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that my suspicions were wrong. I don’t know why, but I felt this underlying need to protect her. She was my Gabby girl, my angel, and if anyone was hurting her, I would kill them.
     

 

     
    I rushed around my apartment, readying myself for my unwanted breakfast date with my mother. I had been avoiding her for weeks, but I knew that I couldn’t anymore. The only positive out of this was that it would alleviate me from having to see her again for a few more months. Will was being released this afternoon. I was off for the weekend, but I was planning on going to the hospital to see him before he left.
    Evan was going to his uncle’s summer house in the Hamptons for his family’s annual Labor Day weekend picnic. It had been one month since our altercation and I still wasn’t really speaking to him. I slept on the pull out sofa every night, tried my best to customize my schedule at work to be opposite his, and was doing anything that I could to avoid him. I had looked at some apartments in my price range, but they were all one step away from living in squalor. Still, part of me couldn’t help but think it had to be better than my current situation.
    He was taking forever in the bathroom. I needed to get in and brush my teeth if I was going to meet my mother on time so I squeezed into the tiny bathroom to grab my toothbrush while he was shaving. An annoying breath escaped his chest. I took my toothbrush and toothpaste, and headed to the kitchen sink. Even though it grossed me out a bit, it still beat being anywhere near him.
    I wiped the toothpaste from my mouth just as he was coming from the bathroom. “Really Gabby? You couldn’t have waited two seconds? That’s disgusting, brushing your teeth in the kitchen sink.” 
    I completely ignored him, cringing as I brushed against him to get into the bathroom. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “How long are you going to give me the silent treatment, Gabby? I said I was sorry. What more do you fuckin’ want from me? I mean, it’s been a whole month since we -.”
    “Since we what?”  I finally broke my silence, unable to believe the words that were just about to escape his mouth. He stared at me blankly. “Since we what, Evan? Had sex? Do you really think that I ever want to have sex with you again?”
    “Gabby, come on.”
    As much as it killed me, I moved closer to him. “As far as I’m concerned, you and I are just roommates. And as soon as I can find a place of my own, I’m out of here. I want nothing to do with you anymore, Evan.”
    “Three fuckin’ years! I wasted three fuckin’ years on you and this is what I get for it?!”
    “Yeah. I guess it is. I don’t know what you were expecting. I’m just a piece of garbage that you lowered your standards for.” He creased his forehead in confusion. “Maybe you shouldn’t drink so much if you can’t remember the hurtful things that you say afterwards. It may get you into big trouble someday.”
    He tilted his head back and rolled his eyes. “Gabby, come on! Don’t do this to us.”
    “There isn’t any more us, Evan! There hasn’t been an us for well over a year now, ever since I’ve been living with your constant put downs. I’m done. I tried to stick it out and make it work for a while, but I just can’t anymore. Just give me some time to find a place and I will be out of here. In the meantime, feel free to bring whomever you want home. I don’t care if you fuck her right in the bed that we once shared. I’ll even cook ya dinner afterwards, if you’d like.”
    His eyes narrowed. “You are such a fuckin’ bitch, you know that?”
    “Maybe I am, but it still beats being someone’s emotional and physical punching bag.” He had fire in his eyes and I was a little nervous that I had pushed him too far. I looked at him one last time before going in to my bedroom to dress. I let out a sigh of relief when I heard my apartment door close, knowing that I had escaped what could have been a