Two weeks later, I had called in sick at work. Even though I was not physically sick, I just didn't feel well. All I did was lay in bed all day ever since that fight I had had with Benito. Of course, he had tried to call and text me, but I had turned my phone off. No matter how much I tried to distract myself, the names he had called me constantly echoed through my mind. "You wanna eat something?" I heard Cia say behind me. Slowly I started shaking my head and pulled the blanket over it. "I'm getting worried Casey, you have to eat." she then said, sighing. "I'm not hungry, I'll make myself something later." I informed her. "Alright, we'll leave something over for you." she replied, before closing the door to my room again. I heard the doorbell ring and since I wanted to get myself something to drink, I dragged myself out of my bed. Cia had opened the door already and she was fighting with someone. "She doesn't want to see you!" she said loudly. "Please, I need to talk to her." I heard that oh too familiar voice say. Immediately, I stopped in my tracks. "No, Benito, you caused enough pain, just leave." my best friend said, when she spotted me in front of my door. "I know that I hurt her, but I really need to talk to her." he begged, sounding like he was at verge of crying. I knew my best friend and I also knew that she couldn't stand seeing people cry. She looked at me with a questioning look on her face which caused me to vehemently shake my head. "Listen, Benito, what you did, was beyond the worst. You can apologize as much as you want to, but that's not going to change anything." Cia explained to him calmly. "Cia, I don't want to lose her. I love her." he said, his voice breaking. Wait, what? For a full second, I wanted to walk over to the door and forgive him, but then the bad names he had called me came back. Obviously, my best friend didn't know how to react to it, but that was okay because Benito kept talking. "Fuck, I know that I shouldn't have said those things, okay? I let jealousy control my thoughts, I get irrational and do or say things that I later regret." he rambled on. I slowly and quietly continued walking, until I stood only a few inches away from the door, but still out of his sight. "Jealousy? Who were you jealous of?" Cia asked confused. Benito let out a sigh, before speaking again. "Lucas." he replied quietly. "Lucas? Our colleague?" she then repeated in disbelief. "Yeah, I don't know why, I just feel threatened by him." he explained. It sounded like he was ashamed. Cia let out a little chuckle, but didn't respond to him. "I know, it's stupid. I'll go now, but could you please tell her that I was here and that I love her?" Benito said, his voice still breaking a little. As much as I didn't want to give in, I decided it was best to listen what he had to say, so I nodded, when my best friend looked at me with a questioning look on her face. "Why don't you tell her yourself?" she then said, signalizing me to come to his view. "Casey." he whispered, when he saw me. I didn't say anything, just looked at him. He looked miserable. Deep circles had formed underneath his eyes, he wasn't wearing anything colorful like he usually would have, and his hair had grown out a little bit, causing the pattern he had shaved into his hair to disappear a little. "How much did you hear?" he asked, looking at the ground. "Everything." I answered. My voice was raspy from all the crying of the past two weeks. He nodded, still not looking at me.

Damon and Cia had gone into the living room to let us talk in the kitchen. I had made myself a cup of tea because I was a little cold. When the water was warm enough, I took the cup and sat down at the table across from Benito. The teabag in my cup was way more interesting than him. He started to apologize, telling me how much he regretted, saying all of the things he had said. I just sat there, avoiding eye contact because I knew that I would start crying if I looked at him. Sipping at my cup of tea every now and then, I listened to him. "Casey, I fell in love with you." he finished off his rant, reaching out for my hand that I had rested next to the cup. I flinched at the touch and pulled it away. Funny that I wasn't able to let my still boyfriend - yes, I still considered us dating - touch my hand. I was still hurt and mad at him, but I also still believed in fixing this even though I had told him otherwise two weeks prior. "Aren't you gonna say anything?" he asked, when I remained quiet. "I don't know what to say." I answered honestly. "Okay, but just answer me one question: are we still a couple?" he wanted to know. I nodded, finally looking up at him. His face lit up a little and he sighed in relief. "You meant, when you said you wouldn't leave." he then mumbled, smiling a little. "And I still mean it, but if we wanna fix this, you have to trust me." I replied. "I know." he answered, looking down at his hands. "Talk to me, stop pushing me away, and most importantly, don't assume anything before you don't have any evidence." I told him, putting my hand back onto the table. He nodded in agreement. "Oh, and one more thing. I want you to get to know Lucas a little bit, you don't have to be friends, just give him a chance." I continued. "Okay. Now that we have cleared this out, are you gonna react to the other thing as well?" he then wanted to know. I sighed and chuckled a little bit because I didn't know what I was supposed to say. On the one hand, I did have feelings for him - I wouldn't have been dating him if not -, but on the other, I wasn't sure if it was already real love. "Casey?" Benito asked, when I still hadn't answered. "I think I'm falling too." I answered slowly. A smile spread across his face and again, he reached out for my hand. This time, I let him grab and kiss it. "I promise I'll pull myself together mi armor." he whispered, kissing my hand over and over again. After a while, I got up from my chair, put the meanwhile empty cup into the dishwasher and walked over to him. "Well, I'm gonna head home now, still have a little work to do." he then said, getting up as well. I wrapped my arms around his torso as soon as he was standing. It took him by surprise, but he returned and tightened the hug. Cia showed up in the doorframe behind Benito. She smiled at me, when she saw us standing there.