Ashley was trying to find the words when Tony interrupted her thought process.

“No matter how you word it Ashley, it’s still going to hurt so just get on with it please.”

To her surprise the words hadn’t come out mean or spiteful, just very hollow and sad.

She reached over and took his hands in her own.

“Tony you are such a great guy, when we were kids I always knew that you would do so many wonderful things…..but-”

“But you don’t love me?” He said finishing her sentence for her and standing up, putting a few feet between them.

“No I don’t. I’m so sorry Tony.”  Ashley didn’t know what else to say.

Taking a deep breath Tony looked down at her with both regret and also something she hadn’t expected, guilt. He sat down next to her again.

“I know. I know you don’t love me now, just like I knew you didn’t love me when we were together before.”

The confession both surprised and confused Ashley. Was Tony working with her father? Had they conspired against her somehow?

She was starting to get angry when she looked into Tony’s eyes and saw the sadness that was in them. He was filled with both loss and regret, two emotions she knew no one who was anything like her Father would know.

“Then why?” She couldn’t help but ask the question, she had to know.

“Because I love you, I always have. I guess I hoped that maybe eventually you would stop just pretending to love me. I….I knew about Wendy.”

She didn’t even have time to let the shock of his knowledge of her first love register completely before he continued.

“I came to your dorm one morning to surprise you with some breakfast, you’d left the door unlocked and when I peaked in I saw you two asleep together. A few weeks later when you acted like you wanted to hook up with me I convinced myself that what I had seen was nothing, but at least a small part of me knew I was fooling myself”

“I never wanted to hurt you.” She whispered hoping he would hear the sincerity in her voice.

“I know I’m as much to blame for this as you are. I knew better but I let you pretend and I’m sorry. If I was a better friend I wouldn’t have let this happen again.”

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Tony decided it was time to lighten things up.

“Well now that my girlfriend has once again dumped me,” he said with a hopeful little grin, “maybe now I can have my best friend back.”

He gave her hand a small squeeze and she couldn’t help the smile that came across her face.

“I’d really like that. But first there’s more I need to tell you, about my Father, about me, about everything.”

TBC