Chapter 25: When love isn't enough

Hi everyone!

Please don't hate me...

Sabrina was nibbling the back of the highlighter while reading her notes, in least than a week the semester would be over and she had to prepare for her last exams. She smiled thinking that afterwards she could enjoy a few quiet days in Greendale with her aunts, friends and… Nick. She couldn't help but remember how her aunts had reacted to the news.

Aunt Zelda was obviously pleased with the news, she had never been a fan of Harvey after all. Aunt Hilda, on the other hand, was more cautious about expressing her opinion.

She tried to stifle a yawn but failed, she had been studying for hours and soon it would be time to take a break, maybe going out to breath some fresh air.

In that moment her phone sounded. Sabrina took it, she had a new message.

What she saw made her drop the phone on the desk. It couldn't be true.

"No, no, no" she murmured, picked up her phone and zoomed the photo, still hoping it was all a bad joke, but there was no doubt. It was him.

And an unknown woman, she couldn't recognize her features but was sure she had never seen her before.

What did that photo mean? Who had sent it to her?

She tried to call the number from which the photo had been sent but only the mailbox answered her. She tried again.

Nothing.

Her initial shock was replaced with anger.

She put on her coat with fast and somewhat disordered movements, took the phone in her hand and left the dorm. The walk to Nick's apartment wasn't too long and with all her barely contained fury she felt it was even shorter than usual.

Nick was surprised to see her on the threshold of his door when he opened it.

"Hi babe, I wasn't expecting you"

She didn't respond to the greeting and simply entered the apartment with hurried steps. Nick closed the door, he stayed some seconds with his back towards her confused with her attitude.

"Something happens, Sabrina?"

She said nothing but took her phone out of the pocket of her coat and pointed it at him.

"Can you explain this to me, Nick?" she asked him with more calm than she actually felt.

Nick felt the blood freeze in his veins when he saw the photo she was showing him. He didn't know how but somehow someone had photographed him with Amalia at the café the other day. He had no doubt that she was behind all this.

Surely it had been her plan since the beginning.

And he, like a fool, had fallen into her vicious game. Again.

"Let me explain you"

"Explain me what, Nick?" she snapped "that you had been lying all this time? That you were cheating on me? Oh, how you must have been laughing at me… the fool in love"

"Sabrina is not like that" he tried to approach her but she backed away and he didn't try to get closer to her again "Let me explain you"

"The only thing I asked you was not to break my heart" she said with a weak voice, her fury fading away to be replaced with sadness, but she didn't want him to see her like that, she wasn't going to be seem weak in front of him "But you did"

"It's not what you think, Sabrina, if you only listen to me"

"I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses. I don't want to see you again. We're done, Nick"

"Sabrina" he tried to get closer to her again but she was faster and walked towards the door.

"Don't you dare to follow me" she said before open the door and left.

He wanted to go after her but knew it was not the time. He had to explain her everything but she needed to calm down first. Nick knew her, in her current state she wasn't going to listen anything he had to say.

He rubbed a hand across his face and growled in frustration at everything that had happened.

But if Amalia thought she had won she was going to be disappointed.

Sabrina managed to hold back the tears until she reached her residence, she was grateful that the room was empty when she arrived. There was no way she could hold on any longer, a strangled sob escaped from her lips and she covered her mouth trying to silence her pain but she couldn't contain herself anymore. She let the tears flow freely down her cheeks.

She went to her bed and buried her face against one of the pillows seeking to silence her own sobs but it was useless.

Her heart was broken. Everything had been a lie.

She half heard the door being open.

"Sabrina?" Prudence asked cautiously "are you okay?"

She took a deep breath before answering her.

"I'm fine, Prudence" she tried to make her voice sound clear but it came out choppy "I'm just tired"

Sabrina heard as Prudence's footsteps approached her bed. She felt the hand of her roommate on her shoulder. A sob shook her body.

"What happened?"

She took another deep breath.

"I broke up with Nick" she said with a small voice.

"What?" Prudence exclaimed surprised "Why?"

"He cheated on me"

"No, he couldn't have done that. Nick would never do something like that to you"

"But he did"

"Sure is a misunderstanding"

Sabrina turned to face Prudence. Her face and eyes were red from crying.

"Prudence, can you just leave me alone, please?"

"Are you sure?" she didn't know if it was the best idea for her being alone but Sabrina nodded.

"I'll be fine" she promised her "I just need some time to my own"

This time it was Prudence turn to nod.

"Thank you" Sabrina muttered before turning to face the wall again. She heard Prudence footsteps in the direction to the door.

She let out the sob she had been holding when she heard the door being close.

Sabrina could hear her heart breaking into a thousand pieces and she hated herself for being like this, heartbroken. She tried to take a few deep breaths to calm down, she was strong, she could handle this.

But it hurt a lot.

Nick was waiting outside her residence the next day. He was ready to tell Sabrina the whole truth.

And live with the consequences he had been so scared to face before.

He saw her leave the residence accompanied by Prudence and approached to her, he couldn't help but feel an unpleasant feeling of deja-vu remembering when he had come to her the day after they kissed for the first time.

That time things had not gone well, he hoped this time was different. God, he needed it to be different.

"Sabrina" Nick said to her when he saw her leaving her residence "can we talk, please?"

She looked up at him and he felt a lump in his throat when he noticed her reddened eyes. Sabrina whispered something to Prudence before continue walking as if she hadn't listened him talk, Nick tried to follow her but Prudence stopped him.

"Leave her alone" she said to him.

"Prudence, don't interfere in this"

"I thought you had changed" she continued "but I guess I was wrong"

"What do you mean?"

"I thought you really loved her but apparently you still think with what is inside of your pants instead of your brain"

"Prudence, things aren't as they look like"

"Oh, I see" she exclaimed placing her hands on her hips "An how are they then?

Nick took a deep breath.

"It's Amalia" Nick told her "she did this"

The girl relaxed a bit her posture upon hearing that woman's name.

"Oh, Nicky…" she murmured, her fury suddenly gone "I thought you didn't see her anymore"

He shrugged.

"When I started dating Sabrina I cut all my ties with her but…" he sighed again "The other afternoon she called me and in a not very subtly way threatened me if I wasn't going to see her. And I was very stupid for not thinking all was just a trap"

"What are you going to do?"

"I need to tell Sabrina the truth about my relationship with her" he said "I was going to do it now but you intervened"

"Sorry, Nicky, but I don't think she wants to listen to you. At least not now"

"But I need to tell her what really happened, tell her the truth once and for all"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Sabrina is stubborn and she's hurt, she won't listen to you" she gently patted him in the arm before leaving.

Sabrina had told her aunt that after all she would go to Greendale without her boyfriend, Zelda had been disappointed and had bombarded her with questions that she answered evasively until Hilda, noticing her discomfort, had changed the course of the conversation and her niece silently thanked her. She still didn't know how she had been able to carry on with that conversation without crying.

Lately it seemed like she was doing nothing but crying.

So this was how it felt to have a broken heart, Sabrina thought as she finished packing the things she would take to Greendale, this time she would go alone since Ambrose would go somewhere else she didn't remember with Prudence and a group of friends. She had not yet told him everything that had happened afraid of her cousin reaction but she knew that eventually she should. She wouldn't be able to keep hiding the truth for long.

She still didn't know how she had managed to convince her aunts, or rather her aunt Zelda, to let her take the bus to Greendale but she was relieved for that, she wouldn't bear hours of travel with her aunt's questions about what had happened to her boyfriend.

Ex-boyfriend she remembered herself.

It wasn't as if she wasn't going to ask her when she arrived, of course her aunt would, but Sabrina preferred to have a few more hours to think about what to say.

The part of her that wasn't entirely broken couldn't stop thinking that maybe she deserved this after all she had done to Harvey.

Fate was paying her with the same coin.

And now she was more than determined to talk to Harvey, to clarify what happened between them and hope that they could be friends again.

She certainly needed her friends right now.

Sabrina wondered if she could ever be friends again with Nick but immediately dismissed the idea, there was too much history between them for that to be possible.

During the journey to Greendale she tried to keep her eyes closed and her headphones on, trying with all her might not to think, not to remember, but closing her eyes only brought back memories of Nick so she gave up and focused her sigh in the landscape behind the window of the bus. The exterior changed as she got closer to Greendale. Further away from College.

Further away from Nick.

She tried to control the prick of tears she felt.

Sabrina was thankful that it was aunt Hilda who was waiting for her at the bus station.

"Hello, love" said her aunt, she took a step closer to hug her and Sabrina let herself being wrapped by her loving arms. She needed her aunt's hugs.

"It's so good to see you, auntie. I missed you"

"I missed you too, dearie. You know, the house is not the same without you" she commented "I'm glad you decided to come here instead of leaving to God-knows-where as your cousin did"

Sabrina gave her a sad smile.

"Let's go home" Hilda said, taking her by the shoulders and directing her to the car "I'm going to prepare you a good cup of tea and you are going to tell me what is tormenting you"

Sabrina let out a pitiful sigh.

"I don't think I'll be able to do that right now, auntie"

Hilda stopped and looked into her niece's eyes. She nodded understanding.

"When you are ready, then"

Sabrina nodded and her aunt gave her a soft squeeze in the shoulder before continue walking towards the family's car.

Hilda proved to be an excellent ally to evade her aunt Zelda's questions about Nick, even though she knew she couldn't continue evading the subject for much longer, she had no desire to tell her aunts about the disappointment she had suffered.

She needed Roz. But she was not going to arrive until two more days.

She would have to wait.

That night when she finally managed to get into her bed, Sabrina cried as she had been doing every day.

Was the pain ever going to go away?

Sabrina knocked on Harvey's door and waited for him to open. He couldn't hide the surprise he felt when he saw her standing in front of her doorway.

He had been mad at her after their break-up over the phone but with the passing of the months he had begun to understand what had happened between them.

"Sabrina… what are you doing here?" he asked.

Sabrina looked at his eyes when she talked.

"Harvey, can we talk?"

She noticed in his gaze that he wanted to say no but then he saw something in Sabrina's features that made him change his mind. She had the same look in the eyes he had after their broke-up. He had saw himself in the mirror, Harvey nodded slowly.

"Ok, let me tell Tommy I'm going out first" Sabrina nodded and waited as Harvey entered to his house, she took as a good sign the fact that he didn't close the door. At least he had intentions to come back. After a few minutes he reappeared "Would you like to talk here or…?"

"Can we walk?" she was suddenly homesick and knew a walk through the woods would help her improve her mood. Harvey shrugged, he was surprised by how calm he felt around her after all.

"I'm so sorry, Harvey" she said when the house was already out of sight "I was stupid, I treated you badly and now I'm paying the consequences"

"Something happened to you" it wasn't a question. He knew her too well to know. She nodded "Look, Sabrina, I acted badly too, I should have let you explain me what had happened but I was hurt, you know? Now, with the time I think I understood you a bit" he shrugged "And it's fine if you didn't want to continue with me, but do you think that we could still be friends?"

She nodded.

"Friends. Of course we can be friends"

They continue talking and were now halfway to the Spellman house, their footsteps had unintentionally guided them down the path they had taking hundreds of times over the years when he walked her home after school.

"Now, tell me, what's wrong with you?" Harvey asked her "I know something is bothering you, Sabrina"

Sabrina took a deep breath. She was about to tell him everything when she heard the footsteps down the path. And then his voice calling her, she looked up and saw the person she would never have expected to see in Greendale. At least not now that they were over.

Nick.

Harvey looked between her and the newcomer not quite understanding what was happening.

"Sabrina" Nick insisted.

And she knew she couldn't continue delaying this anymore. She had to face him. She had to give closure to what had happened between them and move on.

"Harvey… can we continue talking tomorrow? I have something to discuss with him"

"Who is him, Brina?"

"Tomorrow. I will explain everything to you tomorrow, but now, I really need that you leave me alone with him. I'll be ok"

"Are you sure?" Harvey's eyes looked suspiciously at Nick who hadn't moved to get close to them. He just stood there, his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and his eyes fixed on them.

Sabrina nodded and Harvey reluctantly agreed to leave, neither she or Nick approached to the other until Harvey disappeared behind the tree line.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she blurted out at him.

"It didn't take you long, huh?" Sabrina looked at him confused, there was something strange in his voice… could it be jealousy? She wasn't sure "Go back to the farm boy"

"His name is Harvey and we are just friends" she narrowed her eyes suddenly angry at his accusation "But why am I giving explanations to you? You certainly don't deserve them"

"Look, Sabrina" he said getting a little closer to her, he misinterpreted the fact that she didn't walk away, as she had done that afternoon at his apartment, as a good sign "I need to explain you what you saw"

"You know what, Nick? I don't want to hear you. It is perfectly clear to me that I was just another stupid game for you. You don't love me, you just wanted to get into my bed and now that you already did it, you are bored of me"

"That's not true, Sabrina"

"I really don't want to hear what lie you're going to invent for me now" she sighed "There was at least something real between us?"

She didn't know why she let him put his hands on her shoulders but she did. He was so close and while the tension and the desire were still there, also was her hatred for him.

"I didn't lie to you when I said I love you"

"I don't believe you, Nick. Tell me, with how many did you cheated on me?"

"I didn't cheat on you, Sabrina. You have to believe me, let me tell you what really happened"

"I don't trust you anymore"

He closed his eyes. She felt his fingers burning against her shoulders.

"Let me speak first, let me tell you what really happened and then you can decide if you believe me or no"

"I don't trust you" she insisted "I shouldn't have ever trusted you" she said finally moving away from his grasp. He let her go, defeated "I don't want to hear more lies"

"I'm not lying"

"My feeling for you were real" Sabrina said with a broken voice.

"Were…?" Nick couldn't help but ask "Sabrina…"

"Let's not hurt ourselves anymore"

"If you would just listen to me… I'm sorry I didn't tell you all before but I was afraid…"

"I really don't want to hear any more excuses, Nick. We're done" she said with a defeated voice, she was tired of hearing him and just wanted to walk away from his side.

"Spellman..."

"Don't you ever call me like that again, Nick. Don't you dare"

"Sabrina, I'm sorry I…"

"Bye, Nick"

"Sabrina, please…" he asked her, he grabbed her by the sleeve of her jacket "Let me tell you, please, listen to me"

She shook her head denying.

"I don't want to hear you, Nick"

She walked away from him with hurried steps, she didn't want to give him time to come up with another excuse.

He couldn't see the tears falling from her eyes as she walked back home, nor she could see the tears on his eyes while he stayed there in the middle of the woods watching her leave.

Sabrina is heartbroken, Nick is heartbroken, I'm heartbroken too.

There is only four or so chapters more before the end of this story and I may or may no be working in something new.

As always thank you for reading!