Unintentionally Falling

chapter forty-three

Iris

"Fucking hell, this day felt like it went on forever." I dramatically kicked off my boots like I ran a marathon (spoiler alert: I didn't) but god, it felt like one.

I see Crystal lounging around in me and Alexia's dorm. I haven't seen her in a few days, I know she's been in total running around drinking and going back to her sorority like it's a daily routine.

Yet some days she always manages to come back to our tiny little dormitory apartment like a halfway house. Crystal's sitting on the couch in a sweatsuit that doesn't match, sipping on a beer while it's three in the afternoon.

Crystal's eyes seem distant when she looks up at me, "Hey."

Without even thinking I sit down right beside her, hugging her and ignoring the smell of booze coming off of her. "I missed you, girl," I told her.

She mumbles, "I missed you too." She pulls back from the hug and before she does under her breath, I hear the words, "I miss a lot of things."

Before I can stop myself I blurt, "What happened, Crystal?"

I watch the shock reside on her face from my words, I watch the way my words trickle into her brain. Her face moulds from shock, to a grim expression. It's an expression that I've barely seen Crystal wear unless she talks about her family.

"I thought she and I were something." She whispers, pain clouding her eyes. "We did everything a couple has done, Iris. Everything. But-but...she never wanted to say we were dating. She never wanted to call me her girlfriend. Yet she even told me she fucking loved me. When I needed her the most, she never showed. But every single time she needed me, I came."

Crystal's voice breaks at the last part, tears rolling down her face. I don't know what to say. Saying the words 'I'm sorry' just feels wrong.

"I just assumed we were together. We were just like a couple and we acted like one. But she never wanted to put a label or act like we were anything more. Until I realized later when I found her with a guy." My eyes widen at the last part, she takes a deep breath, and her hands are shaking wildly. "It was a guy she was dating. She put a label on him. Her boyfriend. And what was I? Just some girl she used to know."

She tries to wipe away the tears falling down her face with shaky hands, but I bound off my seat and grab a box of tissues.

"Crystal... I." I hand her the box of tissues still unable to think of any sort of thing to console her.

"It's okay, I've been wallowing in this for a week." She gestures to herself. Mascara has just started to bleed down her otherwise makeup-less face. She grabs a tissue dabbing her eyes trying to take the mascara smudges off her face. "I was so stupid trying to believe that we were together when we never put any sort of title on it."

"You're not stupid, Crystal. You just loved someone way too much." I enclose my hand over hers in support.

She shakes her head in disagreement, and when I'm about to continue she cuts me off.

"You're with Aaron, right?" She asks, changing the subject completely.

"Yeah..." My answer comes out slow, and my eyebrows are furrowed. I'm confused about why she even brought him up. What does he have to do with Nadia breaking Crystal's heart?

"Are you with him? Or are you with him?" She emphasizes the latter sentence.

I don't fucking understand, I guess I'm an idiot because for the life of me I don't understand.

"What the fuck?" I reply, bewildered at what she's even saying.

She calmly sighs, "Are you his girlfriend or are you just a 'someone'?"