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Aiden had always been a force — bleach-blonde hair like sunlight, piercing red eyes that could burn right through you, and a smile that promised wild adventures. People were drawn to him like moths to a flame. Ashlyn, with her gentle ginger curls and calm, steady green eyes, had always been the grounding force in their relationship. She was quiet where Aiden was loud, measured where he was spontaneous. Together, they were like fire and water — their differences balancing each other out in the most natural way.
But fire, no matter how beautiful, always burns.
Ashlyn never expected the cracks to form. She trusted him completely, believing their bond was something unbreakable. But cracks have a way of staying hidden — until they break wide open. It wasn’t some dramatic moment that exposed the truth. There was no accidental text, no lipstick on a collar. It wasn’t even a slip of the tongue. It was Taylor — Ashlyn’s best friend, and Aiden’s too — who couldn’t hold the weight of the lie any longer.
The two of them had always been close, like sisters, leaning on each other through the ups and downs of life. Taylor was the first person Ashlyn told when she started dating with Aiden, when the sparks flew and the world felt like it belonged to them. It was supposed to be that way forever.
They sat on Taylor’s porch one evening, the last vestiges of sunlight fading in the sky. The air was thick with the kind of humid stillness that made everything feel too heavy. Taylor didn’t look at Ashlyn, her fingers fiddling with the edge of her shirt.
“Ash,” Taylor said quietly, her voice tight, “there’s something you need to know. Something I can’t keep from you anymore.”
Ashlyn’s stomach dropped. “What is it?”
Taylor hesitated, then looked up at her, eyes filled with pain. “Aiden... He’s been seeing someone else. For months. 2 months, at least.”
Ashlyn froze. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment, and her breath caught in her chest. She couldn’t process the words, not immediately. “What are you talking about?” she asked, but it came out more like a whisper than a question.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to believe it either. But I saw the signs. I talked to him about it — I begged him to stop, but he kept doing it. I couldn’t keep lying to you, Ash. I couldn’t let you keep loving him when he didn’t deserve you.”
It hit Ashlyn like a punch to the gut. For a few seconds, everything went silent. The world around her felt distorted, out of focus. “2 months?” Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
Taylor nodded, her face etched with guilt. “I didn’t want to be the one to tell you. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“But you should’ve,” Ashlyn said, her voice coming back now, sharp and angry. “I should’ve known. I deserved to know the truth.”
Taylor reached for her, but Ashlyn pulled back, the ache of betrayal cutting deeper than any physical wound. “Why didn’t he just tell me? Why did he keep lying?”
“I don’t know,” Taylor said, her voice cracking. “I don’t have the answers. But I know he messed up. And you didn’t deserve this. You deserve someone who sees you for what you are, Ash.”
The evening passed in a blur, and Ashlyn could hardly remember the drive home. The weight of Taylor’s words kept pressing against her chest, the rawness of the betrayal making it hard to breathe. But what hurt the most was the thought of Aiden — her Aiden — with someone else, for so long. The person she’d trusted more than anyone else, the one who’d promised to be by her side, had shattered everything.
That night, Ashlyn sat on her bed, the darkness of the room closing in around her. She couldn’t sleep. The tears came slowly, at first, just silent and bitter. Then they came harder, hot streaks down her cheeks. She didn’t know how long she cried, but eventually, exhaustion took over.
The next morning, she had to face Aiden.
When Ashlyn confronted Aiden, she wasn’t sure what she expected. Maybe anger, maybe tears. Instead, she was met with guilt — deep, suffocating guilt. He didn’t try to deny it. He didn’t make excuses. He looked at her with those red eyes of his, and for a moment, she saw everything she’d been missing in him — the fear, the regret, the realization that he had fucked up. But there was something else, something empty. Something that told her he had checked out long ago.
“I didn’t mean for it to get this far,” Aiden said, his voice strained.
Ashlyn didn’t flinch, even though every part of her wanted to. “But it did. 2months. 2 months of you lying to me.”
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he said, stepping closer, but Ashlyn held up her hand, stopping him in his tracks.
“You already have. You hurt me every time you chose someone else. You chose them over me. And I let you.”
The words tasted bitter as they left her mouth. Aiden opened his mouth to speak again, but she shook her head.
“No,” she said firmly. “I can’t do this anymore.”
With that, she turned and walked out of the door, leaving the memories behind.She didn’t look back.
Days passed, and the weight of the betrayal settled deeper into Ashlyn’s chest. The anger was there, but it was layered with an overwhelming sense of loss. She couldn’t believe how long she’d been blind, how much time had passed with Aiden’s lies at the heart of everything.
But she wasn’t alone in this.
Taylor, as always, was there. She’d been there for every high, every low. When Ashlyn called her in the middle of the night, sobbing, Taylor was there with open arms and soft words. When Ashlyn needed to talk, to scream, to vent, Taylor was her safe space. The two of them, side by side, built a bridge out of the broken pieces of Ashlyn’s heart.
“You don’t have to carry this alone,” Taylor said one evening as they sat together on the couch, Ashlyn’s head resting on her shoulder.
“I don’t even know who I am anymore,” Ashlyn confessed, her voice small.
“You’re Ashlyn. You’re still you,” Taylor said, gently rubbing her back. “Aiden doesn’t define you. His mistakes don’t erase who you are. It’s going to hurt, I know. But you’ll heal.”
Ashlyn nodded, feeling the weight in her chest slowly lighten. The ache was still there, but with Taylor beside her, she knew she wasn’t lost.
And eventually, one day, she would feel whole again.