The music inside the house was deafening.
Bass rattled the walls. People laughed, shouted, drank, danced. The whole place smelled like cheap beer and cigarette smoke.
You had come with Eddie.
You’d spent the first hour glued to his side, laughing whenever he made some ridiculous comment, rolling your eyes whenever he got dramatic. He’d had an arm around your shoulders almost the entire night.
Then he’d disappeared.
At first, you hadn’t thought much of it.
It was Eddie. He got distracted. He wandered off. He found random people to talk to about music, D&D, horror movies, or whatever crossed his mind.
But twenty minutes turned into thirty.
Thirty turned into forty.
And something in your stomach started twisting.
So you went looking.
You checked the kitchen.
The backyard.
The living room.
The basement.
No Eddie.
You were about to give up when you noticed a bedroom door half-open at the end of the hallway.
The knot in your stomach tightened.
You pushed the door open.
And your world stopped.
Eddie was there.
His hands were tangled in someone’s hair.
Someone blonde.
Someone pretty.
Someone popular.
Chrissy Cunningham.
And he was kissing her.
Not a misunderstanding.
Not an accident.
Not something you could explain away.
Kissing her.
For a second, neither of them noticed you standing there.
The room suddenly felt too hot.
Too small.
Too loud.
Your chest tightened so painfully you could barely breathe.
You didn’t say anything.
Couldn’t.
Because if you opened your mouth, you were pretty sure you’d break apart right there.
You turned and walked away.
Fast.
The hallway blurred.
People bumped into you.
Someone called your name.
You ignored them.
You shoved your way through the crowd.
Past confused faces.
Past strangers.
Past friends.
Until you burst out the front door and into the cool night air.
The second you got outside, tears started burning behind your eyes.
You wrapped your arms around yourself as you hurried across the yard.
Trying not to cry.
Trying not to fall apart.
Trying not to think about every promise Eddie had ever made.
Then you heard him.
“Wait!”
Your stomach dropped.
“Eddie, don’t—”
“Please!”
His footsteps pounded behind you.
You spun around just as he caught up.
His face was pale.
Panicked.
Guilty.
“Please, just listen to me—”
The crack of the slap echoed through the night.
Eddie’s head snapped sideways.
Silence.
Even the sounds from the party seemed distant.
He slowly looked back at you.
Shock written across his face.
Your hand stung.
Tears streamed down your cheeks.
“You fucking promised you wouldn’t hurt me and you lied.”
Your voice cracked so badly it almost didn’t sound like you.
Eddie’s expression shattered.
“Baby—”
“No!”
The word tore out of you.
“No, don’t.”
You backed away from him.
“And I thought you wouldn’t do that.”
Your chin trembled.
“I thought someone genuinely cared about me…”
Another tear slipped down your cheek.
“And I was wrong.”
Eddie looked like you’d stabbed him.
“You’re not wrong.”
“Then what was that?” you demanded.
You pointed toward the house.
“What exactly was that, Eddie?”
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Because there wasn’t an answer.
You laughed bitterly.
The sound was heartbreaking.
“Wow.”
Eddie took a step forward.
You immediately stepped back.
The movement hit him harder than the slap had.
His face crumpled.
“Please don’t do that.”
“Why?” you asked.
“Because it hurts?”
His eyes closed.
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
The word came out sharp.
Broken.
Raw.
“Now you know how I feel.”
For a moment, neither of you spoke.
The cold night air filled the space between you.
A space that had never existed before tonight.
Eddie looked desperate.
Lost.
Like he was watching something precious slip through his fingers.
“Please,” he whispered. “I messed up.”
“Messed up?”
You stared at him in disbelief.
“You didn’t forget an anniversary, Eddie.”
Fresh tears spilled down your cheeks.
“You cheated on me.”
The words hung between you.
Heavy.
Ugly.
Impossible to take back.