As soon as s I parked the car in The Adams driveway, I dashed for the door with the cookie jar filled with wrapped up brownies in one hand and my phone in the other.

I only had to ring the doorbell twice before Lauren came and open the door.

“Hi, Lauren.” I cheerfully greeted her while she stared at me with a hint of surprise evident on her face.

“Sam...come in.” She opened the door wider for me, but something seemed off about her expression.

I walked in and found Kira in the living room, drawing away on her sketch pad as she kneeled on the floor.

“Sammy!” She smiled up at me excitedly when she noticed me.

“Hey, what are you drawing?” I asked, walking over to her and inspecting her drawing. It was of an elephant.

“It’s for school.” She explained. “What have you got there?” She pointed to my cookie jar.

“Brownies. Want some?” I brought out a wrap for her.

“Yay!” She squealed.

“After you’re done with your homework.” Lauren sternly said, taking it from me and leaving Kira to pout.

“Does Ryan know you were coming?” Lauren, all of a sudden, asked.

“Not really. I was supposed to come earlier, but I had something else to do.” I explained. She was acting strange. Usually, she was always very thrilled whenever I visited Ryan, but she didn’t look so happy about it now. Had I done something wrong?

“Oh...” She slowly nodded. “Well, he’s upstairs.” She smiled before walking to the kitchen, but it seemed forced.

Shaking my head, I headed for the stairways. Maybe I was just overthinking it all. Lauren adored me, and if I had done anything wrong, she would have told me.

Hurrying towards Ryan’s room, I reached for the doorknob and twisted it open without bothering to knock.

“Ryan, I’m so sorry for...” I started to apologize but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the sight that awaited me.

Ryan was in bed as I expected, but what took me by surprise was a particularly annoying blond cradling his head on her lap and brushing through his messy tangles with her fingers like it was the most natural thing to do.

And guess who the bitch was, Jenny. Lately, that name popped up everywhere I go, and it so infuriated me.

Ryan instantly stood up when he saw me as if he knew what he had been doing was wrong while Jenny sent me a confident smirk from behind him.

“Sam!” Ryan had a huge smile on his face, looking excited and surprised to see me, but I wasn’t in any way the former. I was so irritated by how she always showed up whenever Ryan and I were together, or how she acted all nice when he was around but a total bitch when he wasn’t.

“I’ve been calling you all afternoon. Is everything alright?” He furrowed his eyebrows at me when he realized the huge scowl on my face.

I can’t believe he thought I would be okay with what I just saw and get over it like I always did. Well, no more.

I took a step further into the room, my eyes blazing in anger as I glowered at the slut behind him.

“I should go,” Jenny spoke up suddenly in a smooth delicate voice as she made a move to leave. She smiled one last time at him and returned it while I stood and watched the whole show with my dist clenched real tight around the jar. She was about to walk past me, her innocent facade gone and replaced with an evil smirk, but I stopped her.

“I thought I told you to stay away from my boyfriend?” I blocked her way, still gripping the cookie jar in hand and cocked my head at her. She definitely hadn’t expected me to speak up as her smirk disappeared replaced with a glare. This reminded me of my first day of school when she cornered me in the bathroom with her posse. But now, the tables had turned.

“Samantha,” Ryan growled out in warning, receiving a glare from me.

“Oh, so I’m supposed to be okay with this slut here having her hands all over you.” I snapped out, surprising him and maybe myself a little.

“Look, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. Ryan was just sick, and I thought to comfort him since you weren’t here.” She puts back up her innocent facade and actually had the nerve to sound sincere.

“And since when is it your job to be my understudy to my boyfriend?!” I snapped again at her while glaring straight into her eyes.

“Samantha, that’s enough.” Ryan let out, and I could hear the exhaustion in his voice. I felt a bit guilty because of the state he was in, so I decided to keep quiet for him but kept glowering at the trash in front of me.

She was the first to look away before heading out the door, closing it softly behind her.

“What was that?!” Ryan immediately asked as she left. He was still sitting on his bed with his head cocked at me in question.

“What was that?!” I repeated in disbelief. “What was what I saw when I came in here?!” I almost yelled, gripping the cookie jar more tightly in my hand.

“She was just trying to help. You were the one who wasn’t here.” He said accusingly.

I stared at him for a while in disbelief.

“I had work to be done and couldn’t be here earlier. My phone was on silent, so I didn’t see your missed calls and texts quickly. I tried calling back when I did, but you didn’t answer.” I explained in a composed tone that surprised me since I was fuming on the inside.

He frowned before reaching for his phone on the nightstand. “Oh, I don’t remember putting it on silent.” He stared at the screen in surprise.

“I have an idea who did,” I confidently said while he looked to me confused before realization hit him.

“Jenny wouldn’t. You’re overreacting.” He sighed before placing his legs on the floor and gripping the bed by his side, which made his back muscles flex.

“I’m overreacting?” I scoffed. “Oh, I’m sorry that my boyfriend is selfish and only thinks about himself!” I yelled out as he looked stunned by my outburst. “What about my needs? How do think I feel when your ex won’t leave you alone!”

He kept staring at me, still looking stunned as I had never acted this way before. I always used to either give him the silent treatment or try and ignore the issue.

“You go berserk when you see me with Trevor, but think it okay to drive your ex home with your girlfriend in the backseat!” A guilty expression made way on his face, but he quickly turned away to hide it. “I can’t do this anymore.” I suddenly whispered out, catching his attention as his eyes snapped to mine, which was slightly filled with tears. I was trying to hold them back, but the ache in my heart wasn’t letting me. I felt sick to the stomach about what I was about to do next.

“What?” He frowned, watching my every move as I paced around the room.

“I can’t be with a guy who thinks it okay to put my feelings second. I just can’t take it anymore.” I voiced out.

“So, what are you saying?” He stood up towering over me, his voice dangerously low, but I could see the toll his sickness had had on him. He was a little bit lean and pale, too, even though he tried to cover it up by acting strong.

“Haven’t you noticed that the only thing we’ve ever fought about since we started going out, last week, is her!” I spat out her name. “How would you have felt if you had walked in on Trevor and I being in the same state you and Jenny were?” His eyes diverted from mine, staring at everything but me. He was silent, but I could see the scowl that appeared on his face and his jaw clench as he thought about what I said. Our relationship wasn’t even a week old, and this was already happening.

“Just as I thought.” I shook my head in disbelief. “You don’t think about how I feel but only yourself, Ryan. And if you can’t end...whatever it is that is going on between Jenny...then I can’t be with you.” I whispered the last part out as his eyes snapped to mine in a warning.

My heart clenched painfully in my chest as tears pooled in my eyes, but I couldn’t back out now. I wanted all of him, not half of him. I couldn’t take it anymore.

“That’s not happening. You’re mine!” He growled out, taking a step closer to me.

“Well then, that all depends on you,” I said before reaching for the doorknob and walking out his room.

“You’re just doing this to go back to Trevor.” He yelled out in anger before I could slam the door shut. Stopping dead in my tracks, I stared back at him, bewildered.

I scrutinized his face, and even though he didn’t let it show, I could see the desperation in his face. I knew then he was afraid to lose me just as I was to lose him, but this wouldn’t work if he didn’t put any effort into it. I was tired of bearing the relationship on my shoulders all by myself.

“Please, don’t leave me.” He pleaded with his eyes at me, helplessness was written all over his face. I knew then that he truly cared about me, I wanted to go up to him and comfort, telling him I would never leave him. The guilt of what I was doing weighing down on me, but I couldn’t give in anymore.

“Goodbye, Ryan,” I forcefully whispered out past the lump in my throat and watched his face shattered in despair, just as my heart was at that moment.

The tears I had been trying to hold in all came flooding out as I walked down the stairs, still gripping the cookie jar.

“Oh, dear. Is everything alright?” I heard Lauren asked as she hurried over to me.

I looked up and noticed Jenny was still here, and she sat beside Kira, who was already coloring her drawing on the table. She stopped what she had been doing and stared at me in worry while Jenny stared with her eyes gleaming in satisfaction when she took in the state I was in.

It was then I understood why Lauren acted the way she did earlier, she already knew Jenny was here, and that I might not be too happy about it.

“I’m fine, Lauren. Could you keep this in the refrigerator for Ryan.” I handed her the cookie jar with a forced smile trying to ignore the tears on my cheek before heading towards the front door, and out of the house, leaving her stunned.

A night I had thought would be beautiful and memorable had turned out to be the worst night of my life.