11 Breaking It Apart

The only whole heart is a broken one because it lets the light in.—David Wolpe

For a moment, Aerith occupied herself by scratching the metallic logo, trying to test if it would rub off easily. She bobbed her head in appreciation when the print survived her test.

The shuffle of shoes on the carpet on top of the stairs stole her attention. She watched as Hunter strode upstairs with a paper bag printed with a pharmacy's logo on it.

She found herself too engrossed thinking just what might be its contents until Hunter turned a corner and disappeared before her eyes.

Against her better judgment, she dashed towards the flight of stairs, pushing past the two towering students who tried to block her way but retreated when her bodyguards growled at the rugby players.

As she landed on the second floor, her eyes darted down at the end of the hallway where Zach's room was on the right side and she saw Hunter standing by the door to pass the paper bag to a topless Zach.

The sight halted Aerith from her step, and it instantly froze her in her spot. She didn't need to see more of what was inside Zach's room.

She didn't need to guess the contents of the bag when a slender finger painted in crimson red crawled Zach's waist from behind.

As if Aerith's eye sent a zap of electricity towards Zach's way, their gazes met and locked. He quickly pried the hand on his abs and pushed Hunter aside. The need to explain himself overridden the fact that he was half-naked.

"Ran out of protection, Zach? Must be relieved to finally fuck someone, you can go on for days," Aerith shook in anger as she let her emotions do the talking.

"Baby, it's not what you think. I was drunk. I…"

Zach's hand slumped to his side as Aerith raised a hand up in a stop sign, interrupting him.

Her eyes darted from Zach then to Hunter who passed by them and stood by the stairs landing to prevent anyone from coming up and seeing the two's confrontation.

"I don't care if you're drunk. What bothered me was seeing you here instead of my doorstep, asking me for my forgiveness."

"You know I can't do that. It's our last game and I need to celebrate it with the boys and I already called you a thousand times and you're not picking up."

"News flash, Zach! Calls or words are not enough to prove how sorry you are. How could you do this to me?"

"But you're the one who stormed out on me! You broke up with me. We're done and I can do whatever the hell I want. I can fuck as many girls as I want tonight and just so you know there are three girls inside waiting for me in the bedroom.

"Unforgivable." Aerith's hand flew to her chest to keep it from squeezing painfully. She was out of words and scared that if she uttered one, she might end up crying.

"What about you, Aerith? You're the one who declared that she will sleep with the first person she sees, so please stop playing this virginity card on me. Who knows if you really are. Maybe you're just using that to keep me on a leash."

"You know nothing happened between Hunter and I. Why else would he be here running errands for you? And you think I made that up? Do you think I will use my father's name and swore to stay pure to get 'attention'?" Aerith air quoted the last word. Her lips quivered as she fought hard to keep her emotions in check. The last thing she wanted to happen was a public meltdown, smearing the Sui's name.

The fact that such words came out from Zach's mouth whom she spent most of her college days with felt as if she was thunderstruck. "I can't believe you see me as someone who can easily throw something like that away."

"What else do I know about you besides the fact that you're adopted. Who knows how far you'll go just to gain someone's attention?" Zach's words felt like a knife thrusting deeper into her heart, breaking it apart.

Aerith's knees wobbled and turned into jelly. She had to fall a step back and lean on the wall for support.

"Last time I checked I was deaf. Didn't know I was blind as well," Aerith sneered in derision. "How could I have not seen who you really are? So this is it, huh? Glad it's over between us then."

Zach shrugged. "We're cool then."

Aerith's lips pursed into a thin line. Even with the hurtful words she exchanged with Zach, she hoped that he would follow her and patch things up with her, but with how things panned out at the moment, it's close to impossible for them to rekindle what they had.

"When you saw me earlier, you called me 'baby' and you said it's not what I think. I was a fool to even see a sliver of hope that things will go back the way it was between us."

Zach reached out a hand to grab Aerith forward but she swatted it off her.

Mimicking Zach's gesture earlier, Aerith shrugged. "We're cool then."