Fake Date, Real Fate-Chapter 71: Too Late

Walking towards her felt like traversing a battlefield, every step a battle against the elements, every drop of rain a tiny accusation ; I held the umbrella as high as I could, I was even angling it forward slightly as I approached, hoping to shield her from the rain even before I reached the bench.

She hadn’t moved.She hadn’t even looked up.

Her arms were still tightly wrapped around her knees, and her shoulders trembled like the rain itself had burrowed beneath her skin. She was crying so quietly, but the silence screamed louder than anything. freewebnoveℓ.com

I moved in closer, the umbrella was barely doing its job because the wind was blowing the rain sideways. Did I care? I would have been willing to stand in a hurricane if she would have just looked at me. Just once. Let me say something. Let me try.

And then headlights cut through the street. I hesitated.

A car drove up.

The passenger side door opened, and—

Wait. He definitely looked familiar.That dude she had lunch with yesterday. The one I’d asked her about.

I could feel myself clenching my jaw as soon as the realization hit me.

What is he doing here?

How does he know to find her here?

I stood there, frozen in the rain, feeling like a total idiot. I didn’t move – I couldn’t move. I was probably fifteen feet away, half sheltered by my car, watching him.

I watched him step out, holding his own damn umbrella like he knew exactly where she’d be. Like he was meant to be here. Like I wasn’t.

She finally moved, raising her head slowly as he approached. Her eyes were red and swollen and focused on him. While I was watching, for one split second, a flicker of something crossed her face. Was it relief? Recognition?

He knelt down beside her without saying a word. I couldn’t hear what he said over the rain, the distance and the pounding in my chest, but it felt different. I am sure his voice was soft and gentle, the complete opposite of the anger I showed her.

Then it hit me. Her whole body folded into him, she was shivering, sobbing, and clutching him without hesitation. She just trusted him. Trust amidst all that hurt.

I gripped the umbrella so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

This should have been me. I should have been the one to find her.

I did find her.I just didn’t get there fast enough.

And now, I stand here like a fucking ghost while someone else’s is doing what I should have done from the beginning - be present. Care for her. No judgement. No accusations. Just arms open wide.

God, I was supposed to do that.

I was supposed to come back, soak her up in my coat, pull her into the warmth of the car, and try, in vain, to put the pieces back together. Instead, I sat there, frozen, and let her cry, paralyzed by guilt. And now, he was there. Picking up the pieces of what I had shattered.

I couldn’t bring myself to move, trapped in my own feelings as I watched things unfold.

Her leaning into him like she belonged there. Like he was her security, her calm after the storm.

The guy said something else. He wasn’t yelling, wasn’t demanding. He was just... talking to her, softly. And she was listening.

He took a handkerchief out of his coat pocket. A clean, white handkerchief. He held it out to her.

I watched, rooted to the spot, the rain pasting my own hair to my forehead, running down my face. It wasn’t just rain anymore; it felt like acid.

She took the handkerchief, her hands trembling. She wiped her face, a pathetic, weary gesture.

He didn’t push. He didn’t try to scoop her up and force her into the car. He just knelt there in the goddamn rain, talking to her, waiting. As if he had nothing else to do, nowhere else to be. As if he was right where it was okay for him to be.

And I was standing across the street, half-hidden by my car, holding a cheap umbrella that was barely keeping me dry, feeling like a complete and utter stranger. Like the monster I probably was.

He said something else, and this time, she responded. Just a small nod, a whispered word that I couldn’t even hope to catch.

Then, he stood up, still talking to her, his body partially shielding her from the wind and rain.

My muscles tensed, ready to move, although honestly, I wasn’t even sure what I would do. Shout? Run over there? Demand she come with me?

But she took his hand.

A bit slow and hesitant, but she took it.

He helped her off the bench and, while she stumbled slightly, her body still stiff and cool, he didn’t let go of her hand. He moved forward, keeping the umbrella held over both of them.

As he guided her, he didn’t let go of her hand, taking his time, moving carefully towards the waiting car, the umbrella hovering above them, shielding her, and shielding them, from the torrent.

With each step they took away from the bench it felt like with every step they took away from me. With every step that pushed toward something that did not involve me anymore.

I watched them reach the car. He opened the passenger door, still holding her hand, still talking to her softly. He helped her in, settling her carefully onto the seat. He didn’t rush. There was a patience in his actions that I had completely lacked. A quiet strength that I only wished I possessed.

He quietly shut the door behind her and I heard the small click mixed in with the rain’s muffled roars.

The umbrella sagged in my hand, and the rain hit my face directly now. It felt necessary.

He rounded the car and climbed into the driver’s seat.

The light came on briefly, just enough for me to see him lean down to speak to her one more time. She looked up at him, and for a fraction of a second, I thought I detected something in her eye other than pain. Something... thankful? A sign of relief?

Then the light went off.

The car didn’t pull away immediately. It just sat there, engine idling, the rain still hammering down.

I stood there. Just stood there. The rain was drenching me completely, but I didn’t feel the cold anymore. I felt numb. White-hot, overwhelming, soul-crushingly numb.

I almost ran across the street and—

And what?

Demanded an explanation?

Scooped her away like I had any right to?

Yet her voice rang clearly back to me, sharp and brutal, like the moment it left her lips:

"You don’t get to play hero. You’re not my boyfriend, you’re not even my friend. This isn’t your business."

I froze.

Every muscle in my body turned to stone.

She was right.

She was right.

Whatever was happening to her... it wasn’t my place. I gave it up the moment I accused her of something so far beneath her it made me sick to even remember it.

He had done what I should have done. He was there when I should have been. He was taking her home.

And I was left... where? Right back where I started. Alone. In the rain.

The taillights of the black sedan glowed harder and brighter as he put it in gear.

Finally my feet moved. One step. Another.

"Wait," I wanted to scream. "Wait!"

But my voice wouldn’t push past the thickness in my throat.

The car pulled away from the curb. Smoothly. Effortlessly, like a dark shark cut through the flooded street.

I watched them go. Watched the red taillights recede into the blurry, rain filled night.

And then there was only the rain. And my own ragged breathing.

She was gone.

She was gone with him.

And it was my fault. All of it.

The umbrella slipped from my fingers and thudded wetly against the pavement. I didn’t bother picking it up.

There was nothing left to shelter myself from.

Because I had lost the only thing that should have mattered.

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