Oakleigh glared at him, trying to hide how much his soft, heartfelt words were messing with her already messed up feelings. Her hands fisted by her sides and she huffed out a harsh breath, pressing her lips together before forcing herself to speak.

    “Why are you telling me this now?” She snapped. “You had your chance at the wedding, that’s why I invited you!”

    Vance looked away, but not before she caught the tears welling in his eyes. “You look happy,” He whispered, slowly tucking his hands into the pockets of his oversized sweatshirt. “I didn’t… Didn’t want to mess that up.”

    She groaned, tilting her head back to stare up at the stars, silently pleading for strength. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. If you didn’t want me to marry him, you should have said something.”

    Vance grunted, clenching his jaw. “You left me,” He reminded her, keeping his voice quiet. “Why would I make an objection in the middle of your marriage surrounded by your friends and family? I already felt like an ass for being there, I wasn’t going to make myself look worse.”

    “Then why did you go?” She didn’t know why she kept talking. Guilt, she supposed. She hated the fact that she was causing him pain, especially because of how close they really were to each other. “What was the point in showing up?”

    “I don’t know!” He exclaimed in a broken, anguished timbre. “I just… Wanted to see you again… I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He paused, and was silent for a long moment that Oakleigh was getting ready to say something else. “I suppose…” The soft whisper made her pause and the second Vance looked back at her, the breath left her lungs. He looked so… so hurt. Lost. Like he had no idea what to do with himself anymore. “I suppose that if I saw you happy then… Then maybe I’d finally understand that I needed to move on.”

    “You do need to move on!” She shouted at him, not receiving any satisfaction when he flinched away from her. If anything, it made her feel worse. It was no secret that Vance was close to Oakleigh’s heart. She would do anything for him, but there was no way that they would be able to work out. It hurt, but it was the truth.

    So that is what she decided to explain to him.

    “We would never last, Vance. We’re living in two different worlds! If we were to get together, we would only be setting ourselves up for heartbreak. And I don’t-”

    “Is it because I’m white?”

    Vance’s soft, hesitant question hung in the air between them. He stood under the stars, his hair a wild mess on his head, almost matching the wild mess of emotions in his eyes. He looked haunted, much older than the twenty-two year old that Oakleigh thought she knew.

    And as more time went on without anyone speaking, was the more his hurt transferred into anger.

    “Is it because I’m white, Oakleigh?” He shouted, glaring at her with an intensity that took her away. “Or is it because I have money? Because those are the only conclusions that I can come up with. Why does it have to be like this? I love you and nothing is going to change that. Not the color or your skin or the money in your pocket. I’ve been-”

    “That’ll change, boy.” Oakleigh’s voice was tired, and as her anger receded, exhaustion simply took its’ place. But she hid the pain his sarcastic laugh caused.

    “Change?” He echoed, threading his fingers through his hair and tugging. “We haven’t seen each other since we were sixteen. Sixteen! It’s been six years and I can tell you that nothing has changed except for the hole you left in my heart when you walked away.”

    Her expression fell as he looked away from her to wipe his eyes angrily. “Today’s been the first day that I’ve been able to say your name.” He was silent for a moment before he shook his head and forced himself to chuckle. “I’ve been through hell all because you were scared and insecure.” This time he didn’t bother to hide his tears as he looked at her once more. “I have become a shell of a man, because when you walked away, you forgot to tell my heart how to get on without you… And now you tell me I went through all that simply because of my nationality? Because you’re intimidated by the money I have? Because you think I’ll walk away?” He snorted and shook his head. Even though he was talking sarcastically, with an angry bite of his words, Oakleigh knew he was just trying to hide the extent of the pain she caused him.

      Life had hardened him over time. Gone was the sweet, teenage boy that she remembered. Gone was the boy who spoke only the gentle truth. Gone was the boy who wasn’t afraid to show his true feelings, no matter how “girly” they may seem.

     And in his place was a man, someone who had had his heart broken and built up angry barriers to keep himself safe.

     She caused that.

     “Well, here’s a newsflash.” He whispered harshly. “I am standing right here.” He pointed to his own chest, blinking rapidly for a moment to get himself under control. “But my heart and soul is in there,” He pointed to her. “And that is where they’ll stay for the rest of my life. No matter who you marry, or who you sleep next to, you will always have pieces of me with you.” His anger fell away in that moment, and he smiled a sad, broken smile. “And it’ll stay that way, until you tell them how to piece themselves together without you.”

     With one last fleeting look, Vance turned on his heel, and walked away.