"What?" she asked, backing up slightly.
"I'm sorry," he began but she cut him off.
"No, you...just...oh God...just leave," she whispered.
"This is sort of my dorm," Brent said apologetically. Bridgette shook her head before smacking him and storming down the stairs.
She went into her own dorm, thankful it was empty. She sat on her bed and grabbed a pillow, clutching it to her chest. She didn't even think she could cry she was so shocked.
What did she do to deserve this? All she had ever done was love him, and he cheated on her? She didn't even want to know with WHOM.
The door opened and she saw Alexis walked in. "Oh hey, Bridgette I've been looking everywhere for..." she began, trailing off when she saw the look on Bridgette's face. "Oh God, Bee, what happened?"
"He...he cheated on me," Bridgette said, still not crying, just hugging the pillow as tight as she possibly could, her knuckles white and her face pale.
"Did he say with whom?" Alexis asked, still standing in the doorway.
"No, I left before I could do something that I would regret," Bridgette said bitterly.
Alexis sighed and shut the door, going to sit down next to her friend. "Do you have any thoughts as to who?" she asked.
"I...I really don't know, I don't even WANT to think about who it is," Bridgette said, burying her face in the pillow.
Alexis said nothing but placed a hand on Bridgette's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered after a while.
"You don't have to be Lexi...he did this to me, not you," Bridgette whispered.
When Alexis didn't say anything, Bridgette looked up. "You're my best friend, Lexi...I could use a little support," she whispered.
"I'm...I'm sorry Bridge, I didn't think it would get this far," Alexis said, standing up and walking over to the window.
"What do you mean?" Bridgette asked, what little color was left draining from her face.
"At first it was just...here and there, but it was when you were broken up..." Alexis confessed, turning around, her face wet with tears.
"I...I'm so sorry, Bridge," she whispered, a small sob escaping her mouth.
"How...how could you?" Bridgette demanded, standing up immediately.
"You two were broken up! I've always liked him! Ever since I first saw him Bee! But he picked you so I waited, and then you two were over, and I just couldn't wait any longer! Once you guys got back together I backed off again, but one day in January he came to me and I couldn't help it Bridge," Alexis sobbed, using the bed frame to hold herself up as she cried.
"I...I need to get out of here," Bridgette mumbled, walking out of the room and slamming the door behind her.
Halfway down the steps one of her heels broke and she stumbled, reaching out and grabbing the handrail, "Fucking pieces of shit!" she exclaimed, taking her shoes off and throwing them down the stairs.
She finally gave in to her tears, sobbing loudly. She fell down onto her knees, shaking uncontrollably.
"Hello? Hell--oh it's you...are you alright?" Cedric asked from the bottom of the stairs, his icy stature slowly melting as he saw what a wreck she was.
She shook her head, not able to speak. She attempted to stand up but fell right into Cedric's arms, sobs raking her whole body.
"Hey...hey it's ok Bee, its ok," Cedric said, sitting down with her in his lap. It seemed like the only time he ever got to spend time with her was when she was crying or when she was yelling at him.
"No, it's not!" she cried, burying her face in his chest, "Lexi...Lexi and...and Brent," she managed to choke out, "Cheated...he cheated on...cheated on me," she cried.
"Oh, Bee," Cedric mumbled, holding her closer to him.
"With Lexi!" she finished, even more tears falling out of her eyes than there had been a second ago; by now the front side of Cedric's shirt was soaked.
"Oh, Bee," he whispered, stroking her hair softly.
"Why d--does this always happen to me?" Bridgette cried, completely forgetting that she hated Cedric right now
"What did I d-do?" she exclaimed. "All...All I did was l-love him!"
"I guess he wanted more than your love," Cedric said morosely.
"Listen, Bee, Brent's a sick jerk...you deserve so much more," he said.
"Like who? You? You're no better than he is! Beating him up like that! And you follow me around everywhere, but you never take action!" Bridgette cried.
"I left you alone after that day," he said defensively. "I knew that you didn't want me so I left you alone. But then, I found you here like this and you expect me just to walk away from the woman I love?"
She looked up at him, her eyes wide. "Wh-what?" she stammered.
"You heard me Bee, and I know that you've known it for a while now," Cedric told her, "Why do you think I'm always lurking? It's because I know what a jerk he is, and I wanted to be there in case something happened."
"I...I don't know what to say," she mumbled.
"Just...tell me you feel the same way that I do Bee...that's all I want, you're all I want," Cedric whispered, his voice low as he reached out and threaded his fingers through hers.
She wiped the last of her tears and sighed. "I...I don't know," she mumbled.
She looked down at where their hands were embraced and let out a shattered breath.
"I do," she whispered, looking up at him. "I...I think I love you. But I don't know," she continued, "I mean I hate you with a mad fiery burning passion, yet...well there's something else."
She slowly leaned up and kissed him, throwing her arms around his neck. When their lips met, she felt something inside of her, telling her that it was right and this as who she was meant to be with.
She pulled back a moment later, her face inches from his as she smiled at him from under her lashes.
"Does this mean that we're together now?" Cedric asked, smiling a little.
"I...guess so, just don't tell mum quite yet Cedric...and please understand when I say I want to take this slow...very slow," Bridgette said.
"Of course," Cedric said. "Anything you want."
"That's...that's what he said," she said softly.
"I won't hurt you, I promise," he whispered. "I promise, promise, promise."
"I wish I could completely trust you Cedric, but I can't...you'll have to earn my trust, and it won't be easy," Bridgette said, standing up on her shaky feet.
"I know...but I'll be willing to do anything to earn it," he told her, wrapping his arm around her to support her.
"Can I sleep in your dorm room tonight Cedric? I really don't want to be anywhere near Alexis," she said.
"Of course, Bee," he said. "But I have to warn you...I share a room with Brent."
"Oh, uhm...I forgot about that," she said.
"We could stay down in the common room if you want," he told her.
"Would you mind?" she asked.
"No," Cedric replied.
"Ok, thank you, I'm going to go get ready for bed and read for a while before I come down, ok?" Bridgette asked.
"Sure," he said, leaning down and kissing her.
"Ok, I'll be down in a little bit," she said, hurrying up the stairs.
She hesitated before opening her door and walking in, glad that Alexis was in another room.
She went over to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt before going into the bathroom to get changed and brush her teeth.
A minute later, she heard the dormitory door open and then someone talking. "I can't believe you told her, Brent! You gotta be a special kind of stupid to do that!" she heard Alexis exclaim.
"What was I supposed to do? Lie to her?" Brent asked. Bridgette quickly finished dressing before tiptoeing to the door and pressing her ear against it.
"If you had, then you would still be with her and she and I would still be friends," Alexis said, "We hurt her so much."
"Well, apparently she doesn't care...I saw her with Diggory," Brent said bitterly.
"As if you care!" Alexis exclaimed.
"I do care!" Brent shouted.
"No, you just want her to be with you for...I don't know, bragging rights," Alexis retorted, "If you want to be with her sooo bad why did you even TELL her?"
"I didn't want to lie," he replied. "She would have found out eventually."
"You're just...really mind-boggling. I mean here you are whining over something that you did, something that is completely your fault," Alexis hissed.
"Hey, you have to take some of the blame!" Brent exclaimed. "You could have stopped it anytime you wanted to."
"I...didn't want to," Alexis muttered.
"That's right, so it's just as much your fault as it is mine, end of story, I'm going to bed, goodnight," Brent said.
Bridgette heard the door slam shut followed by the sound of crying. Slowly, she opened the door and stepped out, seeing Alexis sitting of her bed and crying into her hands.
"Oh my God you were in there?" Alexis cried in anguish when she saw Bridgette step out.
"Yeah," Bridgette said softly.
"And you heard everything?" Alexis asked.
"Yeah," Bridgette repeated, "Listen...I would talk to you right now but it probably wouldn't end up nice...I'll talk to you about it in the morning, ok?"
Alexis nodded and stood up. "Ok...good night," she said as Bridgette left the room.
She was halfway down the stairs when she saw Brent standing there, "Bee!" he said, running up to her.
"No," she said, pushing past him, "I'm THROUGH with your games! I'm through with being tossed around. My heart won't be your rag doll anymore!" she exclaimed before running down into the common room.
"Hey, what's going on?" Cedric asked from the couch, where he had a couple of blankets. "I was in the bathroom and I heard Brent and Alexis talking...then I saw him in the staircase and...I just want to sleep," Bridgette sighed.
She lay down on the couch beside him, cuddling closer to him and sighing. "Thank you for staying down here with me," she whispered, closing her eyes.
"Any time Bee," Cedric whispered, the lights going out as he settled down to fall asleep, Bridgette wrapped tightly in his arms.