#reenie

By the time Colter pulled up outside your home, the second car he usually saw in the background of your facetime, was gone. Your car was still there, so you were definitely home. 

Small lights led up the path to your home before the porch light lit up the deck. However, save for a lamp or two, no lights were on inside the house. 

He knocked, but no answer came. 

So he tried the garage door. 

It slid up instantly and when Colter got a look inside, it looked like someone had left in a hurry. Most of what was left was…wedding stuff. 

He had to force the door open, but it wasn’t long before he was inside the house. 

It smelt of you. Which was an odd comfort for him. 

It was like the perfect mixture of blueberry pie, cinnamon and…warmth. 

Colter made his way through the house, calling out your name. 

There was broken glass on the floor, with a can of unopened soda sat on the coffee table. It was no longer cold and most of the condensation was already sinking into the wood beneath it. 

Colter called out your name again. 

In the kitchen, he found…blueberry pie. 

A slight smile came to his face, before he continued to check the house. 

As he climbed the stairs, he began to hurry his steps, searching the rooms until from down the hallway, he spotted the open door to the bathroom.

The closer he walked, the clearer his view became. 

There you were. 

With your arms balanced on your propped up knees, your head was down and your eyes were closed, tears rolling hot down your cheeks. In your hands, you clutched onto a towel from where you’d dried your face earlier. 

Colter walked closer and waited for a moment by the door. 

“Well…this feels oddly familiar.”

You nodded, forcing yourself to look up. 

And Colter felt his heart break. 

You were still crying, but you just looked…beat. Ready to sleep. Ready to cry some more. Ready to just…fall. 

Maybe you already had. 

“Yeah. Kinda.”

Without a second thought, Colter rushed inside and came and sat beside you. He pulled you inside his side, and you moulded directly into him. You hadn’t realised how cold you were until you were met with the heat of his body and the warmth of his touch. 

With a head on his chest, he curled his hand around and placed it on top of your head, almost shielding you from the world. 

This wasn’t unlike almost twenty years ago when, after sneaking out to go to a friend’s party (despite the fact he’d already been pulled out of school), Colter found you. 

You’d both been partners in History class. And you’d had a small friendship, at least. This also included him knowing who you had a crush on, even if you wouldn’t tell him. 

So, when he had lost track of you at the party, only to find your crush making out with the girl who was meant to be your best friend, he knew why you had disappeared. At least, that was what he suspected. 

And he wasn’t wrong. 

He found you in the top floor bathroom which no-one went to since it was so far up, and if you were that desperate for the bathroom, you wouldn’t have made it to the top of the house. 

When he found you, you had been slumped down on the floor, crying your eyes out. 

However, compared to then, when your emotions and your voice were also uncontrollable and constant after such an early heart break…it was no longer like that. 

Or, at least, on the outside it wasn’t. 

When you spoke, despite the constant flowing tears, your voice was shaky but pressured to be even. And by the way you were clutching onto the towel in your hands, that told Colter it was taking everything in your to not break down. To not scream, or cry too loudly, to not sob, to not shake. 

However, that last one was becoming more difficult to control. 

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Colter asked, finding your eyes. 

“In a minute. Can you just keep hugging me?”

Colter nodded before pulling you closer, resting his chin on top of your head and squeezing your tighter in his arms. 

After a good ten minutes, your tears finally stilled long enough for you to take a deep breath and move back. 

“Thank you for coming.”

“You never have to thank me for coming to you.”

You nodded, avoiding his gaze for a moment before sitting up as best as you could. 

“I didn’t see it coming.”

Colter just sat and watched and listened as you told him everything that had happened. 

“I was at work, grading papers, when he called. He said to come home, instead of going to the wedding venue after work. We were going to sign the final papers. Everything had been confirmed, it was just a final formality.”

“I thought it was a little weird, but when I came home…all of his boxes were packed. And I mean…everything. Every record, every picture, every book, every…thing. It was all packed. Hell, it was even labelled!”

You had to laugh before you cried again. You touched a finger to your eyes, wiping a small tear away from the edge of your eye. 

“Apparently, he’d been feeling lost for a couple weeks. Weeks! He didn’t even say anything. He didn’t even…show anything. Everything was normal. We were happy. And…” you took a deep breath, but Colter just waited for you to continue. 

“And then he got a call. And I knew. He didn’t even answer it. Just…let it ring. It was so silent, Colter. Just knowing that he was moving on, had moved on before even moving out. I…didn’t even…we were meant to be getting married, Colter. We’ve been together for eight years and to just…leave…”

Colter rubbed his hand up and down your arm, feeling how cold you were. 

“How about I make you some tea? Reenie always says that can help? And maybe get you a sweater, you’re freezing.”

“After he left I just…I don’t even remember.”

Colter nodded, standing up before lowering his hands to help you up from the floor. 

Twenty minutes later, Colter had boiled the water and made you both a cup of tea before ordering food. 

He might not have gotten to see you often, but you’d both talked long enough over the years that he had learnt that when you graded papers you tended to get a little caught up and miss dinner. And considering what had transpired after you got home from work, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why your stomach was rumbling. 

It was also in those twenty minutes that Colter came to learn more about your now ex-fiance. 

He’d been feeling ‘lost’ for a few weeks, until he met a woman at work. She was a consultant that had come into town for a few days before flying back out to Sydney. Turned out they had grown up two towns apart when they were kids, so had a lot in common. They got to talking and…it grew from there. 

On the rare occasion work got caught up, he was actually with her. On dates, laughing and smiling and kissing and just…

“So, what happens now?”

“He’s moving to Sydney,” you told him. “His flight leaves tomorrow. All his boxes were being taken to a storage unit in town. His assistant is gonna make sure they’re shipped over.”

“Did he move them all out himself?”

You shook your head. “Movers came in. It’s odd…they knew my relationship was ending before I did.”

“I am sorry,” Colter told you. 

“What for? You didn’t suddenly break up with me, did you?”

“No, but I’m still sorry.”

“Thanks, Colt.”

You took his hand in yours for a moment, until the bell rang. 

“That’ll be the food. I’ll get it.” Colter said before standing, quickly kissing your forehead and disappearing down the hall and towards the front door. 

However, after five minutes of hearing distant talking, you heard the door shut. 

It took you a moment, but you looked behind you and followed the same path as Colter. The pizza box and bag of other items were by the door and Colter was…outside?

When Colter got to the door, the Pizza Guy was balancing the other random take-away bits on top. 

“Here, let me-”

“Thanks, man.”

“How much do I owe you?”

“25.”

“Here you go.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Yeah.”

However, as the Pizza Guy walked down the porch and back to his car, Colter spotted a slightly familiar car down the road and a somewhat familiar face walking towards the house. 

Leaving the food by the door, Colter walked outside immediately and headed straight for the guy. 

“Hey, no, turn around.”

“Excuse me?” The guy stopped in his tracks. 

It took him a moment to recognise the face in front of him. 

“C…Colter?”

“Hi, Jonathan. Turn around.”

“What-”

“You’re not welcome here.”

“This is my house!”

“No, this was your house.”

“Same thing.”

“Actually, it’s not. See, ‘is’ suggests that you still live here. However, considering you moved all your stuff out earlier today, I’d say that signifies enough to say you don’t live here anymore.”

“Can I at least talk to her?”

“And say what?” Colter asked, stopping Jonathan in his tracks. “That you’re sorry. She’s not gonna want to hear it.”

“How would you know what she wants? You don’t even see her!”

“That’s your excuse? That's because I don’t see her, I don’t know her? You’ve got to have a better come back than that. You know what, I’ll give you another shot. Tell me why I wouldn’t know what she wants.”

Jonathan took a moment, but when nothing came to him, he sighed. “Look, man. I just want to clear the air here and give back my key.”

“And you didn’t think to leave that behind when you packed up your stuff?”

“I just thought-”

“I can give it back to her.”

“I’d prefer-”

“You don’t get a say in this, Jonathan. You were the one to walk out. If you wanted out, you could have at least been a decent human and talk to her, rather than dumping all of this on her on a random Friday.” Colter explained before he paused. “Actually, not that random. On a Friday you were meant to sign off on your wedding venue.”

“Look, man, I already feel as bad as it is-”

“Good.”

Jonathan seemed to get a little offended at Colter’s bluntness. 

“Look, man-”

“If you think you’re getting off lightly here, you’re not. You broke her heart. You spent the last eight years together and in a few hours you end everything. You pack up your shit, you print out plane tickets, you tell her you’ve met someone else. Do you even know what you had?”

“Look, man-”

“Say ‘Look, man,” one more time and I’ll do her a favour and start throwing the punches she didn’t earlier.” Colter’s gaze darkened and he seemed to grow broader.

“Look-” Jonathan paused. “Colter. I understand you want to help her but this is really between herself and I.”

“Maybe.” Colter agreed. “Maybe before you pulled this crap but the second you hurt her, that was the second it became my business. Now, I’m sure your new girlfriend is lovely but Y/n? You’ll never meet anyone like her, ever. And you just let her go. Stupidly, might I add.”

“Jees, don’t hold back.” Jonathan tried to laugh. 

“Oh, I won’t.”

You watched the two men fall silent for a moment before speaking up. 

“Colter?”

Colter’s entire posture and gaze softened for a moment as he turned back and looked at you. 

“Yeah? Oh, yeah. Just..give me a minute?”

That was something you were thankful for. You and Colter sometimes never had to speak, you just knew what the other was thinking. 

However, Jonathan called your name. 

“Wait-”

“Fuck you, Jonathan!” you held up your middle finger, bringing the pizza box back inside  before closing the door. 

“She doesn’t have to speak to me like that?”

Colter had no words. Just a look, mostly made of confusion. 

“I think it’s best if you leave, and don’t come back.”

“Hey, hey, wait! Just wait a minute! I need to talk to her. I need to clear the air.”

Colter sighed. “I’ll do you this one kindness. Tell me what you want to tell her, and I will tell her. Because you’re not getting within ten feet of that house. Not after what you did.”

“It’s not like I cheated on her!”

“Except that you did.” Colter was finally getting Jonathan closer to his car, even if it was through physically moving him. 

“I waited until after I left to ask Jen to be my girlfriend.”

“Because that makes a difference?”

“It does!”

Colter sighed, “Jonathan, just do everyone a favour and shut up?”

“But-”

“Don’t come back here.”

It took a second but Jonathan finally got back into his car before handing the key over to Colter. “Just…tell her I never meant to hurt her.”

“Too late for that.”

Jonathan couldn’t say anything else so rolled up his window and drove off. 

Colter stood in the middle of the street for a few minutes watching his car roll down the street before turning the corner and heading for the highway. 

When he walked back inside, he found you sitting on the sofa. 

“What did he want?”

“To give you this back.”

You turned to look at Colter. It was the spare key to your house. 

“You can just leave it on the side.”

After a few minutes, Colter finally sat beside you on the sofa, handing you a soda. You lay your head on his shoulder and stared up at the TV screen. 

“I feel really crap.”

Colter nodded slightly. “I know Reenie would probably tell you to get up and, I don’t know, go out and get drunk but if you just want to eat junk food and fall asleep, I can support that. And then go out, if you want to do that too.”

You smiled for the first time since you came home. “Junk food and sleep sounds really good right now.”

“Okay then.”

It took a couple minutes to find a film before you both landed on an old showing of a classic hollywood movie. You couldn’t remember the title, but when you'd finished your food and talking to Colter about whatever case he’d been on before Reenie called him, you found yourself falling asleep. 

And when you woke up in the morning, something felt different. 

You weren’t in your bed. You weren’t in your bed with Jonathan. You were on the sofa. Snug in the crook of it. With half of your body on…a sleeping Colter. 

He looked so peaceful. 

The sun was still slowly coming up and by the clock on the wall, it was around seven thirty in the morning. Stupid body clock. 

You groaned a little and fell back into the warmth of Colter, your head on his chest. His grip on you tightened for a moment before it settled again and you found yourself just listening to the repetitive rhythm of his heartbeat. 

Every now and again, your mind would replay the events from the day before. Getting the call, coming home, watching the movers, listening to Jonathan’s voice telling you your future together was over, just like that. Waiting for them to leave whilst you remained in the bathroom, splashing your face with cold water and drying it. Getting the final knock on the bathroom door from one of the movers. Jonathan seemed to be searching for you for a moment and for a split second, you thought he was going to yell “wake up” as if you’d fallen asleep marking papers. But you hadn’t. It was real, and he was asking for his ring back. It took you a moment, and taking it off your finger felt foreign. Strange. Like an out of body experience. 

And then it was over. 

You were alone. 

In a home you thought was going to be yours and Jonathan’s. One where maybe you could start a family one day. 

But that was all shattered. 

Until Colter. 

When he walked into the bathroom, you had a flashback to being fifteen again and crying over a boy in a bathroom at a party. Except this time, you’d spend eight years of your life with this guy and your wedding invitations and seating chart and placements were all in storage in the garage. 

And when he hugged you…you knew it would be okay. 

You didn’t know if you’d be feeling better the next day, or the day after that or even in a week’s time. Eight years was a lot to throw away in the space of a couple of hours. 

But you knew it would be okay. 

Colter reassured you with that. 

By the time he woke up, him looking at you with a slightly dazed look, you both just lay there for a moment. 

“I’d apologise for falling asleep on you, but I don’t think I’m sorry. You’re a decent pillow.”

Colter chuckled. “Thanks.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better, but also not.”

“Want breakfast?”

“Not right now.”

“I’ll make pancakes?”

“Eggs are in the fridge.”

Colter chuckled lightly at that before moving his arm from around your back, kissed your head, and slowly sat up. He couldn’t lie. He got a decent night's sleep often, but nothing like that. 

“Chocolate chips are in the cupboard.” You called out as he rounded the sofa and walked towards the kitchen. 

After a moment you heard; “Got em’.”

Colter stayed for two weeks. 

Mostly because he found a case in town nearby. But also because he rarely got to see you and he was helping you. 

It was tough, calling the caterers, the venue, the officiant, the florist. It was even tougher calling all the friends and family. 

Your family insisted on coming up to see you, but you reassured them you’d be okay. You’d come and see them soon, but until then you just needed some space. Some alone time. 

“And you don’t need alone time with me?” Colter asked. 

“You don’t ask questions like ‘how could you let this happen?’ and ‘what about my future grandbabies?’ and ‘you know your cousin’s wedding is coming up, we can always tell friends of the family Jonathan is on a business trip’.”

Colter looked a little confused. 

“One on my dad’s side. She’s not exactly…thrilled about single women when they could have had the whole ‘big white wedding’.”

Colter shrugged his shoulders, “I could always go with you.”

You laughed a little. “Colter, you don’t have to do that. Also, I’ve been trying to get out of going to that wedding for months. This gives me the perfect excuse.”

“Well, the offer’s always there.”

You smiled. “Thanks.”

“What about this one?” Colter asked, showing you a photo. 

“Put it in the maybe pile.”

You were hunting through all your photos to find ones to put in the now empty picture frames. After a week, Colter had found you going around the entire house at three in the morning, emptying all of the frames that held any pictures of yourself and Jonathan. 

By the time you finished, you carried the last of the boxes from the garage to the attic with Colter’s help. 

However, that just left the wedding stuff. 

“What do I do with it?”

“It’s extreme but you could burn it?”

You turned to Colter. “Did Reenie text you?”

“Yeah.” He admitted. 

You turned back to the box. “It’s not a terrible idea. Though, I don’t have anything to burn them in for such a big quantity. I do have a shredder. Yep, that’ll have to do.”

For the next two hours Colter handed you each placement card and wedding invitation to shred. 

And it was there, sitting behind your sofa on the floor, with Colter, shredding wedding invitations, that you knew you’d be okay.