"It's funny how a person can break your heart, and you can still love them with all the little pieces." - Anonymous

...

The next day...

I woke up this morning, feeling absolutely crappy. I didn't want to do anything today. I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to get out of my bed, I didn't want to see nor talk to anybody at all. All I wanted to do was to stay in my bed and be alone. I wanted to avoid the entire world right now. I just wanted to isolate myself from everything because after what happened yesterday, I didn't know what to do.

But I knew I had to get up. I still have to get through an entire day of school today, and despite how much I didn't want to go, I knew I had no choice.

School was the one place I wanted to avoid right now. I wasn't in the mood to go to classes, nor was I in the mood to talk to my friends because I knew that they would bring up the events that happened yesterday. I mean, everyone saw it. They saw everything that happened between me and Alvin.

But the thing I wanted - and needed - to avoid the most was the boy who broke my heart in the first place.

I got out of bed, freshened myself up in the bathroom, and went downstairs for breakfast. Miss Miller already left for work, so it was just me and my sisters at the breakfast table as usual. When I sat down, they said nothing at first. Jeanette and Eleanor both know what I'm going through right now, and despite how much they tried to get me to feel a bit better, I asked them to just forget about the whole situation for now. The last thing I needed was to think about Alvin, or even hear his name in that matter.

As breakfast progresses, very little conversation was shared between us. Honestly, I felt bad. This was all about me, and I felt absolutely horrible that my mood was getting the best of me. But I appreciate my sisters' effort for keeping the conversations low. They knew I wasn't in the mood to talk today. After breakfast, we all got into my car, and drove to school, just in time before the first bell rang.

"Will you be alright today, Britt?" Eleanor asked me gently when we got to our lockers.

I sighed as I pulled my notebooks out of my locker and stuffed them into my bag. "I hope so."

"Just try not to think about him, okay?" Jeanette said before closing her locker shut.

I sighed deeply, looking at the ground. There was no way at all that I couldn't think about him. I've been thinking about Alvin for the past week and a half, and after what happened yesterday, he's literally the only thing I could think about.

"I'll try." I said quietly.

Jeanette sighed before pulling me into a hug. "We'll see you after school, alright?"

I smiled weakly as I looked at my sisters. I nodded and said, "Yeah, okay."

I made my way to my first class, which was English. But it was also the class that I have with Tiffany. Even though Tiffany is one of my really good friends, she was still one of the few people who witnessed what happened yesterday. And as much as I wanted to avoid the topic of what happened between me and Alvin, I knew that somehow, it would be brought up. Tiffany didn't realize I had entered the classroom so I quietly made my way over to my seat, and within the moment I sat down, she suddenly turned my way.

She gasped and said, "Brittany!" She exclaimed, before hugging me tightly. She pulled back and looked at me. "I'm so glad you came today! I wasn't sure if you would, after what happened yesterday..."

I sighed.

"The girls and I were so worried about you. Are you okay?" Tiffany asked me gently.

I just shrugged.

She frowned and said, "Look, the girls and I are so so soooo sorry about what happened yesterday! We didn't know it would turn out like that! If we knew that would happen, we wouldn't have brought him over."

I shrugged again. "It's fine. It's not your fault." I said quietly.

"But we still feel super bad about it. I was gonna call you last night, but then I figured that you probably wanted to be alone or something." Tiffany said.

I smiled weakly and said, "No, it's fine. But thanks anyway."

Tiffany sighed. "Britt, look, Alvin feels really bad about what he said to you."

I felt something trigger inside of me when I heard Alvin's name. As of now, I really couldn't give a crap about what Alvin said. He hurt me and humilated me in front of his friends and my friends. I ran away, crying, and he still didn't run after me. It just shows how much of a 'boyfriend' he really is to me now, and it clearly shows that he doesn't care if I cry or not. The fact that he just let me run away like that, hurt me.

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter, Tiffany."

"But it does. Trust me, the moment you left yesterday, he felt really bad about it. He said he wanted to apologize to you and talk to you." Tiffany said.

I looked at her. "But he didn't. He didn't call me back, or even text me, saying that he was sorry." I fired.

Tiffany sighed. "He probably thought that you wanted to be alone as well."

I shook my head again. "But he knew that I needed him. He knew that I was crying because of him. But did he do something? No, he didn't." I said.

"He didn't know what to do. He felt so bad about what he did, that he wasn't sure if he should do something." Tiffany said.

"But he let me run away, Tiffany. If he really felt bad, he would have followed me!" I said.

Tiffany sighed. "We all talked to him afterwards. Even his friends did."

I looked at her. "What did you guys say?" I asked quietly.

She sighed once more. "We just asked him why he would do that. Trust me, Britt, I was pissed off at him for hurting you like that. But Alvin made it clear that he regrets what he did."

I rolled my eyes. "What difference does it make? He still did it."

Tiffany frowned. "Brittany, don't act like you hate him."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Tiff. I don't want to talk about him anymore. Can we please just drop the subject?" I asked, trying so hard to keep my anger inside of me.

Tiffany sighed deeply and finally said, "Okay."

"Thank you." I sighed.

But a minute later, Tiffany spoke up again and said, "Oh, and just to let you know, Paula won't be hanging out with us anymore."

I looked at her and said, "Why?"

"Well, Scarlett, Chantelle and I talked to her yesterday, and to make the story short, we just don't want to be around her. She's just someone we can't trust because..." Tiffany sighed and looked away, as if she didn't want to tell me, but then she finally said, "...Because we know that she's trying to take Alvin away from you. She wants to get him back."

At first, I couldn't believe what I just heard. "Wait, what do you mean?"

Tiffany looked at me. "Paula has always liked Alvin, and-"

"No, that's not what I meant." I said. "But what do you mean she wants to get him back? Were they together before?"

Tiffany bit her lip and sighed. "Well, not exactly..."

"Tiffany, what's going on?" I asked her.

Tiffany said nothing for a while, as if she was trying to think of a way to tell me. But after a few seconds, she sighed and said, "Well, Alvin and Paula were never together, if that's what you're thinking. They were never in a serious relationship, but they have gone out together before."

My mouth slightly dropped open, the same time I felt my heart fall to the pit of my stomach. I was starting to feel sick. Not only was I hearing this for the first time, but I was truly shocked, hurt, and betrayed. When Alvin and I first met, he told me I was the only girl he's gone out with. But now, I'm hearing that he has gone out with somebody else? Are you kidding me right now? He has told me so many things, and I believed every single one of them. But now I'm asking myself if those were just lies...

I'm beginning to wonder how many more lies he has told me, and how many times I actually believed him...

"Wait, so Alvin dated her before?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"Technically, they were never 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'..." Tiffany started. "But what they had was totally a one time thing."

I said nothing, feeling absolutely torn apart on the inside.

"But Brittany, that was waaaay before he met you. Paula means nothing to Alvin compared to how he feels about you." Tiffany told me.

But in my mind, I knew that it was all total bullshit. I don't care if Paula dated Alvin, even if it was just for a week. Hell, I wouldn't care if it was even for a day, because I knew that was all in the past, and that was before Alvin met me. But that thing that hurts me the most was the fact that Alvin lied to me. Lying was just something I would never accept. When Alvin and I first got together, we promised each other that we would tell each other nothing but the truth, and I kept that promise.

But now, knowing that Alvin didn't, just tore me up more than I have ever felt before.

"Has...he he dated anyone else before?" I asked her quietly.

Tiffany shook her head. "Not that I know of..."

I sighed, feeling absolutely betrayed once again.

"But Brittany, none of that stuff matters anymore. Alvin cares about you." Tiffany said.

I sighed again and looked down to the ground, trying to hard to keep my emotions in tact, and trying to act as if I didn't care. "Whatever. I don't care anymore, Tiff. I just want to forget about everything that happened yesterday, please?" I whispered.

Tiffany sighed as she gave me a comforting rub on my back and said, "Okay."

The rest of the school day went on as a drag. At lunch time, I met up with the girls in the courtyard, where we always have lunch. I have a feeling Tiffany told the other girls not to mention the events of yesterday, because Chantelle and Scarlett didn't say a word about it the entire time. And like Tiffany said, Paula was nowhere to be found.

The lunch bell rang, indicating that lunch time was over. The girls and I parted, making our way to our next classes. I made a quick trip to my locker, where I exchanged my Math textbook for my History textbook when I suddenly felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out, and once I saw what was on the screen, I felt all the blood leave my face.

1 new message from Alvin.

I stared at my phone for a long, long time. Believe me, I wanted to answer the text message so bad. As much as I wanted to avoid him right now, it was literally impossible to ignore the person that you have been so in love with - the person you know that you are still in love with. I was so close to pressing the 'Read message' button, but I used all of my emotional strength to press 'Ignore'. Without even looking at the text message, I instantly deleted it.

With all the calls and text messages that I tried sending him all this week, he chooses to ignore it. As much as it hurts my feelings, I had to accept it. But now, he chooses to text me now? He's texting me now because he wants too? What about all those times when I tried contacting him? He ignored me, and now, it's my turn to ignore him.

I sighed and closed my eyes as I stored my phone back into my pocket. I hated hurting him like this, I really did. But I knew that Alvin had to feel what I had felt all damn week. He had ignored me, so it's my turn to ignore him. He had hurt me, and now it's my turn to hurt him. Even though I absolutely hate myself for doing this, I knew it was for my own good.

I made my way to my History class, trying to get my mind clear. I tried to focus on today's lesson, but I couldn't. Halfway through class, I felt my phone vibrate again. I knew it was Alvin - I had a strong feeling it was. I chose to ignore it again, but this feeling of guilt never left me alone. But I managed to survive the entire class without breaking underneath all my feelings. The moment the final bell rang, Jeanette, Eleanor and I went home, and when we arrived home, I instantly went up to my bedroom and fell onto my bed, burying myself in my blankets and pillows. I just wanted to be alone.

Just when I was about to close my eyes, I heard a knock on the door.

I sighed. "Come in." I mumbled.

Jeanette slowly poked her head into my bedroom and frowned when she saw that I was underneath all my pillows. "Are you okay? Are you sick?" She asked me.

I sighed again as I sat up straight. I shook my head and said, "No, I'm fine. Just...tired."

"Oh. Sorry for disturbing you, but Eleanor and I are gonna go out." Jeanette said.

"Where?" I asked.

Jeanette sighed as she waved a piece of paper in her hands. "Miss Miller left a note on the table, asking if we could pick up the groceries because she'll be coming home late tonight. We know that you're not in the mood to come...unless you want to."

I sighed and shook my head. "I'll stay behind."

Jeanette nodded and said, "Okay. Call us if you need anything, alright?"

I nodded before Jeanette closed the door behind her. Minutes later, I heard the car drive off, which meant that my sisters had left, leaving me alone in the house. I looked at the time on my phone. It was 3:20PM, and I was tired. I decided to take a little nap because I did not have a good sleep last night at all. I closed my eyes, but after what seemed like 5 minutes, my phone rang.

I sat up in my bed, and grabbed my phone. I put my it to my ear and said, "Hello?"

"Brittany?"

I gasped, almost inaudibly when I heard his voice. At first, I didn't know what to say. Even though it was only one day ago when I got hurt by him, hearing his voice again made me feel so...confused inside. Was I glad to hear his voice again? Or was I angry? I don't know what I was feeling, but it felt like a mixture of both. I wanted to hang up, but again, I couldn't. I just sat here, frozen, not knowing what I should do.

"Brittany, please talk to me."

I gulped and closed my eyes for a long time before finally whispering, "What do you want?"

Alvin didn't say anything for a while. There was just pure silence between the two of us. Just when I was about to hang up, he finally spoke up and said, "I know you're mad at me, but-"

"I don't wanna hear it." I shot.

"Britt..." He sighed.

I closed my eyes as I gripped my phone harder in my hand. "I have nothing to say to you anymore." I whispered.

"Brittany, let me explain." Alvin said.

I scoffed, trying to choke back tears. "If you have something to say, say it to my face." I fired, and with that, I hung up.

I laid back on my bed and stared at the ceiling, feeling my heart completely crumble to pieces. I knew what I said was mean, but did I care? No. Did it matter to me that I hurt him? Yes, it did, but I'm trying my best not to care. I hate doing this to him. Even though he had hurt me yesterday by saying I'm not his girlfriend, I still care about him. I still care about him as much as I had last week, when none of this was happening.

I closed my eyes, feeling a tear roll down my face, because I absolutely hated doing this to the one person I love more than anything.

The next day...

It was the last class of the day, and the last day of the week. These past few days have been hard, not only on me, but for Alvin as well. Even though I haven't seen him ever since that day, I still knew that he was having as much of a hard time as I was. I wasn't afraid to admit that I miss him, because I miss him so much that it hurts. It hurts that I'm ignoring him, but he has to know what it feels like. He needs to get what he deserves.

When the final bell rang, I instantly left the classroom to go to my locker. Within minutes, all the hallways were crowded with people - the exact thing I wanted to avoid. I just wanted to get out of here and go home, wanting to clear my mind for the weekend. But just when I stuffed all of my books into my bag, I heard someone come up behind me. At first, I figured that it was just some random person, needing to go to their locker.

But no, I was wrong.

It was as if I felt him there beside me. I instantly knew who it was. I wanted to run away, but my feet wouldn't let me move. Before a word could be said, I turned to him. I couldn't hold myself back, because I knew I wanted to look at him. This was the first time seeing him in almost 2 whole days. It may sound short, but to me, it felt like a lifetime. The moment I looked into his eyes again, I felt something inside me break into even more pieces.

There was just something about looking at him again that made me weak in the knees. I wanted to say something to him - anything - but I kept my mouth closed for my sake. As of now, I'm not sure if Alvin and I are still together. I mean, I sure hope that we are, but at the same time, I didn't want to surrender under all this heartbreak.

Alvin said nothing as he looked at me. This was the first time ever where I totally feel out of place being near him. Ever since I met him, I have always felt so safe and secure around him, but now, it just felt different. I wanted to say something, but again, I didn't want to talk to him here, in the middle of school - especially at this hour, when everyone is crowding up the hallways.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and slowly closed my locker shut. I opened my eyes again and took one more at Alvin before turning on my heel to walk away. I had to walk away before I could break into tears. It broke my heart, doing this to him, but I didn't want to deal with this anymore. But before I could take another step, I felt him lightly grab a hold of my arm, which made me stop in my place.

I sighed deeply to myself before turning back to him. He didn't take his eyes off me as he moved closer to me. Once again, we returned to gazing at each other. I knew he wanted to talk to me. I mean, he came over to me in the first place, didn't he? And I wanted to talk to him too, I don't deny that. Not including that day, 2 days ago, when he humiliated me in front of everyone, I can't even remember the last time Alvin and I talked.

It's been ages since Alvin and I had a normal conversation. I miss all those times when we would just lie down beside each other on my bed, talking about nothing but the things that came up in our minds. I miss all the times he would let me cuddle up to him on the couch, while he gently kissed the top of my head. I missed everything, and it hurts me deeply to think back about them.

"Brittany." He said gently.

I just looked at him.

He sighed. "Can...can we talk?" He whispered.

I scoffed. "So now you wanna talk?" I fired.

Alvin gulped and looked down. "I know, I know. I'm sorry for ignoring your calls all week. But like I told you, I wasn't trying to ignore you, I swear. But-"

"But nothing. There's no excuse for that." I said weakly.

He sighed. "Brittany, I'm sorry."

I looked at him. "Okay, you're sorry. Do you feel better?"

He sighed and shook his head. "No, I don't."

I sighed, truly feeling bad about being so mean to him. I didn't want to be that type of girlfriend who would become a bitch whenever she was angry, but I just couldn't keep my anger in control anymore.

"Brittany, can we just talk? Please? I need to explain myself." He said, lowering his voice.

I shook my head. "No. You don't need to explain anything. You already made yourself clear when you hurt me, and embarrassed me in front of your friends, and in front of mine." I whispered, my voice beginning to tremble.

"I...I-I want to talk about that too." Alvin said. He took a deep breath and said, "I never meant to hurt you."

I shook my head, feeling a tear roll down my face. "But you did." I whispered.

He sighed and moved in closer to me. He looked down towards the ground and whispered, "I know. And I feel like shit for doing that to you."

I shook my head. "I don't need to hear anything from you anymore."

"Britt, please." He whispered, looking back at me.

"No." I whispered.

"Brittany, I completely understand if you hate me or whatever. I hate myself too." Alvin sighed. "But...But I miss talking to you. I miss seeing you."

I scoffed. "You should have thought of that before hurting me." I whispered, choking back tears.

"I never meant to hurt you, Britt. You know that I would never do that on purpose." He said.

"But you did." I whispered, feeling my voice grow smaller and smaller.

He sighed. "That's why I need to talk to you. I want to apologize. I need to explain why I did."

I shook my head, unable to say anything more.

"Please, Brittany." He whispered.

I looked at him, and once I did, I knew I had given up. I couldn't stand the fact of hurting him. Even though he had hurt me, a part of me wanted to believe that he didn't mean it. A part of me wanted to just forgive him and let all of this drama go. I knew I shouldn't let him get to me like this, but what can I do? He wants to talk to me, and as much as I didn't show it, I wanted to talk to him too.

After a long moment of pure silence, I sighed and finally said, "I...fine."

"What?" He asked, looking at me.

I looked away, wanting to avoid eye contact. "Just come over later. Jeanette and Eleanor won't be home."

He sighed and nodded. "Thanks Britt."

I said nothing. I wanted to tell him that I still love him, but I didn't. Those three words felt like they were burning deep inside me, and before I could unintentionally say it, I looked away. Even though I'm going to see him later, it wasn't for a reason that I want. Never have I thought that mine and Alvin's relationship would come down to this. I would have never thought that we would ever have one of those 'relationship talks'. As much as it scared me, I knew our relationship was on the line.

And without saying anything else, I turned around and walked away.

And as I did, I could truly say that walking away from him has been the hardest thing I have ever done.

What do you guys think will happen? How will Alvin explain the truth to Brittany? Will they get back together, or will they break up?

Thanks so much for reading! PLEASEE review! :D