Chapter 3: Should Have Said No
A/N: Okay, so like I said, this is not going to be in chronological order. Chapter 1 was Emmett right after sleeping with Simone, while chapter 2 was a few months after the break up. This is the break up scene. Enjoy! (Even though I know it's hard to read or rather sad to read) I'll be updating my other story She Came Around soon though, so good feels from that one. This one is more angsty.
He saw her in her art studio furiously painting something and all he could think was how….Bay she looked. It had been three days since the prom and though he had wanted to follow her, god that was what he wanted to do so badly, he didn't. She didn't want him to, and he needed to respect that; it was the least he could do after disrespecting her like that. But then he couldn't take it anymore. How long was he supposed to wait? He wanted to – no, he needed to fix this. Bay was the most important person in his life and he couldn't lose that. He couldn't lose her.
He thought back to right after prom. His mom could tell something was wrong.
"I told Bay," was all he could muster. He didn't want to talk. He just wanted to go to bed and cry. The next day though he let Melody give him some advice.
"What do I do, mom?"
"Give it time; that's all you can do. Bay is going to feel betrayed now and she probably needs some time to think."
He shook his head.
"What does she need to think about?" He knew it sounded stupid and it was an immature reaction, but he couldn't help it. "I love her, I never stopped loving her. This whole thing was never about me not loving her. It was a mistake, a stupid, drunken mistake. We can fix this, mom. I know we can, but…" he couldn't finish.
"But what?"
"The longer she stays away from me, the easier it's going to be for her to hate me and to want to…" he felt himself getting choked up, "and want to end this. And that can't happen, mom. It just can't."
"I know you want to fix this, but sometimes the best thing you can do is give the other person time and space to heal and if you don't, if you force this, you may not like what she has to say."
And so here he was, three days later. He hoped that had been enough time, but now standing here looking at her, he wasn't sure.
He guessed she could sense he was there because she turned around and looked at him with a fiery vengeance in her eyes.
"Hi," he said.
"Go away, Emmett."
He inched closer to her.
"Can we just talk?"
"I'm serious, just get out of here."
"I just want to tal –
"I don't want to talk to you. Okay? Just get out of here." She turned her back to him again and continued painting.
But he couldn't make himself leave. He came around to face her.
"I know what I did was unforgivable, but I need to you try and forgive me." She sighed.
"Why? I mean, why bother? Our relationship clearly meant nothing to you. I clearly mean nothing to you."
"You mean everything to me. Our relationship means everything to me." Bay laughed and nodded.
"Right."
"It does!" He reached for her hand, but she quickly took it away. "Bay, I love you. I love you so much. I have never loved anyone else - -"
"Except for Daphne," she said interrupting him.
"No. What I felt for Daphne, it doesn't compare. It's not even a fraction of what I feel for you. I'll never love anyone else. You're it for me."
"Hm. Well, tell me Emmett, where was all this love for me when you were screwing Simone? When your hot, sweaty bodies were pressed against each other - "
"Stop. I don't….I don't want to think about it."
"Yeah? Neither do I, but now I do. It's in my head. Every time I close my eyes I see you kissing her, and I feel disgusted. You make me sick! And then you came home and pretended everything was great. God, how dumb was I? Hey, Bay, screwed your ex-best friend, but everything is perfect. We're the perfect couple. So, you slept with her and came back for your fucking consolation prize."
Emmett shook his head furiously.
"You're not a consolation prize." He felt the tears falling furiously down his face. "How can you think you're a consolation prize when you're so much more than that?"
Now Bay was crying, too.
"Right. I'm just your clueless virginal girlfriend. Was that why? Was it because I didn't sleep with you?"
"No! It was never because of that."
"Then why? Why, Emmett? Enlighten me, please, because I don't get it. Why throw it all away?"
"Because I wasn't thinking. If I had, I never would have done it. I never would have intentionally done something to hurt you. Bay, it was temporary insanity."
"Let me ask you something. If I had cheated on you, would you have forgiven me so easily? I mean, look how upset you got when I was just e-mailing Ty. Now, you've slept with someone else, and you expect to be instantly forgiven?"
"I handled it wrong. I handled everything wrong, and I know you think it's impossible of me to ask you this, because if the roles were reversed, I'd be devastated, but I think I would forgive you, because there's nothing worse I can imagine than not being with you."
Bay shook her head.
They were both crying, and hard. Emmett brought his hand up to Bay's cheek to wipe away some of the tears, and as strange as this sounds, Emmett felt hope. She was letting him help her ease her pain. Before he knew what he was doing, his lips were on top of Bay's and they were kissing, and it felt amazing. Their wet cheeks together, mixing their tears, just like it should be, until Bay broke away.
"No. Emmett, we can't do this."
Emmett nodded as she backed away.
"You're right. It's not time yet. I need to give you some time and – "
"No. I mean, we can't do this because….this isn't about time. You could give me all the time in the world, and it wouldn't matter." Emmett felt his stomach churn. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He couldn't follow Bay's signs and her lips. She was saying something, but what?
"What are you saying, Bay?"
"I'm saying we're not getting over this. You and I, we're done. Forever."
His jaw dropped at that word, forever.
No.
No. No. No.
She began to walk back into the house, but he couldn't let her. His tears were becoming fast and furious again.
He blocked her path.
"Bay, please. We can't be over. I just found you." Bay just stared at him with a blank expression. He told himself to go on, that maybe this would be what made her change her mind. "I pretend like I'm strong, like I don' t need anyone else, but that's a lie. It's a façade. I need you. I've been searching for you for a long time. I know you think that can't be true, but it is. It is, Bay. I just never knew it until now. And now that I have found you, how can I just let you walk away? I can't. I can't go on with my life the way it was before you were in it, because we're meant to be together. I can't live without you. If the switch hadn't happened, you would have been the one I met first. You're my soul mate, and I can't imagine waking up tomorrow and not having you. So, I'm begging you to reconsider, because I don't think I can handle it. So, please, tell me what I can do, because there has to be a way to fix this."
It felt like hours before a reply came, and when it did, all Bay could say was:
"You should have said no."
And that was it. She walked into her house leaving his heart smashed into a million pieces. He was crying, but he couldn't make himself leave. If he left, it was really over, but if he stayed, maybe this would all be some bad dream. But it wasn't. It was over. And the worst part was Bay was right. He should have just said no.
