Blueberry Scones (MxM)

Chapter 24 - Breakup

The sound of the front door closing echoed in my chest as I avoided Erin's stare. My arms crossed across my chest to try and ease the tension between us as well as store any warmth currently escaping my body. I hadn't been able to talk with Erin, but I didn't want to do it right now. It was cold, dark, and extremely awkward. 

Joshua had known exactly what to do to take my mind off of things for a while. It had been so much fun spending the rest of the day with just him and our wolves. But, now it was time to come back to reality. I didn't want to. I wanted to walk right past Erin and hide from the rest of the world for just a little longer, but that wasn't an option. I - we - needed the closure a talk would offer us.

Erin and I hadn't even broken up properly! It made me remember that not too long ago, I was convinced Erin and I would be together for the foreseeable future, at the very least. How wrong we were. This had to be done. 

"So..."

I finally looked up at Erin, noticing the way his eyes kept flitting from my face to the ground and back again. "So..."

This was going wonderfully already!... not.

Erin sighed after a minute, running a hand through his curls. "I guess I'll start then," he said with a weak laugh. "Uhh, I just want to know... how long did you know?"

"That Joshua and I were mates?" I asked.

He nodded, shifting on his feet. "Yeah."

I looked down at my arms, trying to avoid looking at him; if I looked at him I feared I'd feel too bad. "Not long. We found out our only night camping."

"Oh. So, it wasn't before that?"

I shool my head. "No. I had no clue until then."

"Wow, so... you didn't like the kiss because you knew about Joshua?"

My head snapped up at his question. I'd almost forgotten about that. "No, actually. I found out after."

Erin gave me an odd look. "Really?"

"Yeah..."

Is it too late to just run away?

"Look, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have assumed you'd want me kissing you when we'd been apart on such horrible terms."

"No, no, you didn't know. If things had been different, I would've liked it."

Silence filled the space between us again as we both tried to come to terms with what was going on. "Erin, I want you to know that I did love you, and I still care for you."

Erin's lips formed a bitter smile. "But not in the same way as I do about you."

"Yeah. But, we can still be friends, right? I don't want this to ruin our relationship."

"To be honest, I don't know, Wren. I still feel really hurt. I-I knew it was going to happen at one point... it's just still kind of fresh. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for your feelings," I told him softly. "Just know that I'll be ready to start over whenever you are. That is if you want to."

Erin nodded. With a small smile, I walked closer. Within a few steps, my heart began to clench painfully as I realized this was it. This was the end of Wren and Erin. If he didn't want to stay friends, that was fine with me. It'd hurt - especially since we'd been friends for so long before our relationship - but I didn't want him suffering anymore. He didn't deserve it.

I uncrossed my arms, looking up at my ex-boyfriend. "I'll be here for you if you need it. Even if we're not meant to be, we're still a pretty good team," I said playfully.