"Sebastian—" Cayden said, her voice getting caught in her throat. We both stared at him, every feeling in the book stirred up in seconds. I wanted to throw a fist into his face, wanted to cry, wanted to scream. I was mad that he was invading my space with Cayden. I hadn't realized how sacred her condo felt until now. It was my place to completely be myself, a place free of Sebastian-related memories. For him to come here was a betrayal.

"What the fuck is this?" Sebastian said, staring between us. "Huh? What the fuck is this?" He pushed through the door, Cayden unable to stop him. He stormed toward me and Cayden went after him.

"Stay the fuck away from her," Cayden said. "You don't get to do this. Don't involve her in this. I'm the one who's your friend."

"She's my ex-girlfriend," Sebastian said, pointing a finger directly at me. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I wasn't enough? You had to find the worst possible way to hurt me?"

"To hurt you? How about you physically and mentally hurting me?" I snapped at him, unsure of where my strength was coming from. Other than essentially, putting my foot down and breaking up with Sebastian, I never really stood up to him. I didn't know what had come over me. "You're the one who put your hands on me. You hurt me. And I just happened to find someone who was nicer to me after we ended things."

"Oh, yeah? That's the only reason you're with Cayden? Because she's nice to you?" Sebastian scoffed. "I know that you're just trying to get at me. I've got to be honest, I always knew you were a little bit nuts and obsessed with me, but playing the fucking lesbo card to prove a point is even further than I imagined you'd go."

"That's enough, Sebastian!" Cayden said.

"Shut up!" Sebastian snapped and redirected his attention toward me. "Are you proud of yourself yet? Is this what you wanted? Me to come storming in here and demanding an answer?"

"No—" I said, feeling like I was going to vomit or cry or both.

"Did you really think I was going to want you back if you pulled a stunt like this?" Sebastian asked. "You went for the thing that would hurt my feelings the most. And then what? What was your plan?"

I took a deep breath, the rage bubbling in me. This was how Sebastian was—he walked into a room and made it all about him. He talked over me, he belittled me, he shut me down. That was how it always was with him, even if this was the best fight we'd ever been in compared to the ones we'd had.

"Can you stop thinking about yourself for even a second!" I said, feeling the angriest I'd ever been in my entire life. "I didn't do this for you, you fucking asshole. I did this because Cayden is nice to me. She cares about me. She took care of me when you broke me until I couldn't break anymore. Do you really think I cared that much that I would go through all of this just to prove a point? I never liked you, Sebastian, when will you understand that? I was never into men, it was only to keep up a certain image."

"Maybe—"

"I don't even want to hear it from you," I said, knowing I'd never yelled like that ever in my entire life. "I'm not fucking pretending—I am gay. I like women. In fact, I love women."

Sebastian shook his head, laughing. "Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that, Vina. I mean, really. You never once made it seem like this was the path you were on. You were so fucking gullible, doing anything and everything for me—like a fucking mutt desperate for any love."

I inhaled sharply through my nose. "You know nothing about me," I said. "And I hate that you even have the privilege of saying you dated me."

Sebastian choked out a laugh. "The privilege of dating you? Babe, I was fucking other women our entire relationship. Our sex was terrible—when we weren't having it, I actually felt a relief. You were such a pathetic girlfriend, it was a game seeing how far I could push you until you'd break."

"Stop, Sebastian," Cayden said. "You don't get to talk to my girlfriend like that. Get the fuck out of my house."

"Oh, your girlfriend?" Sebastian said. "That's fucking rich. And what's this whole setup you have here? What are you guys celebrating? Oh, wait—I already know. Congrats on moving in together. That's huge."

My face went hot. Who told him about that? How did he know? Jaci had said she didn't tell Sebastian. But I also had never responded to her peace offering, so maybe out of spite she'd outed me and told him where to find me.

"Who told you that?" Cayden said, approaching Sebastian. I wanted to step in between them to protect Cayden, but I also didn't want to get anywhere near Sebastian. I always found Sebastian somewhat scary, but at this moment, he seemed to be way worse than the version I found scary. He was angrier than I had ever seen him—so red in the face and so bulked up. It was obvious that he was furious and a complete loose cannon.

"None of your fucking business—"

"What the fuck is going on here?" a voice said from the open doorway and I nearly let out a sigh of relief. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

Griffin shook his head. I'd never been so relieved to see anyone before. Behind him were a few people who I could only assume were Cayden's friends. "Oh, so you're Sebastian. Why the fuck are you here? Leave them the fuck alone."

"Who do you think you are talking to me like that?" Sebastian said.

"Yo, get the fuck out," one of the guys said from behind Griffin. "I'm being so serious. This is none of your business and this isn't your space. You're not only harassing two women but you're trespassing."

"What even is this?" Sebastian asked, shaking his head. "My best friend—my former—best friend hooks up with my ex-girlfriend and I'm the bad guy in this?"

"Yeah, you fucking are," Griffin said. "I mean, look at you. Look who's the one causing problems."

"For someone who says I'm obsessed with you, you seem awfully obsessed with me," I said, feeling emboldened by how everyone was piling on Sebastian. He suddenly didn't seem so big—he was just acting like a fucking tool and a bully. No one believed he was in the right. "Just go home, Sebastian. No one wants you here."

"I'm not leaving until I have answers about what exactly is going on here—"

"We both know you're not going to leave until I dump Cayden and beg you to take me back," I said. "Which we all know is never going to happen."

"Now, get the fuck out before I call the cops," Griffin said, walking up to Sebastian. Even with cradling two wine bottles in his arms, Griffin looked pretty intimidating. Because Griffin had such a gentle nature, I hadn't realized how much bigger his build was than Sebastian's.

Sebastian took a deep breath and then turned back to me. "You'll fucking regret this, Vina. You know you will. You'll have to live with this for the rest of your life."

I wanted to snap back at him but instead, all of the pent-up feelings and anxiety and stress built up. I knew I couldn't cry in front of him, but I was very close to doing it.

"Get the fuck out," Griffin said, gesturing toward the door.

Sebastian looked like he was going to say something else, but he didn't. He just pushed by and left. Griffin shut the door behind him, locking it.

The room was dead silent and I knew I had to get out of there before I started crying in front of everyone. I raced to Cayden's bedroom and picked a spot on the floor, hiding from the view of anyone who walked into the room. My back was against the wall and all I could think was that I wanted to disappear completely into it. I didn't want to be seen by anyone ever again.

"Vina," Cayden's gentle voice carried through the room. She shut the door and walked to find me. The tears were coming so hot and fast that I couldn't stop them, not even for Cayden. "Oh, Vina. I'm so sorry. Everything he said was so, so awful."

Cayden sat down on the floor with me, wrapping her arms around me. I cried into her arms, letting out all of my feelings about Sebastian and my friends. I'd never felt so betrayed or so hurt. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, Sebastian found a way to make it worse. I just had to hope that meant it was only up from here.

"I'm so sorry, Vina," Cayden repeated, kissing my forehead.

"I just... I can't," I said, trying to get the words out through my tears. "Why is he such an evil person? What did I even do to deserve friends who make me feel this way?"

"You didn't do anything to deserve it," Cayden said. "You're one of the best people I know, and I mean that wholeheartedly." She turned to me. "Deep breaths, okay? Just one inhale and exhale at a time."

I followed her breathing, focusing on the sound of her heart and the rise and fall of her chest. Finally, my tears started to slow.

"I told everyone we'd try this party thing again another night, but Griffin stayed back," she explained as I sniffled quietly, "He's preparing us some glasses of wine and I ordered you some pasta from this local Italian place nearby."

I smiled weakly, "I love Italian."

"I know," Cayden smiled, displaying some of her accessorized white teeth.

Yikes. Did you guys expect Sebastian to react that way? How do you guys feel about what he said? Do you think Vina should've said more? What would you guys have done in her position? I can't wait to see your opinionsWeekendlustt