NATHAN: Ben?
I just got home.
NATHAN: Thank God, we were worried sick about you.
ME: Nathan, I...I need to...
NATHAN: What's wrong?
But I couldn't say it. It hadn't been that long, but it felt like forever. Now here I was, at the doorstep of yet another person whose heart I had broken.
And now breaking hearts seemed like nothing compared to what I've done.
Nathan and I went into the living room and sat down.
ME: I went to California.
NATHAN: We thought maybe Wilde--
ME: No, nothing like that.
NATHAN: Did something happen there?
ME: It was Taylor...
NATHAN: I knew that guy was bad news.
ME: He's dead.
You always mean to say things like that more delicately, but then--
NATHAN: Dead?
ME: Nathan--
NATHAN: What the hell are you talking about?
ME: I can't tell you what happened. It's for your own good.
NATHAN: Fuck, Ben, when did our lives turn into Guiding Light?
ME: Is that a show?
Nathan stood up and started pacing.
ME: I know I shouldn't have burdened you with this.
NATHAN: With what? You haven't told me--
ME: And I can't. We just have to act like nothing happened.
NATHAN: Are you in trouble?
ME: Not that I'm aware of, but if I am, it'll only be if I go back to California. I should be safe here. That's why I came home.
He looked hurt.
NATHAN: Not because of...anyone?
ME: I'm sorry, Nathan. I'm so sorry for everything. I promise. Everything.
On the word 'promise,' I started to cry. Nathan sat down next to me and I buried my face in his shirt. The next thing I knew, we were kissing, and then...
Well...
NATHAN: Promise you'll never leave me again.
ME: I promise.
But if there's one thing I know now, it's that there really aren't any promises you can keep.
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