Finally Tom caught her in the act, though he’d hoped he never would. In between episodes he and Jessica both needed the bathroom and that meant he had to use the second one adjoining his bedroom. He crept silently up the hall as he didn’t want to wake Katie who’d said she’d had a long day and was going to bed early. When he quietly opened the bedroom door though, he didn’t find her sleeping, but curled up on the bed with her laptop open videochatting with the handsome guy who’d hit on her while they were shopping. The guy must have noticed Tom enter the room over Katie’s shoulder because he said something and she turned around with a resigned expression.
“Damn. Well you were bound to find out eventually. I guess we’re done.” She said in an irritated tone. Tom was crushed. They’d been together 2 years and she wasn’t sorry she was cheating, she was only sorry she’d been caught.
Thinking about it, she’d had a good thing going. She’d had Tom paying the rent and the bills and she could date and sleep with a much taller, better looking guy at the same time as long as Tom didn’t find out. He could see there was no point in talking to her, he’d lost her long ago, if she’d ever liked anything more than his support in the first place. He let how much she’d hurt him show on his face for a moment before his expression hardened.
“I’m sleeping on the couch tonight but tomorrow you need to go.” He heard Katie say something in response but Tom didn’t care. He just left her to chat with her new boyfriend.
Jessica was excited to start the next episode of their show, which was the season finale, but her smile faded when she saw Tom’s face. He knew he owed her an explanation.
“She’s cheating on me,” he said simply. “Our relationship is over.” Jessica didn’t say anything, but just got up and gave him a hug. Tom returned the embrace and sagged into her arms for a moment as he let two years of memories wash over him. He had loved Katie, but with the clarity of hindsight and with the wound still raw he realised that he’d been happy to be with her, but in his memories she was always happiest when he was buying her something or taking her somewhere she wanted to go but never just being with him.
Tom straightened again and pulled back to look at Jessica.
“Thanks,” he said, managing a thin smile. “I needed that. But I think I need to see this cliffhanger even more. Press ‘Play’ so I’ve got something else to think about for a while.” She smiled back at him a little grimly.
“I will, but just let me do one thing first. I’ll be right back.” Jessica patted him on the shoulder and left the room. A moment later he heard the sound of yelling from his bedroom. He couldn’t make much of it out from where he was, but it sounded like Jessica was ripping into her sister for breaking the heart of a really great guy. Tom had never even seen Jessica angry before, he didn’t know what it sounded like when she yelled but apparently her vocabulary expanded as much as her volume. He caught the words ‘user’, ‘bitch’ and ‘whore’ more than once before her fury ran its course.
Jessica sat back down beside him on the couch and pressed ‘Play’ as if nothing had happened.
“Thanks,” Tom said again with a genuine smile this time. “I didn’t know I needed that, but I definitely did.” Without thinking, his body did something it was used to doing when his arm was around Katie like this. Jessica was the same height as her sister now and it felt so natural for him to lean down and plant a kiss on the top of her head. He heard her gasp in surprise and realised what he’d done, but didn’t say anything in case he made things more awkward than they already were.
“Anytime,” came her small voice after a moment, still facing the TV. “You deserve better anyway.” Jessica stayed up late with him that night and her closeness was a real comfort to Tom until finally he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. He drifted off, still lounging on the couch and he was never sure afterwards, but he almost thought he felt a pair of soft lips plant a kiss on the top of his head just as he fell asleep.
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