I’m sorry.

She reads the text but doesn’’t respond, choosing to switch to the music tab on her phone. Her pierced ears are filled with Beau Bokan’s voice and as she listens to one of her favorite bands.

As the distorted guitar plays it’s almost like it gets a bit easier to breathe.

“Hey Beau, you are a fucking liar.
You are worthless.
I never want to ever talk to you or see you again.
So go fuck yourself.
Fuck you.”

The bitchy voicemail makes her smile a bit, just like it always has.

“I watched the sun again, it's leaving now
I've spent all night long, trying to figure out
What I've lost and what I've found
When my feet won't hit the ground
Trying to make it, starting over
And will we ever love again?”

That’s a good question.

Hours later, she finally lets the heavy drum rhythms of her favorite music lull her to sleep.

“Sunshine, you have to get up.” She ignores him, rolling over to snuggle her face deeper into Cole’s couch.

He gently nudges her again, hoping to get her off the couch. “I don’t wanna,” she mumbles.

“Too bad. Besides, someone’s here to see you.” She pops open one blue eyes, a mix of curiosity and fear getting the best of her.

“Who? It’s not Alan, is it?” He just presses his lips together, mimicking locking his lips and throwing away the key.

She drags herself off the leather couch, trying to force her fingers through her unruly hair. Her sock covered feet pad after Cole into his kitchen.

“Is there anyway my visitor can wait until I’ve brushed my teeth?” Cole just wordlessly points to the kitchen table where Tino sits, arms crossed patiently.

“Go ahead, Dakota. I can wait. I owe you that much.” She just moves to sit down beside him.

Cole closing the fridge door and going to drink his glass of OJ in the living room is the only sound as she and Tino sit together awkwardly.

“I’m so sorry.” He blurts out before slapping his hand over his mouth like a little kid who had just swore in front of his mom.

“For what? You didn’t do anything, Tino.” He hangs his head down, not meeting her questioning eyes.

“I didn’t warn you about Alan’s habits.” She tilts her head to the side, confused.

“You see, Alan has a reoccuring issue of dating a girl for a few months before fucking it up somehow. Last time it was drug use. Time before that it was scaring her out of the relationship. Now it seems to be a mixture of the two.”

She doesn’t respond how Tino expected her to. There is no crying, no wordless disappointment, no cursing, nothing. Absolutely nothing except for some wounded snark.

“Lucky me, I guess.”

The next week seemingly passes by in the blink of an eye but also drug on forever. She had no idea how she had ever slept without Alan laying beside her.

Alan. Alan, who had done the one thing she had promised herself she would never put up with in a relationship.

He had text her multiple times, all of the messages along the lines of, “I’m sorry” and “I didn’t mean to”.

And she didn’t believe a word of it.

Notes

Short shitty chapter but im so sorry for the wait. last weekend i went on a choir trip to st.louis and all this week i had clinics for colorguard (flagline, whatever you specifically call it. you know, the girls with the flags that dance in front of the marching band) and i made it btw. so yeah.