed me out. I swear he was more pissedthan anyone, Wes included. Kennedy was so disappointed in me. The girls wanted nothing to do with me. I think Creed was the only one who didn’t treat me differently. He didn’t give a shit, or he didn’t understand what was going on. So please, don’t act like my life didn’t change.”
“I'm so sorry,” I whisper. Tears are streaming down my face, but I do nothing to stop them. I feel like I'm actually mourning our relationship and everything that happened for the first time.
My chest aches with such intensity. I feel like it’s physically breaking inside of me. I swear this is the first time I’ve felt anything since he walked away.
“I went from being the hero to the villain in my own family because I put you first. Because I wanted to make sure you got everything you were working towards. Because I didn’t want you to wake up twenty years from now and regret not going after the degree you wanted and realizing you didn’t accomplish anything you wanted in life because you gave it all up for me. The last thing in the world I want to see on your face is resentment and know it’s because I let you put yourself second while you’ve always put me first. So, hate me if that makes you feel better, but I wouldn’t change a thing about how I handled our relationship. I know what I did was right and if that means you’re going to hate me for the rest of your life, then I’ll just have to accept that and move on.”
“Wyatt…” I cover my mouth with my hand and shake my head. I don’t know how to put anything I'm feeling into words. It hurts too much. The wound feels too fresh.
“Don’t, Charlie. There’s nothing for you to say. I’ve heard you loud and clear since you came back. I'm not important to you and you don’t want to be around me. Sadly, we won't be able to avoid each other at work, but I’ll talk to Gary and ask for a different physical therapist to be assigned to me.”
“I'm the best physical therapist there. No one else is going to be able to take care of you like I can.” I hold my chin high and don’t back down from him, even if I'm still crying. I want what’s best for him and I know that’s me.
“That’s fine. Maybe I deserve subpar care. Maybe I’ll get injured and have to give up the only thing in life I still love and that doesn’t hate me. Hell, maybe I’ll get lucky and Owen will get pissed and trade me to a different team.” He drops his gaze to the ground and licks his lips. “I never wanted to hurt you, Charlie. And trust me when I say, I hurt myself a hell of a lot more than you’ll ever know. Breaking up was never about me and what I wanted, it was about you and what you deserved.”
A tear slowly trickles down his cheek and he turns away from me. The pain in his eyes is so intense I'm having a hard time breathing.
“Go home, Charlie. There’s no reason for you to stay any longer and I'm going to bed. I'm fucking exhausted and I have no energy to continuefighting.” He runs a rough hand through his hair and shakes his head. “Just shut the door on your way out. It will lock automatically.”
I watch him slowly walk away and disappear down the hallway. His shoulders are slumped and pain is radiating off of him. How did he hide this pain for so long? How was I so oblivious?
I pull onto Mulberry Lane and drive around the large circle, taking in each house and thinking about what Wyatt said. I can't believe they all treated him so poorly.
Glancing at the clock on my dashboard, I pull to a stop in front of my house and grab my phone.
“Hello?” Mom answers on the first ring.
“Hey, can you have everyone meet in the pavilion?” My voice is strained and I know she’ll be able to tell I'm crying.
“Charlie, what’s going on? Why are you crying?” See, I knew she’d be able to tell.
“Charlie’s crying? What happened?” Dad’s voice filters through the background. I'm sure he’s about to take the phone from her and demand answers, but I'm not giving them to her.
“Just… get everyone to the pavilion.” I click end before she can ask me any other questions and climb out of Mom’s car.
I want to makeit across the grass and into the building before anyone sees me and start asking questions. When I make it to the middle of the yard, backdoors begin opening and people start filtering out of their houses and onto the grass, coming towards me.
After I enter the pavilion, I take a seat and drop my head. This is going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but they deserve it.
No one says a word to me as they enter and take a seat, but I know everyone’s eyes are on me. The room is absolutely silent and if there’s anything I can say about Mulberry Lane, it’s that we’re not a quiet group. They know something is wrong and they’re all trying to figure out what’s happened.
“What’s going on, Charlie?” Dad is the first to speak up and that doesn’t surprise me in the least. He’s always been like the unofficial leader of the group.
I take a deep breath and slowly lift my head. I'm not standing for this. Hell, I'm not even sure I could support myself right now. I'm so mentally tired that it’s affecting me physically.
“I'm so disappointed in all of you,” I whisper softly. I know they can all hear me. You could hear a feather hit the floor right now.
“What the fuck did we do?” Lincoln asks. He’s never been one to back down, he’s not going to accept blame for anything he doesn’t think he deserves.
“Wyatt and I had a huge blow up tonight. Everything was laid out. How people felt, how he was treated, how I was treated.”
I drop my face into my hands and take a second to compose myself because the tears are gathering again. My throat is constricting and I feel like there’s a weight on my chest, but I refuse to let this go. Wyatt deserves better.
