Chapter 25: Facing reality
"What are you doing here?" Zach asked Beth as Blaine let her in the Hummel-Anderson household the following weekend. "You made yourself clear, didn't you? You want nothing to do with me."
"I didn't say that."
"Stop playing mind games with me." Zach said and sat down heavily on the couch.
"Zach," Beth said, sitting down next to him, "I'm sorry."
Zach just took a deep breath.
"I know you hate me right now. You have every reason to. But please just hear me out?"
"What for?"
"Zach," She said, "I love you. Okay? I do. But Zach, you and I? It's not right."
"And why is that?"
"Because..." She said, "Because of us, people get hurt. Because of us...things get...broken. And although a part of me wants to be with you, somehow, I also know, it's not right."
"You don't love Arnie."
"Not in the way I love you, yes, but it doesn't mean I don't." She took a deep breath, "Arnie's a good man. He is. And...I talked to him yesterday and cleared things out. I don't wanna hurt him anymore."
"Being with him won't hurt him?"
Beth took a deep breath, "We may think being together would make things right, Zach, but it will just ruin everything. It will hurt the people we love. It already has. And I don't want that anymore. Sometimes...we have to face reality."
Zach took a deep breath, "Will you be happy?" He asked.
"I don't know," She said, "But I have to try."
"Are you sure?"
"I wanna be with you," She said, "But not like this."
"I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to," She said, "I just hope one day you'd find it in your heart to forgive me."
"Beth,"
"I have to go," She said, "Bye Zach."
And she left without looking back.