Andrew:Yeah.
Andrew:He took it exactly how you'd think.
Vince:I wanted to stick my fucking fork in his eye.
Andrew:I know you did.
Vince:You shouldn't let anyone talk to you like that, Andy.
Andrew:Hey Vince, our friendship isn’t ruined, right?
Vince:What? No.
Vince:Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.
Andrew:Did you just pass out on your phone, old man?
Vince:It’s Latin. From Aeneid. Look it up.
Andrew:Dork.
Vince:Dimwit.
Vince::)
Andrew:You can't see, but I'm rolling my eyes right now.
Vince:Yeah I figured.
Andrew:See you tomorrow.
Vince:Get some sleep, Andy.
The Aeneid sits on my bookshelf, its spine collecting dust, yet I still reach for my phone to decipher the Latin gibberish:
"Perhaps, one day, it will be pleasing to remember even these things."
Vince's words glow on the screen, and I want to let them soothe the ache in my chest, but the weight of tonight's disasterpresses down. The embarrassment is crushing, a physical force that makes it hard to breathe.
I had assumed I'd singlehandedly destroyed our friendship, but it's worse than that. Vince and Sam—they were a power couple, the kind you see in magazines—and now I'm the idiot who apparently broke them apart.
How can he not be furious with me? How can he text me as if nothing happened, as if we haven't just detonated our lives?
The entire night feels surreal, like a bad dream I can't wake from.
Sam ended it because of me. Because of these feelings I've buried and failed to hide. But Vince... he doesn't say anything to suggest he feels the same. Not then, not now.
And he chased after her. Not me.
The idea that their breakup rests on my shoulders makes me sick to my stomach.
I can't lose Vince. He's no longer just someone I want in my life; he's someone I need. He's filled a part of me I didn't realize was hollow, patched a hole I never knew existed. He's the strongest connection I've ever had to another person, a lifeline I can't imagine cutting.
But knowing I'm the reason he lost Sam... it gnaws at me, relentless. Even if he can forgive me, can I ever forgive myself?
As sleep finally pulls me under, a terrible, brilliant thought strikes me with sudden clarity.
I'm going to fix this. I'm going to get Vince and Sam back together.
