I told him everything.

I told him how we moved into our new house after our honeymoon and met Betty. I even whined about how annoyingly happy she was every time I saw her and how she seemed to be flirting with Shifty.

I told him how Shifty's been spending a lot of time with her, even if I've only seen Sarah twice since the wedding when she'd visit her mom. I understood the need for space and liked being by myself or even with a friend, but it didn't sit right with me that he spoke to and was with Betty more than with me or any of his male friends combined.

I told him that they were basically soul mates and that's why I believed learning how to shoot could ease him back to me. That maybe if we actually had something in common, he wouldn't turn to her.

"Yeah, he'd stopped by occasionally, but not so much. I assumed it was because of work and all," Popeye took a sip from his enamel mug.

"She's so much better than me and I'm about to lose the best thing in my life to her!" my voice broke.

This is probably the billionth time I cried, but Popeye was patient. He looked at me sympathetically and leaned in to touch my knee. "Hey, don't think like that."

"How can I not? He even looks at her and talks about her like...," I bawled. "Almost like he did with me!"

Even he looked shocked by what I said.

He moved next to me on the bench and put his arm around my shoulder. "Hey, Y/F/N? I want you to listen to me for a sec."

I sniffed and ran my sleeves over my eyes before looking up at him.

"You're not gonna lose Shifty, okay? I know him and he's not like that. He's crazy about you, you know. He never stops talking about you. Never. Hell, I swear if I wasn't his best friend, I'd think he was insane!"

I smiled and laughed a little. Popeye smiled too and rubbed my shoulder.

"You know, I caught him starin' at you a lot. I saw him stop firing in Normandy for a brief second when you went out there."

"Before you got shot in the ass?" I teased.

"Before I got shot in the ass, yes," he chuckled.

"You know what I said one time? I told him 'damn Shifty, just go talk to her!'"

"What'd he say?"

"He was all shaking his head like, 'Oh no. No, I can't Popeye. She's so pretty'," Popeye put on his best Shifty impression.

"He did not say that," I scoffed.

"Oh, but he did! I wouldn't lie to you," Popeye took another swig from his mug.

He turned serious again. "You need to trust me when I say he's not going anywhere. He would've stayed with you the whole time if he had a choice, I guarantee you."

"I wanted to talk to him about... her... but I don't want him to think I don't trust him. I do. I love him. It's just that I'm used to second-guessing people's motives," I put my hand over my head.

Popeye smiled sadly. "I think that's what's best. Confront him about it. He always wants to do the right thing, especially with you. He overthinks when it comes to what he should or shouldn't do. Like when he said to me once, 'I wanna tell her. I wanna tell her I love her, you know? But what if... what if she doesn't love me back? She might never talk to me again!'"

Our type does tend to get preoccupied in our own thoughts.

"That's a good idea," I finished my coffee. "Thanks, Popeye."

"Anytime," he stood up and picked our mugs up. "More coffee?"

"No, thanks," I got up from my seat too. "I'm gonna head home now."

"Okay," he caught me in a one-arm hug on my way off the porch.

I returned the gesture and went down the stairs, going the direction I came from.

"Hey, by the way..." I heard his voice farther away and turned on my heel to look at him.

He had his hand on the door handle. "If you really want to learn how to shoot, I think you should learn from the best. Just saying."

"Good point," I told him with a nod and continued on my way home.

To calm my nerves, I smiled to myself thinking how Shifty would disagree with his best friend had he been with me to hear that.


I was feeling confident about how I would handle things.

That was, until I was nearing my house and spotted Shifty and Betty standing across each other on our lawn, with him facing my direction.

He looked worn out, one side of his shirt and face stained with dirt, scratching the back of his head as Betty expressed concern over something.

I suppose she does have another speaking voice other than one of constant excitement.

Shifty, now smiling politely, seemed to be reassuring her.

Coming closer, I saw her run her thumb over a smudge of dirt on his cheek.

He froze, mouth slightly open, his eyes on her hand.

She said something, though I couldn't make it out, and brushed that same hand over his bicep.

I exhaled and quickened my pace.

"Shifty!" I called, masking my growing agitation.

Betty quickly snapped her hand off him and whirled around to look at me.

"Oh hey, Y/F/N!" she put her hands together, bent her knees slightly, and jumped like a spring.

I stormed right to Shifty and gave him a kiss on his clean cheek. I put my hand over his chest and looked at Betty.

"So what's this about?" I put my fake smile on.

Coming back from his shock, Shifty put his arm around my side.

"J-Just... Betty needed some help with the yard. I, uh, was coming back from work, but it was nothing," he explained, gazing from me to her.

"Ahh," I kept my focus on her. "Well I'm glad he could lend a hand, Betty. We were just about to go in for supper, so if you'll excuse us—"

"Sure thing!" Betty said. "Now that my produce is collected, I think I'm ready for a meal myself!"

"Well, you have a nice night now," I waved her off.

Betty picked up the bucket of vegetables on her front yard and opened her door to go in. She looked over her shoulder at Shifty and winked, a flirtatious smirk etched across her freckled face.

I clutched at his t-shirt and looked up at him. He was smiling anxiously at her.

I came in with the belief that I would settle things calmly and rationally. But after this exchange, it was as if everything Popeye told me was basically out of the equation.

"Shifty, we need to talk," I looked at him sternly.

Can you believe I said that?

He threw a confused glance my way, his head jolting back. "Everything alright, baby?"

Usually I'd find this adorable—even tell him so and give him a kiss—but I was ready to do anything but settle this peacefully.


"Shifty, what the hell?" I darted my eyes to his after shutting the door behind me.

"Y/F/N, what's—"

"We've only been married for two years and you're already fading from me!"

I backed up against the wall and covered my mouth. Although Shifty went back to being motionless and just as lost, I was starting to surprise even myself.

"Y/F/N, I'm right here," he calmly told me, his brows furrowing. "I haven't... a single idea what you're talking about."

"BETTY!" I threw my hand up. "If you love her so goddamn much, you should've just married her!"

His eyes widened, mouth open.

"My, Y/F/N, are you... are you jealous?" he blinked.

I felt my jaw tighten at that word. He spewed it at me like it was one of the most horrid things to be spoken by man.

"No," my voice came out in a barely audible whisper. "I'm scared of losing you."

After a stinging silence, Shifty chuckled and put one hand on his hip, the other over his forehead. "You really think I'd do that?"

I just stared at him, not knowing what to say.

"You think I'd throw away everything we've been through just for someone I barely know?" he asked, pointing to the direction of her house.

He didn't raise his voice, yet I knew just how upset he was.

"Then why are you always with her?" my angst came firing back. "I know you need time away from me, but you don't even spend that much time with your other friends!"

"Y/F/N, why does it matter if we're just friends?" Shifty looked at me bewildered. "And frankly, I can spend my time with whoever I darn well please!"

"What a load of crap!" I paced the living room. "I see the way you look at her. The way you talk to her. The way you talk about her!"

"I'm just bein' nice," he looked down and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can't I have someone to do my hobbies with?"

"That's not what the problem is, Shifty," I stepped closer to him. "It's her, okay? She's everything you could ever want. She's beautiful, she's bubbly, she can do all the things you love to do. It doesn't help that you're never around anymore!"

"How can I be around when you're not even here?" Shifty snapped, still keeping his voice at an even volume. "You're gone the same time I leave, but you don't get back until later tonight."

I was about to speak.

"Even when you get home, you're too busy with your schoolwork," he continued. "I just didn't want to let you be while you worked."

"You could've at least checked on me or be with me when I took my breaks," I huffed. "But I see she's more important than I am. Predictable. No one ever prefers me when there's a pretty girl involved."

Shifty stormed off into the kitchen and groaned. "Maybe there's a reason why, Y/F/N."

"Why wh—"

"Maybe the other girl isn't clingy. Maybe she actually trusts her spouse. Maybe she isn't self-absorbed!" he cut me off.

The air left my lungs and my feet got heavy, as if they were being weighed down by cinder blocks whilst I was chucked into a body of water. My vision started to blur and, honestly, I was surprised I hadn't started crying until now.

"You know what? I may be clingy, but I just want to know how you are. So please excuse me for wanting to be a part of your life. That's why I married you. And you wanna know something, Shifty? I married you because I also trust you. I trust you with my life. I trust you with the most genuine side of me, no matter how ugly and unpleasant it gets. I trust that you still stay with me through it and try to understand the reasons for me being that way. I may be self-absorbed, but let me tell you that that's a result of nobody ever caring about me and learning overtime that, it's me who has to be there for myself. I'm tired of caring for people who couldn't care less about me," I yelled.

He stood there, unfazed by this. He stared at me the whole time, yet I couldn't even begin to guess what was going through his head. Maybe I didn't know him as well as I had thought.

I gulped back more tears and closed my eyes before looking at him again. "Day after day, I do nothing—nothing—but give my love and devotion to others only to have them take until I am empty. It's hard for me to trust anyone anymore, but I trust Sarah. I trust my friends and aunt back home. I trust the men. I fucking trust you. And to have you look at me and think I'm incapable of such a thing is a slap in the face. Just like it is for you to push me aside—someone who's seen the hell you've been through—for an infinitely perfect, lighter, and fun version of me who we've only known for a few months."

I sniffed and wiped my tears to see Shifty looking more broken inside. I hated to do this to him, but as horrible as it sounded, I wanted him to feel pain like I have everytime he looked at Betty like she was the best thing in the world.

After a moment's silence, I turned away from him and slipped my shoes back on.

"Where're you going?" his still gentle voice squeaked.

I looked over my shoulder at him. I could make out a tear flowing down his cheek. But I kept myself together.

"Not like you'd care," I mumbled and opened the door.

With one foot outside, I sensed Shifty coming from the kitchen, saying, "Y/F/N, wait."

I didn't want to stick around anymore, so I quickly closed the door behind me to cut him off and jogged down the block away from our house.

I didn't know where I was going, but I just wanted to be anywhere but there.


I cursed at myself for not bringing my old flashlight.

The sky was getting darker and only the streetlights were able to guide me to wherever I was aimlessly wandering to.

All was quiet until I heard a twig snap ten feet behind me.

I stopped dead in my tracks and contemplated whether or not I should look for the source. Somehow I felt as though I would regret it if I did.

I hadn't heard anything else, so I kept on walking.

Except not too long after, I heard another branch break. This time I actually looked around.

My heart started racing when I saw the shadow of a man quickly duck behind a tree upon his detection.

I only got halfway through my attempted escape when I felt a hand grab the back of my dress and jerk me back.

I tumbled onto the grass and screamed, disoriented.

The person came into view, the streetlight allowing me to see that this guy had a knife.

It was a man in his late 20s to early 30s. He was tall and lean with short, dark hair and brown eyes.

He held his knife up from his side and looked down at me.

"Give me all your jewelry," he demanded.

I covered my locket with my hand and cried. The memory of how I'd gotten it flashed before my eyes—a moment when we were both happy.

"Hurry it up!" he pointed the knife at me.

As I fumbled with the clasp at the back, I heard a gun cock above me.

"Drop the knife."

It was Shifty.

Moving it closer to my face, the man stepped on my foot so I couldn't crawl back.

"How about you drop that and I won't hurt either of you?"

"Not a chance," I heard Shifty's voice shake.

He must have tried getting closer, because the man moved the blade down to my neck.

"You move, she's dead," he warned.

Two pairs of headlights shone at us followed by the doors of each car flying open.

I saw the sides were painted with police insignias and let out a sigh of relief.