The night before Rae's 27th birthday, Dave took her out to dinner at a nice restaurant. Dressed in a simple black dress and matching heels, she was stunning. Complementing his girlfriend, Dave wore a dress shirt and slacks. On the way to the restaurant, he was nervous about what was going to happen that night. But he knew it was for the best of them.

He didn't want to let Rae go. He loved her too much. But the look of sadness in Cianna's eyes as she was telling him what she saw was more than a sufficient reason to end the relationship. It was one thing if Rae hurt Dave directly. It was an entirely different ball game to hurt his girls.

"What's wrong?" Rae smiled as she glanced over to Dave.

"Nothing, Beautiful." He smiled back.

"You seem quiet like something is on your mind." She wondered.

"Yeah, I've been thinking a lot."

"About?"

Dave shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's your birthday." He smiled.

-------------------------------------------

Once inside the restaurant, Dave ordered for Rae. They were holding each other as they normally did. Dave was still occupied with what was going to happen. He was holding Rae's engagement ring that he had converted to a pendant. It hurt him deeply knowing that the night was supposed to be a night of celebration.

Instead, both of them were going to be hurt. After dinner was finished, both Rae and Dave had a quiet moment alone before dessert was served. "I bought you something for your birthday." He then pulled out a rectangular box and set it on the table.

Rae's eyes lit up. "David…"

"Shh…just open it." He said.

Rae carefully opened the box. Staring back at her was a solitaire diamond pendant. It was princess-cut and sparkling. "Dave…Dave…it's…it's…"

Dave took the pendant out and fastened it on her neck. He kissed her lips and smiled. "I love you, Beautiful."

"I love you, too, David."

He then thought about his next action. Not wanting to make a public scene but fearing her reaction would be worse if he did it at home, Dave then took out the small Tiffany's box that contained Rae's engagement ring. "This was going to be your gift." Dave said.

Rae smiled and reached over to the table to pick up the small box. She opened it to reveal a diamond solitaire ring staring back at her. She was about to get excited until she realized what Dave said. There wasn't a mistake that he said "was." "Was? What do you mean, David."

Dave took another sip of his merlot and stared at her. Gone was his warm smile and soft eyes. What took his place was a cold demeanor and short tone. "What do I mean? Take a wild guess, Rachel."

"I'm not following you, David."

"Well, let me make it pristine clear for you." He leaned forward. "I know, Rachel. I know everything."

Rae shook her head. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Quit the act, Rachel. I know about you and Orton and I've known everything for a while. From the lying excuses to you guys almost being caught a number of times by various people, I know. The park; the movies; the afternoon lunches that appeared to be platonic." He cocked his head slightly. "Did you think I was that stupid?"

Rae's lips began to quiver slightly and she felt bile rise in her throat. "David, can we talk about this privately?"

"Now is as good of time as anywhere, Rachel." He leaned forward. "What in the hell were you thinking?"

"Dave, I can explain. Things just happened…" She hesitated. "I just don't know…"

"Do you love him?"

"No, I don't."

"Sure about that?"

Tears began form in Rae's eyes and she let them fall. "Dave, please, let's talk about this at home…please I can…"

He interrupted her. "No, you can't, Rachel."

"David, please, I can explain everything."

"What in the hell can you explain to me, Rachel? What?" He took another sip of his wine. "How you destroyed our relationship without trying? How you didn't care about me while you were sucking him off?" He shook his head. "No wonder the girls hate you."

Dave's sudden admission forced more tears from Rae. "The…the girls hate me?"

"Did you think they were going to still like you after what happened?" Dave questioned. "For fuck's sake, Rachel, Cianna and her friends saw you and Orton at the park the other week."

Rae clutched her chest as she tried to breathe. She didn't dare ask how or what Cianna saw. The fact that she and Randy were seen mid-act was enough embarrassment. "Dave…I…I…"

Dave motioned for the check and it came soon afterwards. He signed it off and put his napkin on the table. He then walked over to Rae and bent down to her ear. "I loved you with every part of my being, Rachel. I never disrespected you and I let you into my world. Whatever you wanted, it was yours. I fucked up in a lot of my relationships, but this wasn't one of them. I didn't fuck this up." He took out some money and set it on the table. "Here's money for a cab." He then quickly walked out of the restaurant.

Rae got up from the table and chased Dave to his car. Her makeup was running and she was trying to stay composed despite her hard crying. "David, please…I can explain…" She grabbed onto his arm and held him tightly. "Please, David, I'm so sorry."

Dave closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his car door. "Let go of me, Beautiful."

"Please, Dave…" Rae said as she began to cry harder. "Please, we can work this out."

Dave closed his car door and watched his girlfriend fall to pieces in front of him. She walked closer to him and rested her head on his chest while he comforted her. She cried more on his chest while they stood next to the car.

After their emotional break-up, Dave dropped Rae off at her apartment. She slowly got out of the car and began to walk inside when she stopped and turned around. She was glad that he was there, watching her. "Can you stay with me tonight? Please?" She begged.

Dave had no intention driving Rae home, let alone staying the night with her. Despite how angry he was with her at the moment, he still loved her. He turned his car off and walked up to Rae where she sniffled her way inside the apartment.

Once inside, Rae headed towards the kitchen and Dave watched her every move; making sure she wasn't going to do anything dangerous in her emotional state. Rae turned around and sniffled some more. "Do you want something to drink?" She asked before bursting into more tears.

Dave walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. She cried into his shoulder as he rubbed her back. He knew their relationship was over from the moment he found out the relationship. But he had no choice but to break it off with her.

Leading her into the bedroom, Dave laid down and Rae collapsed in his arms. With their clothes on, the pair spent the night holding each other, as almost if one didn't want to let the other go.

The next morning, Rae awoke to the bright sunlight—and an absent Dave. She got up and searched for him in her apartment. When she couldn't find him there, she searched for him in his townhouse. He was nowhere to be seen.

Rae found herself spinning in circles and soon sat down on Dave's living room floor, sobbing yet again. Within a week, she lost the man that she was in love with and her best friend at the same time. She ruined both of her relationships and there was nothing she could do about it.