The Things I Believed

(Melissa pov)

“Melissa, I’m serious, you’re going to die alone at this rate.”

I didn’t even look up from my book. “Good afternoon to you too, Daniel.”

He laughed, dropping into the chair across from me like he belonged there. Like he always did, Daniel had been my best friend for years. Loud, annoying, brutally honest and somehow the only person who refused to treat me like I was fragile after my mom died, Cancer didn’t just take her. It erased the only person in the world who knew me completely, the only person who stayed and just like that, I had no one, well… almost no one.

“ For goodness sake you are twenty-one years old, you need help,” he continued. “Actual help. Professional help.”

I flipped a page calmly. “Because I don’t sleep around?”

“Because you treat love like it’s some once-in-a-lifetime miracle that only happens in fairy tales.”

“It is once in a lifetime,” I said simply.

He stared at me like I just proved his point. “Melissa, people date. They explore. They have sex. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

“It does to me.”

He leaned forward, lowering his voice like he was about to reveal some life-changing truth. “Sex is not that deep.”

“It is when it’s with the wrong person.”

He groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “You’re impossible.”

“And you’re dramatic.”

“No,” he said, pointing at me. “You’re just scared.”

That made me pause for a second, I believe love was something you waited for, something that didn’t leave, maybe that belief came from my mom or maybe it came from the fact that I never knew my father, never had a name, a face, or even a story to attach to him. Just silence. My mom carried that silence like it was something she was protecting me from, and now, she was gone too.“I’m not scared,” I replied quietly.

“You are,” he insisted. “You’re hiding behind this whole ‘waiting for the right one’ thing because it’s easier than actually putting yourself out there.”

I closed my book slowly, finally meeting his eyes. “I’m not waiting because I’m scared,” I said. “I’m waiting because I know what I deserve.”

He held my gaze for a moment, then leaned back, shaking his head. “One day,” he muttered, “someone is going to walk into your life and completely ruin that mindset of yours.”

I shrugged. “Then he’d better be worth it.”

Matt was worth it, at least I thought he was, he didn’t come into my life like chaos or confusion, he came in like calm, like something steady I didn’t know I needed.

We met on campus, nothing dramatic or cinematic, just a simple conversation that turned into another, and another, until suddenly, he was part of my everyday life.

He was everything Daniel said didn’t exist, Patient, kind and funny in a quiet, effortless way, and most importantly… he understood me, he never pressured me, not once, not even when we started dating, not months in or even after a year.

While Daniel kept saying, “That’s suspicious,” I saw it as respect, as love, because Matt would always say the same thing whenever the topic came up:

“I’m not going anywhere, Melissa. We have time.”

And I believed him, I believed every word that was why I decided to surprise him, it wasn’t a special occasion, I just missed him, so I got his favorite snacks, rehearsed a teasing speech in my head, and made my way to his dorm with a stupid smile on my face. I didn’t call, I wanted it to be a surprise.

The hallway was quiet for a Friday evening, but I didn’t think much of it, I stood in front of his door, adjusting the bag in my hand, my heart doing that soft, familiar flutter it always did when I was about to see him.

“Okay,” I whispered to myself. “Act normal.”

I knocked once, no response, I frowned.

“Matt?” I called lightly, Still nothing, I hesitated, then tried the handle, it was unlocked.

“Wow,” I muttered under my breath. “Security is amazing here.”

I pushed the door open slowly.

“Surprise—” The word died in my throat, at first, my brain didn’t understand what I was looking at, It refused to.

Matt was sitting on his bed butt naked and sweaty with his eye closed in bliss and Daniel was kneeling before him sucking his cock and moaning, the scene in front of me didn’t match the reality I had built so carefully in my head.The bag slipped from my hand, that’s when they saw me and froze.

“Melissa—”

“No.”

My voice came out hollow and unfamiliar, like I had already started breaking, Daniel scrambled first, panic written all over his face.

“Melissa, wait please, it’s not what you think”

I let out a short, bitter laugh. “Not what I think?”

Matt stepped forward, with his cock still erect, his voice softer but just as desperate. “Let us explain.”

“Explain what?” I snapped, my eyes burning now. “Explain how I walked in on you and my best friend? Please go ahead. I’d love to hear this one.”

“Melissa, “I didn’t want to hurt you—”

I stared at him in disbelief. “How long?” I cut in sharply

Daniel ran a hand through his hair, pacing.

“How long?” I repeated, louder this time.

Matt swallowed. “Melissa—”

“HOW LONG?!”

“A year…” Daniel said quietly.

The word hit me like a slap, A year, the same amount of time Matt and I had been together.

“Oh my God…” I whispered, stepping back.

My chest tightened painfully.

“I was right there,” I said, my voice shaking now. “The whole time… I was right there and neither of you thought I deserved the truth?”

This whole situation didn’t match the love I believed in Or the man I trusted, or the best friend who swore he always had my back.

My best friend, the boy who sat across from me, teasing me about love like it was a joke, the boy who said I was waiting for something that didn’t exist.

And Matt, the man who made me believe it did, a sharp, bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

“I get it now, you were okay with me not wanting sex because you wanted cock ” I said quietly.

Neither of them spoke, of course they didn’t, because what excuse could possibly sound right?

I didn’t go home. If I did, I knew I’d fall apart completely, so I kept walking, I don’t even remember where I was going, I Just wanted to get away from everything that felt like a lie, that’s how I ended up standing outside a bar.

I had never been to one before, never wanted to, but right now? I didn’t care about anything I used to believe in, I pushed the door open and the loud music hit me first, It felt wrong and somehow exactly what I needed, I walked to the counter and sat down, trying not to look as out of place as I felt.

“First time?” the bartender asked.

“Is it that obvious?”

He smirked. “What can I get you?”

“Something strong.”

A glass filled with white liquid was placed before me, It burned but I welcomed it because I needed something to drown out the noise in my head, that’s when I felt it, as if someone was staring at me,I turned slightly and a group of men on expensive suits and looking dangerous where sitting together like they owned the place, and at the center of them, I saw him.

He didn’t look away when I caught him staring, he didn’t even pretend, his gaze stayed on me, steady and unapologetic, it moved over me, like he was studying me and had already decided I was worth his attention, my breath caught because there was something in that look that made my skin feel too aware.

“Boss, we need to—”

“Not now.”

His voice was low. Calm..

An older man leaned forward. “Adriano, this deal—”

Adriano, It fit him, he didn’t respond, didn’t even glance at them again, because he was still looking at me, I turned back to my drink, gripping the glass tighter, I should leave, nothing about this felt safe, but safe didn’t matter to me anymore.

The stool beside me shifted, and the smell of his aftershave made my pussy wet.

“Rough night?”

His voice was close, and I felt heatwaves all over my body, I turned and up close he was worse, a beauty to behold with strong and sharp features like that of those roman gods statues, tattoos trailing up his neck like they belonged there, everything about him felt dangerous.

“You could say that,” I replied, my voice quieter than I expected, his eyes held mine, steady and unreadable.

“People don’t come in here looking like that unless something just broke.”

My throat tightened.

“And what do I look like?” I asked.

His gaze darkened slightly.

“Like someone who just lost a piece of herself.”

I should have been scared, but I wasn’t and that scared me more, he leaned back slightly, studying me.

“You don’t belong here,” he said.

“Neither do you,” I shot back.

A faint smirk touched his lips.

“Maybe.”

I exhaled slowly, staring at my drink.

“Do you always stare at strangers like that?” I asked.

“Only the ones that interest me.”

“And I interest you?”

His gaze dropped briefly to my lips, then back to my eyes.

“Yes.”

My heart skipped, I hated that it did, because just hours ago, I believed in love and in waiting, but now I didn’t even recognize myself, I turned fully toward him.

“Why?” I asked.

He tilted his head slightly.

“Because you walked in here like you had nothing left to lose, and you needed your pain taken away”

He wasn’t wrong, that was the worst part, I swallowed.

“Maybe I don’t.” his expression became darker.

“Careful,” he said quietly. “People who think like that tend to make dangerous choices.”

I held his gaze for a long second, then I said the only th

ing that felt true anymore.

“Maybe I already have.”

He smirked " so you want me to take your pains away?"

"You mean sex?" I asked 

But he smiled dangerously 

"No pajarito, I meant fuck”