Allan took an unintended step back from the opening. Blinking, he asked, "Adrienne, what are you doing here? I thought you were back at the Arboretum."
"You thought or you figured?" Adrienne returned softly, her eyes fluttering towards the ground, unsure of what to say or do.
Allan shrugged and began walking back towards the hollow. "I'm not sure. I'm really not sure of anything right now."
Adrienne, concerned by the edgy tone in Allan's voice, walked towards him. "What happened?"
Allan drew in a deep breath before beginning. "I found out that Francesca's been cheating on me with some guy from Spain."
It was now Adrienne's turn to blink. "Wait a minute. Could you run that buy me one more time?"
Allan repeated himself slowly before finding a soft patch of moss to sit on. He let his head fall down into his hands as all of the pain rushed back to him in full force. For a while, there was only silence between them.
Then, "I'm sorry, Allan."
Allan raised his head up to smile at Adrienne, though the smile was rather half-hearted. "What for? You weren't the one who's been lying to me for over a year. You weren't the one that decided to take my heart and rip it into shreds."
"Don't you think you're being a little bit harsh?"
"Harsh?" Allan stared at Adrienne incredulously. "How can I be the one who's harsh when she's the one that cheated on me?"
Adrienne shrugged slightly but said no more. She found herself a seat in a low, twisted tree directly opposite Allan. She looked at him with the longing in her eyes that had been there for so long, but had been repressed. For a moment, she almost thought that he was looking at her with the same look in his eye.
"I don't know where to go from here," Allan broke the silence.
"Are you going to break up with her?"
Allan looked around, contemplating the thought. He had pondered the subject since he walked away from Francesca, but he hadn't made a final decision yet. He wondered if he should throw away the year of seemingly blissful romance that he'd shared with Francesca because of some other boy. After all, she had always been by his side through thick and thin despite everything else. For a moment, he was almost ready to forget the entire situation and move on. But only for a moment.
"Yeah, Adrienne. I think I am."
