❝Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.❞

- Mark Twain

[ H U N T E R   W I L L I A M S ]

It was currently two-thirty-one in the afternoon, I was patiently waiting at a local café called Mugs Café, the usual hang out spot for a lot of Lockwood High School students. Bailey told me to meet her here at two, yet she was the one thirty minutes late.

I was impatiently tapping my fingers on a table while sitting alone, refusing to order any coffee before my girlfriend got here. I honestly didn't know what to expect at this point. I was more than terrified about having this supposedly dreadful conversation with Bails, I even to had to skip lunch only to puke my guts out in the school bathroom.

The only thing helping with my never-ending anxiousness was the atmosphere of the café, it was a cozy and warm, seemingly hipster-inspired environment, something you'd see in an aesthetic Tumblr blog. Another bonus of this place was that the coffee was phenomenal, unlike any other coffee shop in the city. People were chattering around me, laughing with their friends while taking sips of their drinks and here I was all alone, with a puzzled expression, waiting to have a very important talk with my girlfriend, who was more than thirty minutes late - quite lovely isn't it?

Minutes passed and my anxiousness grew even further, it was two-forty-seven in the afternoon when I finally saw my beautiful girlfriend Bailey enter the café. My pulse instantly picked up, I felt myself starting to sweat and chills ran along my body.

She soon spotted me and made her way to my table, a puzzled, almost unreadable expression softy resting on her naturally gorgeous face. It was the same face that I fell in love with over two years ago, but I had a feeling we wouldn't be sharing how much we loved each other today.

"Hi," I muttered awkwardly not knowing where to start.

She coughed awkwardly. "Uh, hi. I'm sorry that I'm late, something came up." The awkwardness that had inhabited the minimal distance between us was such a foreign concept in our relationship. We were always comfortable with each other in any situation, why couldn't it be the same now?

"So, uh. What did you want to tell me?" I broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Listen, Hunt. Before I spill everything, please don't be mad at me, I never meant for this to happen and I just want you to know that I love you, despite everything." She started with the damage control and I was getting even more concerned by the second. Was it something I did? Was I not good enough for her?

I stayed silent and just looked at her intently, I didn't exactly know how to answer to such a statement, so instead, I just nodded.

"The reason I haven't been present or responding to you the last few days is because..." She paused to breathe in deeply and collect herself. "I had an abortion." She concluded.

Her statement knocked the wind out of me. Bailey had an abortion. I let that sink into my head. "I... what..." I struggled to find a  response because I was shellshocked, my muscles have never been tenser than this moment.

Then something dawned upon me. Bailey and I's relationship was more on the emotional, rather than the physical side, the furthest we had gone was oral sex, not penetration. Bailey didn't get pregnant because of me... She cheated on me.

Suddenly, my emotions got the best of me and tears rushed out of my eyes, I felt like I was suffocating, everything felt fuzzy and anger swept over my veins. "How could you do this to me?" I asked in a weak, defeated tone.

"I'm so sorry, Hunter. I love you." She whispered in response.

She could be as sorry as she wanted to be it wouldn't fix the fact that I felt betrayed and crushed at this moment. It doesn't matter how many times she says 'I love you' at this moment, I felt like I was a piece of trash.

The hints of anger soon took control and spiraled into a rage. "Who was it? Who did you fuck?" I asked in an ice-cold tone, I wasn't going to yell at her, I was better than that. I knew I was going to shed more tears over this, I mean we've been together for over two years, but I was not going to scream at the top of my lungs because of her actions.

"I'm sorry, Hunter. I can't tell you that." Was all she said in response, her voice faint.

"Well, in that case, Bailey. We're done here. We're done, period." I replied and stood up.

Guess coffee could wait for next time... I turned to leave despite her pleading me to stay and headed straight for the door, tears threatening to pour out of my eyes yet again. My girlfriend, or well... my ex-girlfriend did not even bother chasing me, really shows how much she cared about our relationship in the end, pitiful, wasn't it?

Soon as I stepped out of the café, I was met with a threatening cold wind and shuddered immediately, I wasn't underdressed by any means, it was just the sudden temperature change that startled me.

I looked up at the sky, it was littered with dark clouds, threatening to rain at any moment, sort of like my head right this very moment. I didn't know what I was supposed to do, I didn't exactly want to go home, because of my mother's passion for Bailey, I swore, my mum would rather talk about Bailey than about my well being and that was just the sad truth of the situation.

I shook my head and sighed deeply, trying to collect myself and not let my emotions get the best of me. I pulled out my phone and dialed Evelyn's number, I felt like she would understand me the best at this moment.

She picked up after a couple of rings. "Hey, Hunt, what's up? Weren't you supposed to be meeting with Bailey?" Eve asked worriedly.

"I was supposed to, yeah." I choked, tears were starting to build up in my eyes at the mention of her name. I started moving in any general direction, just so I didn't look like a weirdo, holding the phone close to my ear.

"Hunter, what's the matter? Where are you?"

"I-I'm heading towards the city park, I don't know what to do anymore Evelyn." Tears finally escaped my eyes and I didn't care if I looked like a total emotional wreck.

"I'll be there in five, hang in there, Hunt." She concluded and ended the call.

I stuffed my phone back into the pocket and put in silent, Bailey sent me a bunch of text messages, but I didn't want to hear it. I hugged my body tightly, tears still escaping my ears in a seemingly continuous stream.

I heard thunder beginning to roar in the sky when I reached the city park. It was surprisingly empty at this time of day, it was only a quarter past three in the afternoon, yet there was no one in sight, perhaps it was just the weather that deterred people from going out.

I sat on a vacant bench and finally took in the situation I had been dealing with. My eyes were already bloodshot and hurt, but all I wanted to do was cry more. I buried my face into my hands, resting my elbows on knees, shaking in shock.

Suddenly, I felt a presence near me, I looked up to see who it was. It was none other than Evelyn Hale coming to my rescue, a frown resting on her face. "Hunt, you look like a mess, what happened?" She asked softly.

"Bailey and I broke up." I managed to choke out.

"What?! Why? Talk to me."

"S-She cheated on me, got pregnant and was forced to have an abortion." I stuttered. I shut my eyes and held them closed as hard as I could, as if to delay the avalanche of tears that was threatening to escape.

Evelyn was shocked, to say the least. She let out a hiss. "Holy fuck. I can't believe her." She paused to take a breath. "I knew something fishy was up, but never in a million years, I would've thought that this was the reason she was so distant. She told me she loved you with all her heart and wanted to marry you for god's sake!" Eve was beyond pissed.

I didn't respond to that statement.

"Hunt, I'm so sorry that this happened to you, you don't deserve this." She pulled me into a close hug, that I eventually caved into. It felt as if Evelyn was my true best friend, not Eli, I could never count on Eli for emotional support quite like Eve. "Everything's going to be okay, Hunt, I promise. If she decided to act this way, you're better off without her, just don't forget that you have the rest of us to back you up, you're not alone." She reassured me and I couldn't hold the barrage of tears I had been holding in any longer.

What did I do to deserve such heartache?