"Hello?" His sleepy voice came through the phone.
"Hi Bray," she said sadly.
"Xanthe?" He asked. "What time is it? Why are you calling in the middle of the night?"
"I'm sorry. I just needed to talk to you," she said.
"I don't think there's much more to say," he sighed.
"I'm not calling to ask you to come back," she said.
There was silence for a few seconds and she waited for him to either respond or hang up.
"What is it then?" He finally asked.
"I just need to know," she answered.
"Know what?" He asked.
"What happened to us? I know it's my fault somehow but what did I do wrong?" She asked.
"You didn't do anything wrong," he answered.
"Something made you leave me and I need to know what it is. I wanna move on, Bray, but in order to do that, I need to know what I did wrong so I won't make the same mistake again," she said.
"Damn it, Xanthe," he sighed. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"Why did you leave me then?" She asked.
Again a few seconds of silence. She hated that. She just wanted a clean answer.
"I just fell out of love with you," he said.
"That's it?" She asked.
"More or less," he answered.
"Please, Bray, don't sugar coat it. If there's anything at all, I need to know," she said.
"Fine," he said. "Your insecurity."
It was her turn to be silent for a few seconds now. She had a feeling it all came down to that since it had been a big problem throughout their relationship. She just hadn't known for sure until that very second.
"It didn't matter what I said or did, you were always so scared I would cheat on you," he continued.
"I never accused you of doing that," she said.
"You didn't have to. You were always scared that it might happen and it made you call and text at all hours of the day and sometimes you were acting kind of crazy. You can't deal with a man being away for days and I can't deal with a woman not trusting me completely," he said.
She chewed on her fingernail. He was right in everything he said.
"Thank you," she said. "Is she good to you? Are you happy?"
"JoJo?" He asked. "Yeah, it's farely new and you must know I didn't start anything with her before you and I ended. But yeah, I'm happy."
"That's good. I'm happy to hear that," she said.
She looked down at the item in her hand, getting it ready for what she hadn't been sure she would do until she had heard the truth from his mouth. She couldn't get over her insecurity, not with him or any other man. And in the end there wasn't gonna be another man. Bray had been it for her. He had been her world.
"What was that sound?" He asked.
"What sound?" She asked.
"That clicking sound," he answered.
"Just Charlie playing with some of his toys," she said.
"Charlie died last week. You posted it on Facebook. So unless you got another cat you named Charlie too..." He said. "Why are you lying to me?"
"Fine. I'm playing with some of his toys. I'm not getting another cat. There's no reason to since I'm leaving soon," she said.
"Going travelling?" He asked.
"I guess you could call it that," she answered. "When are you picking up the rest of your stuff?"
"Next week," he said.
"Are you coming alone?" She asked.
"I won't bring JoJo if that's what you're asking," he answered.
"Maybe bring your brother or someone else," she said.
"Why?" He asked.
"You shouldn't enter the house alone," she sighed. "Thank you, Bray, for not hanging up and actually answering my weird questions. I won't take anymore of your time."
It was in that exact moment that he realized he knew that clicking sound all too well and it wasn't any of Charlie's toys. The sound came from something belonging to him.
"No! Wait!" He shouted.
She hung up despite him shouting for her not to. He tried calling her back but she didn't pick up. Instead he called 911.
"911, what is your emergency?" A female voice asked.
"I need you to send someone to my ex right away. She's got my gun and I'm afraid she might kill herself," he said.
"What's the location?" The female voice asked.
An hour went by where Bray just paced the floor and tried calling her several times. When the doorbell sounded, he already knew who would be on the other side. He opened the door and looked at the two officers standing there. The look on their faces said it all.
"Is she dead?" He asked.
"Yes," one of them answered.
"It's my fault," Bray looked down. "I left her."
"It's not your fault," the officer continued. "Do you have someone you can call to come be with you?"
"My brother Bo. He'll come. He always comes," Bray said as the tears ran down his face. "Fuck! Xanthe, damn it! Why would you do this?"