It was Christmas Eve of my freshman year in college. I'd fallen in love with the sweetest sophomore I have ever known. His name was Tom, and he was my boyfriend.

Tom was always rather subdued when we were alone together, which was odd, owing to the fact that around his friends, he was usually quite loud and talkative. But I didn't mind. He was mine, and that was all that mattered.

As we sat at the foot of his family's Christmas tree, unwrapping each other's presents, I felt like nothing could ever make this night less than perfect. I would seem that I miscalculated.

'Hey, Genny,' Tom said, after I unwrapped a gorgeous sapphire pendant. 'Do you think we're happy?'

I stopped midway through fastening the pendant around my neck. 'Of course, Tom. Why shouldn't we be?' I was confused, to say the least.

'I dunno. You've been spending an awful lot of time with Dan lately.' Dan was Tom's best friend, as well as one of mine.

'No more than usual, sweetheart.' I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. My palms began to sweat. I was getting nervous.

'Huh.' Oh no. Even though we'd only been dating for a few months, I knew what that 'huh' meant. He knew something was off.

'Tom, I swear, nothing's wrong!'

He looked at me in a way that flooded my entire body with guilt. He knew. I had to be honest with him.

'Tom, I didn't mean it. It was one night and it just kind of snowballed. It was a mistake, I never should've…'

He pressed his finger against my lips. He spoke slowly. 'Genny, what did you do?'

I had to tell him. 'I…'

'You what…?'

'I slept with Dan, okay? It never should've happened, but it did, and I know you'll never speak to me again, but I swore to myself that I'd be honest with you, and so that's what I'm doing. I'm being honest.'

He stared at me. His eyes had lost their warmth. He stood up and headed for the foyer.

'I have to go.' It was like his voice had turned to ice. He grabbed his coat off of the rack and headed for the door.

'Tom! Wait!'

He turned around, frustrated. 'What is it, Genny?'

'I know our relationship has become a complete and total disaster, but I love you.'

'What?' His voice was filled with hurt and disbelief.

I looked into his eyes, knowing my words were the only thing keeping him from leaving. 'I love you, Tom.'

'How do I know I can trust you?' he asked, his gaze penetrating my every thought. 'You've obviously kept this whole thing with Dan a secret. What's to say that you aren't lying to me again?'

He had a point. But I wasn't going to give up so easily. 'If I was lying about this, Tom, I wouldn't still be standing here. I would rather jump off the Tower Bridge than lie to you.'

'I'm sorry.' He kissed my head and walked out the door.

'Merry Christmas, Tom,' I whispered. And that was that.

In case you were wondering, I did see Tom again. He was on the news for trying to smother Dan in his sleep with a Father Christmas hat. I had to bail him out of jail.

As for Dan, he and I reached an agreement that we would only ever have sex again if we were absolutely alone. We'd done it at least four times by the end of the week.