Wednesday looked down to her phone, reading the message from Zara over once more.

Locking her phone, she placed it down on the table in front of her and began picking at her fingers as she looked out of the window skittishly in anticipation.

If she left now, she wouldn't have to see him. She could delete his number and block him from everything, and she'd never even have to think about him again. At least, that was the idealised version of that option she had in her head. Gnawing the inside of her cheek, she stirred the coffee on the table in front of her, having no inclination to drink it—the strong presence of nausea swirling within her meant the thought of eating or drinking anything at that moment might possibly make her throw up.

Looking down to her phone again, she checked the time. 12:32 in the afternoon. She locked it again and placed it down with a sigh. He was two minutes late. Two minutes. Maybe he wasn't going to show, he might have changed his mind and realised how stupid this was.

Picking up her phone again, she opened up their messages, her hands hovering to type. Preparing to ask him where she was, she looked up to see him entering the café at that exact moment, slightly panting as if he'd been fast walking there. Spotting her instantly, he walked over to the table.

"Hi" he blustered, looking down to where she sat with a nervous glance.

"Hi Patrick" she replied, feeling her heart pound in her ear drums.

He lingered for a few seconds, seemingly unsure as to whether to hug her or not before deciding against it and sitting in the opposite chair.

She eyed him curiously, hating how well he looked. He'd always had tanned skin but he was almost glowing golden today and his hair looked even blonder. Had he been on holiday? And when did he start wearing glasses? He was wearing adidas joggers, an oversized white hoodie and vans, with a green military style jacket. Despite the layers, she could see he'd been going to the gym. Looking down to her own slightly haphazard appearance, she felt self-conscious all of a sudden.

"So, how have you been?" he asked, keeping his hands tucked into his coat pockets, clearing his throat as he fidgeted.

"Yeah, good" she lied. "Busy with work. And you?"

"Oh, same yeah. Work is hectic, new season and all that."

Wednesday nodded, not sure what to even say. Should they just...jump into the relationship talk straight away or not?

A waitress came over to take Patrick's order, welcomingly breaking the awkward silence as they conversed.

"I saw you went to Italy. Was it fun?" Patrick asked once she'd left, biting his lip and she hated how that one action stirred up something inside of her.

"Uh, yeah, it was fun. Better than English weather, that's for sure."

Patrick breathed out a laugh, looking down to his lap.

"I'm not sure what to say" Patrick murmured, looking back up to her from under his blonde lashes, a sad smile on his face.

Wednesday sighed in relief. "Me neither."

"These past few months have been really shitty without you."

She didn't know why it made her feel better to hear that, but it did, to know that she wasn't the only one still hurting from their breakup.

"I know. Same for me."

"I...I miss you" Patrick replied quietly, almost so quietly she didn't hear him over the coffee machine in the background.

She felt her heart constrict at those words.

"I miss you too" Wednesday mumbled, feeling her throat tighten as she looked down to her fingers.

"Then can we...can we try and work on this again?" Patrick asked, almost desperately as he sat up and stared imploringly at Wednesday.

"Patrick I...I just don't see how that will work" Wednesday replied, her lip quivering. Don't cry, don't cry.

"I know we had issues and a lot of it was down to my own insecurities, but it would be different this time. We can work through them."

"I don't know if it would be different though" Wednesday replied with a furrowed brow, looking back up and into his eyes.

"It...it would be. Now that I know how shit life feels without you, I'd do anything" he replied earnestly, reaching out to grab her hand. "Weds, I still love you."

Fuck. That was it. She felt the lone tear roll down her cheek. Looking to the window, she brushed it away with a swipe of her hand, her head starting to throb with the tension of it all.

"But how would it change? I love you too Patrick but...I'm not willing to sacrifice my job or myself to make this work."

"I'm not asking you to-"

"You asked me last time. Before we broke up."

Patrick lowered his head, almost in shame. "I know and it was wrong of me. I got too in my own head and it ruined me and us. But I promise, I've been working on myself for the past year and I've realised how shitty I was for asking that of you."

"It was shitty" Wednesday muttered, sniffing as she bit her lip.

"We can really talk through everything, communicate honestly" Patrick pushed on, holding her hand and she felt her fingertips burn at the touch.

"And what if we do talk and come to the same conclusions as before?"

Patrick seemed stumped then, sitting back slightly as he considered this. "We won't because...because I love you and you love me, and I know we'd both do anything to save this relationship."

Another tear, though this time she didn't care if he saw. "But that was true last time. I loved you and you loved me, and we still couldn't save it."

She could see the tears in his eyes now too and she desperately wanted the conversation to be over. She'd been wrong, this wasn't making her feel better. If anything, it only seemed to be adding salt to the wound.

"But..." Patrick began, and she removed her hand from his, feeling a burst of strength.

"You can't just rely on love for a relationship to work. You need trust and respect and good communication" Wednesday began, shaking her head. "I love you Patrick. But love isn't enough for this to work."

"Baby, please" he began pleading, her insides clenching at his pet name for her, but she was determined now in her stance, no matter the pain it caused her to say out loud.

"I just...I can't do this again. I can't go through the same problems and issues we had Patrick, because it wasn't fair on either of us. And truthfully, it was hard enough to survive the first breakup. If it happened again, I don't think I'd have the energy to get through it."

A tear slid down his face as he watched her stand up, taking the coat from behind her chair.

"Please don't leave" he choked out and she had to look away, the ache in her throat and the wateriness of her eyes too intense.

"I really do love you. But sometimes, the best thing is to let the people you love go" she said quietly, noticing that people around them were staring now.

Placing a five pound note down on the table, she put on her coat and threw on her bag.

"I...I think that it's best if we don't message each other anymore."

He didn't reply, just looked down at where she'd been sat and nodded sadly. She turned to walk away, before looking back and hovering beside him.

"Patrick, I really do wish you the best."

She didn't stay to hear a response. Instead she turned on her heel and left the café quickly, walking with a fast pace down the end of the road until she was finally out of sight. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in, feeling choked sobs emit from her as she continued the walk home, her vision blurry through the tears.

Instantly after entering and shutting her front door, she collapsed against it, her chest heaving through the heaviness of the situation. It was really over. She knew it had been over for months, but now it was done.

She didn't know how long she'd sat there for on her hallway floor, her tears silently rolling down her face when her phone buzzed and she tiredly took it out of her pocket.

Looking at the message from Zara, she could feel the tears spring to her eyes again, desperately wishing she was there to offer some moral support or even just to make her laugh and take her mind off of it. She'd flown back to Dubai a few days earlier and left Wednesday with a gap in her life once again.

Wednesday loved her alone time, but as she sat on the cold floor in her house alone in that moment, she wished someone was there to be with her or talk to.

She scrolled through her recent contacts. Her mum would hear her crying and fuss and stress and ask a thousand questions that Wednesday truthfully didn't have the energy to answer. Zara had already had an earful for the past two weeks about Patrick, she didn't need any more. She stopped on the name 'Dad', a gut-wrenching pain passing over her as she looked at it with tears before scrolling down. Gemma would be at work. A pang of anxiety swirled over her as she looked at Harry's name. She wanted him there, to comfort her and make her laugh with his stupid jokes and maybe even a hug. He always knew the right thing to say. But she knew what he would be thinking when she explained what had happened.

'I told you so'.

She looked at her list of contacts before hitting call on one of them, holding the ear to her phone.

After a few rings she heard a familiar voice.

"Hello?"

"S-Sarah?"

"Wednesday, what's up? Are you crying?!"

"I-I didn't know w-who else to c-call."

"Has something happened?!" she asked, worry in her voice.

"P-Patrick" she sobbed, unable to say anything more.

"Right say no more, I'm coming over."

The call ended as Wednesday tried to calm her breathing, her phone pinging with a text from Sarah.

Using the last of her energy, she pulled herself to her feet and kicked off her boots, throwing her coat on the floor. She sat on the sofa, feeling like an idiot for being so useless. Why did she ring Sarah? She shouldn't have rung her. It wasn't a big deal; it was just her being stupid again.

Before she could text her back to say she didn't need to come, there was a knock at the front door. She opened it and her appearance must have been abysmal, because Sarah took one look at her before pulling her into a hug she didn't realise how desperately she needed.

She hated how weak she felt. Sarah just held her and rubbed her back, not saying anything. After a few moments, Wednesday pulled away, forcing out a laugh as she wiped her runny nose with her hand."I'm being ridiculous" she sniffled, biting her lip to stop it quivering.

"No, you're not, you're going through a hard breakup. Now tell me, what's happened."

She pulled her to the kitchen, sitting Wednesday down on a stool as she turned the kettle on and made them both a cup of tea whilst Wednesday described the whole ordeal once more, holding back her tears.

"It's no wonder you're sad after a conversation like that. I'd be the same, in fact I'd probably be worse."

"It just feels so final I guess" Wednesday mumbled, taking a sip of her tea.

"At least you both know where you stand now."

"True" Wednesday nodded, sniffing. "Doesn't make me feel any better though."

"You just need time" Sarah smiled across at her.

"Thanks for coming. And sorry for putting all this on you."

"Don't be silly, that's what friends are for" Sarah waved away her comment. "Have you told Harry what happened?"

Wednesday played with the handle of her mug, not looking up. "No."

Sarah nodded, furrowing her brows as she looked over at her.

"You know he'd be round here in a flash if he knew everything that had gone on and how you're feeling" she warmly replied.

"I know" Wednesday nodded, the pulse in her head heavy. "I just...I don't like to bother him with all this."

"Sometimes" Sarah began, carefully articulating her thoughts. "I think he wants you to bother him with these things more."

Wednesday looked up tiredly at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I think he just feels like you keep certain things from him."

"Did he say that?" Wednesday asked.

Sarah shifted on her feet, wearing an expression of slight regret that she'd maybe said too much. "Not in so many words. But I've seen his face when he hears about you opening up to other people besides him. He almost looks hurt by it."

Wednesday's eyebrows pinched together. "I'm allowed to choose people besides him to open up to. It's not a crime to not tell him everything" she replied defensively.

Sarah smiled weakly. "I know it's not. But I think he feels like you don't tell him anything."

Wednesday looked down at the table, thinking over her words. She didn't know why she chose not to open up to him very often, if at all. She hated for anyone to see her as vulnerable, but especially him. Wednesday was the strong one in their friendship; the one who rarely cried and disliked overt affection. The one who would reply to a compliment with a joke and who would be sarcastic at all times. Or at least, that was the image she'd carried with her from their youth to now.

Sarah stayed for another hour, changing the subject and talking over work and mundane things to take Wednesday's mind off of Patrick. Seeing her out the front door with a hug, Wednesday shot her a tired smile.

"Thanks for coming round to help with my breakdown."

Sarah laughed breathily, rubbing her arm. "That's what friends are for."

She turned and walked down the garden path, Wednesday watching as she walked away and ready to close the door before, she called out once again.

"Wednesday?"

"Yeah?"

Sarah hesitated for a second, before replying.

"Give Harry a call."

Wednesday nodded, forcing a smile before closing the door.

Grabbing her phone, a glass of water and a packet of paracetamol, she traipsed up the stairs. Sitting down on her bed, she cracked open the packet and put two of the painkillers in her mouth, washing it down with the water before lying back on her bed.

Her eyes felt heavy and her body felt even more sluggish. Exhaustion was present in every inch of her body and she raised her phone up to look at the time. Just gone two in the afternoon. She thought back to Sarah's words, about Harry and opening up to him.

Opening her recent contacts again, her finger hovered over his name, but she didn't press down. Minutes passed in the same position as she debated ringing him, but as her eyes struggled to stay open, her hand eventually fell to her side and she entered a deep sleep that not even the pain in her heart could prevent her from having.

/