Benito was nervously tapping his foot as he was waiting in his newly purchased house. He had invited Helena over because he had finally made a decision. Although he didn't want to hurt her, he valued their friendship over the fun they had. Becky had been right, he would break Helena's heart if he continued to be selfish, so he wanted to end their situationship. Helena had no idea of that, she was cheerful, when she arrived at his gate. She had let her guard down after that night in her house, she had let it happen and she had admitted to herself that she liked Benito more than a friend. Although she knew they were never gonna date, she loved to fantasise about it; it was a sweet delusion. When she got out of her car, she could already see Benito in his door. He had a very serious look on his face and he was biting his nails.

"Why so serious?" she asked, closing the door of her car.

"We need to talk." he gave back. Immediately, her mood changed. She had feared this moment. He didn't even have to say anything else for her to know what was about to happen.

"You don't want this no more, right?" she said, walking up to him. Benito nodded and looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Helena. We got caught up in it, I guess." he told her quietly.

"Why?" Helena asked. She did her best to not cry or sound sad because it had only been sex.

"You're my friend and I don't want to ruin our friendship with this." he responded as she reached him.

"I understand that." Helena returned, then gave him a forced smile. She really did understand him and his reasoning but at the same time she didn't. They had a good thing and they could've just continued. Benito let out a sigh of relief, he felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Just a little overwhelmed." Helena responded.

"With what?" he wanted to know, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Your honesty, I'm used to people making excuses and stuff like that but I appreciate it." Helena told him and took both of his hands off of her. "I might need a little bit of time to process this though." she continued, looking at him. Benito could feel a stinging pain in his chest.

"Which means?" he asked carefully.

"I won't be able to be around you and act like there was nothing between us. Maybe we shouldn't hang out for a little bit." she responded calmly. On the inside she was anything but calm, she wanted to scream, cry and punch the air.

"Okay, I'll give you all the time you need." Benito said with sadness in his voice. Before she left, she hugged him tightly, then she got in her car and drove off, leaving him there.

The first thing Helena did, was delete Instagram from her phone. She called her management and told them that her anxiety was getting worse. During her mental break down, they had suggested for her to take social media breaks whenever she needed one and that's what she was doing now. The second thing she did, was tell Becky and Karol. Both of them offered to come over to distract her but she didn't want company in that moment, she wanted to be alone. Lastly, she told her management to cancel every upcoming TV performance, interview and studio session. Benito also went offline. He did text her after she had left.

If you need someone, I'm always here., he had sent. She had not responded to it. Like Helena was spending her days in a haze, he was spending them partying and drinking. Everyone around him noticed a change in his behaviour. He was aggressive most of the times and let his bad mood out in the gym. For four months straight, he went working out at least once a day. He wasn't angry at Helena - he understood that she needed to distance herself - he was angry at himself for being an absolute idiot. Of course, he fell back into the pattern he had had before he had met her - dragging a different girl of every night he went out and making headlines with it. Helena saw these sometimes but she usually never clicked the articles because she did not want to see who he had spent his night with. Of course, Helena sometimes went out with other guys too, sometimes even slept with them but it was rare since she didn't attend events - at least the smaller ones. The only event she attended during her hiatus was the Grammys. Benito and her saw each other but didn't speak. She only gave him a small smile as she was walking past him and that was it.

After five months, Helena responded to Benito's text message.

I need an opinion on a song I've been working on., she sent. It took him like one minute to respond.

Sure, send a snippet., he said.

I'd rather have you listen to it live., Helena texted.

Okay, I'm coming over., Benito replied. Half an hour later, her doorbell rang. Benito looked skinny, his skin was pale and he was wearing sunglasses. Helena immediately hugged him, when she had opened the door. He had missed her a lot, so he squeezed her tightly. When they let go, Helena led him to the piano in her living room.

"I only have a little bit." she told him, before she started playing. Benito sat down on the edge of her couch. He was willing to help her, even if this would be the only interaction they would have. Carefully, he listened to the words she was singing and they broke his heart. She sounded like she was genuinely hurting. After she had finished, he looked at her through the sunglasses.

"Are you alright?" he asked concerned.

"Uh, yesterday marked 10 years." she simply said. It took him a second to realise what she was talking about but when he got it, he stood up, walked over to her and hugged her tightly. She was always grieving around this time of the year but this time she fully embraced it instead of not letting it out like usually. They sat like that for at least an hour, then Benito told her what he thought and asked her why she hadn't shown it to Becky or Karol. Helena's answer was simple: she had never talked to them about Tom. His heart was aching; she had opened up to him more than he had thought.

"Thank you, Benito." she said, getting up from the chair she was sitting on.

"Anytime." he responded. Helena brought him to the door, hugged him again because she just needed that in that moment and then he left. That night, Benito stayed at home and Helena fell asleep sober for the first time in almost three years.