Ten steps.
I took a step forward and heard his keys rattle in my pocket. There really is no reason why I shouldn’t take the last ten steps to face the truth, and probably about a million why I should.

Blind folded, I carefully stepped out of Brian’s car. The fresh smell of salty water washed through my nose and the sound of seagulls filled my ears.

“Brian, did you bring me to the beach?” I asked a little concerned. “You know I don’t like the water.”

“Not exactly, just wait ten more seconds.”

“Johnny!” I whined, “Where are we?”

“As hard as it might be for you, don’t worry too much Jess.” Johnny reassured from a distance. Where the hell could he be going? I hope he isn’t leaving.

“Johnny. Don’t leave me here!” I put my hands out , making sure I didn’t run into anything as I took a few steps forward to find Johnny. I never realised the difficulty in walking without your eyes. “Johnny… Brian…” Talking about Brian, where is he? “Guys, where have you left me?” I took another step forward before I collided into my boyfriend.

“Chill babe.” I jumped when he put his hands on my shoulders. He laughed before moving one of his hands under my chin. “You can take your blind fold off now.”

Carefully, I lifted the blindfold and instantly frowned. “You did take me to the beach.” I mumbled. I felt something sharp poke my shoulder and I turned to find a small cottage a few yards away. The windows were broken and the roof had plenty of cracks, but that didn’t take away the beauty from the house.

“I know it’s old and it needs a few repairs, but the location is great and I thought we could fix it together.” Brian’s voice trailed through the salty air. No doubt he was worried about what I would say.

“But how?” I sighed. “We can’t afford this place.” The thought of not being able to rebuild this beautiful cottage was upsetting. Everyone knew rebuilding old houses is more than just my job, it’s my hobby.

“The owner asked for you to renovate it for him. I knew you’d love to.” Brian said grabbing my hand and bringing me closer to the cottage. “But then I found out he was planning to sell it straight after. I checked out how much of my inheritance I had left, and wallah!” Brian said dangling a gold key. We were now ten steps from the door. Brian picked my hand up and placed the key in my palm. “Here, check it out.”

Nine steps. Eight steps.
The lights were out, but I wouldn’t be fooled. He should know me by now. I know he is inside, and I know his not alone. I don’t know how he can stomach it, being in our cottage with his hands all over her. I should have stopped this before. Why did I let myself think my eyes were deceiving me? I though Brian was the one. I never though he would be unfaithfull.

I drove my Truck up the steep and windy road to the cottage. Johnny was in the seat next to me. Brian and I had all the outside repair work done and the flooring on the inside. Now Johnny was helping with the inside paint work, which would start at sunrise tomorrow.

For the past two weeks, Brian and I had stayed at the cottage every night, but today I had to leave and purchase the paint. Brian wouldn’t be excepting me for another hour or two, but Johnny helped to get the work done quicker.

As the sun finished setting, I turned the last corner and saw the entire cottage. Someone was sitting on the beach below.

I flicked off the head lights and bounced out the car. Brian and my friend, Lisa, were sitting on the beach. It had been too long since I saw her last. She moved to Arizona last summer. I started skipping down the stone path that had lamps lighting the way.

A strong breeze picked up, rustling the palm trees slightly. By now, Lisa sat 50yards in front of me, knee’s pulled up under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs. Brian sat slightly to her left, legs spread out across the sand. They were talking while they both faced the calm water ahead.

I turned back and motioned for Johnny to make his way inside. However, he shook his head and planted one food harder on the ground. He crossed his arms over his chest and pointed at the watch on his wrist in a playful manner.

I couldn’t help but smile before I turned back to Brian and Lisa. The smile was soon gone when Brian and Lisa were face to face. It wasn’t long before Brian initiated the kiss.

I was screaming in my head for Lisa to pull away. I was assuring myself that Brian would never cheat on me. I believed the lies I told myself.

Seven steps. Six steps.
What would I do when I caught them in the act? Maybe this time I could find the strength to rip her apart and look past the fact that she was my friend. Maybe if I’m lucky, Brian will run outside and Johnny would get the chance to run him over. The thought made me grin. My phone started to vibrate and the caller ID read Johnny.

“Jess, what are we doing? Aren’t you going to rip her throat out?” Johnny asked as I dragged him back to the car and pulled out onto the street.

“No.” He was confused. “She is still my best friend Johnny.” I whispered.

Johnny rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat, placing his feet up on the dashboard. “Can’t you at least run the bastard over?” It sure seemed like he wanted me to react worse to the situation.

Thinking about it, running Brian over seemed like a pretty good idea, till I though back to all the good times we shared. Like the first day we spent at the cottage. I smiled to myself at the thoughts before thinking about what I just saw. Surely my eyes were deceiving me? Brian wouldn’t cheat on me. We love each other and Lisa is my friend.

“So where are we off to?”

“The Bar.”

“Drowning your sorrows?” He smirked. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know it.”

Five steps. Four steps.
Pressing the ‘ignore’ key, I took another step forward. I could hear their voices inside. I had to fight the urge to break through his perfectly carved door and uncover the lies right this second.

I knew my time would come. When I would make him beg to take me back, giving him the slightest hope I would say yes. I’d throw it all back in his face and leave him to be alone.

I can’t believe I let it go for so long. All those times I told myself Brian wouldn’t cheat. I didn’t want to screw my life up. Brian was the best thing I had, and if it wasn’t for Johnny, I’m almost certain I’d still think so.

I stood, dragging Johnny to the dance floor even though my balance wasn’t very stable. “Who am I kidding Johnny? Lisa has always had a thing for my men and she is better looking than me. Why wouldn’t Brian cheat on me?” I’m sure my words were slurred after having twelve beers. Johnny’s blood-alcohol level was still 0.00%. “I’ll never be good enough for him.”

“Jess…”

“No, don’t Jess me! Johnny, you’re my best friend. You’re meant to be telling me I’m good enough.” I demanded.

“I don’t think I can.” My face fell the same time as I took a step away from Johnny. I wasn’t angry, or upset, just shocked. How could Johnny say that. “You don’t deserve to be with Brian. You deserve someone better.”

I throw my arms up in the air. “Like who! Brian is the only man I care about.”

I heard Johnny sigh and he looked down at his feet. “You’re drunk Jess. Let’s go home.”

Three steps. Two steps.
I didn’t feel alone. I felt like there was a devil and an angel on my shoulder, fighting the battle of good verse evil. I knew who would win. I’ve lived the life of the angel in me for too long now. I could almost touch the door. I was so close.

One more step, that’s all it will take. Go for it!

One step.
I took one last look at our perfect little cottage and smiled. We worked well together; there was no doubt about that. I was going to miss him. The way he would kiss me after finishing a part of the cottage, and the way he wouldn’t argue when I set an alarm for five in the morning. He’d tell me that this cottage was mine as well as his, and it was our home. I was going to miss growing old with Brian and babysitting our grandchildren. It was hard to imagine my life any different, but the door was in reach so I gripped the handle tight, turning it slowly before pushing it open with all my might.

“Babe, I can explain.”

I let out a laugh; a really evil laugh. “Really Brian? How?” I turned to Lisa. “And YOU! How could you? My fucking boy friend” I pointed to Brian. “MINE!” I turned to walk back the way I came; convinced I said all that needed to be said. I wasn’t looking for a bitch fight. I wasn’t looking for Brian’s excuses. I know what happened, he knows what happened, she knows what happened. Even Johnny knows what happened.

I felt one of them grab my arm. I didn’t expect them to fight this. “Please…” he’s voice was pleading. “Let me explain, Jess.”

“Can’t you spare my time Brian? You've already wasted enough of it. I don’t want to be fed all the lies. I’ve done that enough myself.” I could see he was shocked by the way I spoke. “Oh please, you can’t honestly think I didn’t know. I’m not fucking blind.” With that, I held up the key and tossed it to Lisa. “He never locks the doors. You’re not going to need it.”

I cried. I cried and cried and cried. Johnny was the one who sat there with me. He was there from the beginning and he was there for me now. I cried for hours; sometimes in relief, sometimes in revenge, but most of the time in pain. Each tear was different but they all ended up with Johnny.

The crying eventually stopped. I’m not sure how long I stayed with Johnny, but he eventually said it was time for me to get my things from the cottage.

“I’ll come with you.” He had assured me as I sulked not wanting to see Brian again.

“I don’t want to.”

“I know you don’t want to, Jess, but I’m running out of clean clothes. I can’t keep washing either, it’s exhausting!”

I had looked down at the Johnny Walker t-shirt and sweat pants I was wearing and let out a sigh and nodded. Johnny was right.

I can remember the dirty look Lisa gave us when she opened the door that day and how Brian was starring at me from their bed once I said I was getting me things.

“So are you two together now or something?” Brian asked in a dirty tone.

“That’s really none of your buis…”

“No, we’re not.” I cut Johnny off.

“Johnny’s right anyways, it’s not like I own you anymore.” I couldn’t believe my ears. The bastard even smirked too.

“Excuse me?” I pronounced. I did not need to take his crap. “For starters you never owned me Brian. Secondly, Johnny is right. If I started dating, even Johnny, I don't think you have the right to know? It is none of your god damn business what I do with my life anymore.” I paused for a split second. “You know what Brian? I told myself that leaving you would screw my life up. I wrong. The only mistake I made was not leaving sooner.”

Brian sat up clearly shocked that I would talk to him so harshly. He tensed a few times and opened his mouth ready to talk, but never did. As I was ready to leave, he followed us out to the car. “Wait!” he called. “Jess, when we were together I loved you, but I think Johnny did too. Do you know how hard that was and how jealous I was? With Lisa all I have to do is love and I didn’t have that with you. You have to understand…”

I did understand. I understood it all. Johnny, me, Brian, Lisa; it all made sense, I just didn’t realise until we broke up. I looked at Johnny, and he got in the car without a word. I offered Brian a smile of understanding before leaving. I guess that’s the funny thing about breakups… Although they come at an expensive price, they point out what we had all along. I’ve always had Johnny.

Notes

I've always loved this story :) It's very old now, I think I wrote it about four or so year ago, and I know I could write it a lot better now if I put some time into it, but it's like my little baby. I wrote it for a girlfriend when she was going through some boy troubles so I think that's why I like it. To me, it's kind of every girls dream to realise one day that there is someone out there who loves you unconditionally like Johnny does too Jess. Whenever I'm going through a hard stage in life, I remind myself of this story and how it took for Jess to loose Brian to realise Johnny has always been there for her and that's all she really wants.

I hope you guys can find something lovely to take from this story too :)
<3 Ve.