The Way Back to You
Chapter 12
Fiona waved her hand in front of her own face as she laid on her couch. It didn't look right to her without her engagement ring. Even though she wore other rings on her fingers, her hand felt too light when she lifted it.
"I'm sorry, sweetie," her mother said as she walked into the living room. "I couldn't find your ring anywhere. Do you remember where you lost it?"
Fiona sighed. "No."
"Well, I'm sure Adam will understand. I still think you should try retracing your steps though. It's got to be somewhere."
The younger woman slowly sat up to look at her mother. "I know where the ring is," she mumbled.
"What? I thought you said you lost it."
Fiona shook her head. "You assumed. I… I stopped wearing it."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because an engagement ring is for people who are engaged," she said slowly.
Lara blinked, trying to make sense of what her daughter was telling her. "Oh, Fiona," she sighed after a moment, moving to sit next to her. "Tell me what happened."
"I might have kind of flirted with Nate a little bit on Twitter. Adam saw it and it just kind of blew up."
"That doesn't make any sense. Why would you flirt with Nate?"
"I don't know, maybe because I'm incapable of being happy."
"That's not true. You were happy."
"I was," she agreed. "And then I ruined it. Just like I always do."
"Fiona, don't be so hard on yourself." Lara smoothed some of her daughter's hair back. "You're both so young. This was bound to happen sooner or later."
"Great. Thanks for your support, Mom."
Lara shook her head. "I just mean that you're only 18. You just started university. And Adam just turned 17, he's still in high school. You're both still babies." Fiona glared at her mother. "You're young. You were his first girlfriend and after Bobby…"
"Mom, can we please not bring Bobby up right now?" Fiona asked, sounding tired.
"Sorry. My point is, you have both been through a lot and your relationship got so intense so fast. Maybe it's best that you two are taking a break from each other."
Fiona rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Thanks for the talk."
She got up from the couch and ran up the stairs to her room. She grabbed her phone, biting down on her bottom lip as she dialed.
After two rings, her best friend answered. "About damn time," Holly J quipped.
Fiona smiled. "Sorry I haven't called in a while. Are you busy? Can we talk?"
"Never too busy for you, Fi. What happened?"
To be continued…
AN: I think this is the shortest chapter yet and I'm pretty sure it's the longest I've focused on Fiona without Adam around. Insert appropriate Fionabitchface here.