Gut-Wrenching

Anna stared back into Eric's eyes, the same eyes of the man she loved with all her being only a few months ago. He had taken her virginity, given her first kiss, made her feel genuine love, and at the end broken her heart. All she had wanted since that day was to be back with him, to take make her fairy tale dream of being with the first man she'd give herself, "Of course I still care about us, Eric. You were everything to me, I never had any regrets, and I didn't want it to end," Anna softly admitted causing Eric to smile and bring up a hand to her cheek,

"I know, I didn't want it to end either, and I know that I fucked up when I said we had to end. Dartwin isn't that far, I should have stuck to us and realized any distance wouldn't have mattered as long as I was still with you," Eric wholeheartedly replied before pushing in for a heavy, passionate kiss.

Yet his lips didn't get the chance to press against Anna's instead the blonde girl easily lifted her hand and covered his mouth with her palm. With a soft whine she pushed herself away and Eric back, "No, Eric," Anna simply said,

"N-No?" Eric asked in confusion, "But you just said --"

"I said I still cared about us, but that doesn't mean I care about you that way anymore," Anna calmly and clearly replied without so much as a quiver in her voice, "All that time dating you I was on cloud-nine. I didn't think it could get any better and when you left I didn't think I could ever get better either. But...But I did, Eric," Anna hardly replied, keeping her emerald eyes directly on his, "I was able to get better and then I...I moved on to someone else, someone that...that makes me happier,"

"What, Kenny?" Eric replied with some clear, obvious jealousy,

Anna's brow raised in surprise, she wasn't sure how Eric knew that but even so, she wasn't about to falter, "Yes, Kenny," The blonde affirmed, "He was the first guy I started spending time with since you, and at first I was seeing him as nothing but my friend again, until...I don't know, I couldn't explain it to you even if I wanted, but something changed between us. It was so fast, but it's not something I would change for anything in the world,"

Eric let out a frustrated exhale, "Like I said, I don't blame you for moving on, but Anna. Think about it, everything that we shared together, all those real feelings we shared. I know you still have them, we didn't break up because we wanted to. It was something I felt **** to do, and I want to change it! I want us to go back to what we were,"

"I can't," Anna instantly replied, her voice still calm, almost sympathetic at this point, "When I first heard you were coming here tonight I freak out, I didn't know what I was going to do. The idea of you returning to my life right after I was moving on without you scared me. I thought, what is going to happen when I see him again? Will anything else matter? I was scared, angry, defensive, all because I didn't know what I was going to feel. Then I saw you and it got worse!" She said with a breathy, uncertain laugh,

"Because you still felt something?" Eric guessed with a quick smile,

"No," Anna denied again causing Eric's whole body to slouch, "Eric, it was worse because after everything I felt and thought, seeing you again didn't change anything. I didn't miss you, I missed what we had, but now...I have something else,"

"What, the guy you're always fighting with? Anna, you don't have to settle for someone who you're dating, you can put it aside and go back to who will actually make you happy. You can't lie to me, I know you, and we both know how perfect everything was. I know --"

"No you fucking don't, Eric," Anna interrupted with a growl that made Eric stop dead, "You knew me, you knew who I used to be when we dated. Things change, people change, we weren't the perfect fucking couple. Our prom night wasn't magical, it was something two nervous kids did! Our dating wasn't great, we didn't like doing the same things! And more importantly, you weren't able to even be fully faithful to me! You started dreaming about my best fucking friend!"

Eric gulped and raised a hand slightly, "Easy, Anna, I wasn't trying to start a fight. And you know that Nicole situation was...different, we talked about that,"

"No, we didn't, I just agreed to put it aside because I didn't want my dream to break," Anna crossed her arms and shook her head, clarity hitting her like a ton of breaks, "You know...after everything, I wasn't in love with you...I was in love with the idea of you and the idea of that picture perfect life," Anna harshly said, cutting Eric like a razor,

"You don't...you don't mean that..." Eric weakly replied,

"Have you ever known me not to be honest?" Anna simply replied. Eric hung his head and the pair went silent, "And...and now something is really bugging me,"

"I can't get the door open, Anna, that wasn't me..." Eric mumbled back, unable to look her back in the eye,

"Not that," Anna made her way back over to the couch and sat down, "You knew I was dating Kenny and you knew we had a fight, how? I never told you any of that,"

"Brian told me," Eric breathed back as he all but collapsed into his chair, "He told me you'd be in here...that you still cared about me...and that Kenny was your rebound that was doomed to fail..."

"He what?" Anna asked as she leaned forward and narrowed her eyes, "Tell me everything he said to you since you got here,"