Four years of long-distance. I flew a thousand miles for our concert date. But she gave my ticket to her "friend" from school, and I watched them walk in, holding hands. They framed me as a scalper. I was beaten by the crowd. She just stood there, watching coldly, even backing their story. Afterward, her call was breezy and dismissive. "You're such a good guy, you won't blame me, right? Now be good, fly down to my city, and we'll get married." I laughed. Then I turned around, bought a ticket home, and blocked her on everything. Years later, she returned—a world-famous scientist—and stood before me, demanding I take her back as if it were her right. I just introduced her to my wife standing beside me and the son in my arms. "I'm sorry," I said. "Have we met?" 1 The tickets were gone. After a four-year, long-distance relationship, my girlfriend Ava had suggested we finally meet in the middle, at a reunion concert for The Wanderers. I’d flown a thousand miles to a city I didn’t know, and when I got to the will-call window, the attendant gave me a pitying look. “Sorry, sir. These tickets have already been picked up.” I figured Ava must have grabbed them. But when I called her, it went straight to voicemail. Again and again. A knot of dread tightened in my stomach. Dejected, I was drifting toward the main gate when I saw her. She was standing in the security line, her hand laced through the fingers of some handsome, clean-cut guy I’d never seen before. Something hot and sharp flared in my chest. I walked straight up to them. “Ava?” Before she could answer, the guy with her shot me a wounded look. His eyes were actually turning red. “Dude,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion. “I paid you ten times face value for this ticket. What, you think you sold it too cheap? Today’s my one-year anniversary with my girlfriend. I’ll give you another twenty bucks, just leave us alone, man.” I stared at Ava, waiting for her to clear this up, to laugh it off as a crazy misunderstanding. Instead, she just looked at me, her expression hardening, and backed him up. She let him slander me. Suddenly, I was the enemy. The crowd around us, smelling blood, turned on me. “Scalper!” someone yelled. “Trying to rip the kid off on his anniversary?” another one shouted. Voices rose, people shoved, and before I knew it, a fist connected with my jaw. Someone kicked me from behind. They were all screaming about calling the cops, about parasites like me ruining everything. The concert ended hours later. Only then did Ava finally call, her voice breezy and casual, as if nothing had happened. “That was Ethan, a guy from my program. He just went through a really bad breakup, and The Wanderers are his all-time favorite band, so I just… let him use your ticket. You’re such a good guy, Caleb. I knew you’d understand, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Anyway, listen! I just have this one summer project left and then I’m done, I graduate. You should book a flight down to Miami, come to campus. I’ll show you around, and then… we can go home together. Go to the courthouse. What do you think?” “Okay,” I said, my voice flat. “Sounds good.” Then I hung up and bought a bus ticket. The destination wasn't Miami. It was Maine. She had no idea that I never wanted to marry her again. “Caleb, I checked for you,” Ava’s voice had said through the phone, tinny and distant. “There’s a seat on the midnight Greyhound. You should book it now. It’s too loud to talk here with everyone leaving the stadium, I’m gonna go.” Click. I sat in the fluorescent hum of the bus station, my phone dead in my hand. I laughed, a bitter, hollow sound that pulled at the fresh cut on my lip. After she’d let a mob of strangers beat me up, I’d stormed off to the airport, intending to leave immediately. But a sliver of foolish hope kept me there, a fantasy that there was some noble, complicated reason for her betrayal. I’d sat in that sterile waiting area all night, waiting for an explanation that would make it all make sense. All I got was an excuse about some lovesick kid from her program. That was her reason for holding another man’s hand, for joining him in painting me as a greedy scalper? And her suggestion… her school was in Miami. The only way to get to my hometown in Maine from there, besides a flight, was a grueling three-day bus journey. She knew I got violently motion sick. The last time I took a long bus ride to save money, I was pale and useless for a week. The old Ava would have stayed up all night trying to find me a cheap flight. The old Ava, if she couldn't find one, would have cried, apologizing over and over for making me endure that kind of misery. This new Ava didn’t even seem to care. Her carelessness was a shard of ice in my gut. I didn’t hesitate anymore. I booked the next bus heading north, back to Maine. It was leaving in twenty minutes. The bus had been on the road for a few hours, deep into the black of night, when she called again. “Ethan and I have to go out of town for that summer project,” she said, her voice rushed. “It’ll be at least a week. When you get to Miami, just find a hotel or something. It’ll give you a chance to heal up.” Right before she hung up, I heard his voice in the background, syrupy sweet. “Ava, I’ve got the whole road trip planned out…” My mouth twisted into a sneer. How thoughtful of her to invent a cover story for their little vacation. How considerate of her to remember that I was, in fact, covered in bruises and bleeding because of her. While strangers were screaming at me, calling me a scumbag, threatening to have me arrested, she had just stood there, watching, her expression as cold as a winter morning. The memory of it still chilled me to the bone. I opened my messaging app, my thumb hovering over the keyboard, ready to tell her I wasn't coming. That's when a friend request popped up. The username was "Ethan_G." I froze. Ava’s username, for as long as I’d known her, was "Ava_My_Guy." The request message read: Hey man, sorry about that. You just looked so much like the asshole who stole my last girlfriend, I just lost it for a second. I just said whatever to get you to leave, I never thought people would actually believe it and jump you. Ava made me text you to apologize! Then, a five-dollar transfer notification from a payment app popped up. For your medical bills. Get some ointment or something. Don’t worry about paying me back the change. It was him. Every word, dripping with condescending sarcasm, felt like another slap across the face. Until tonight, he had just been a name, a phantom in Ava’s stories from school. At first, she’d complained about some clueless junior in her lab group. Then, slowly, it shifted. When I’d ask what she was up to, she’d be having dinner with Ethan, playing tennis with Ethan. Soon, she was calling him ‘E.’ I’d admitted it bothered me, said I wanted to see a picture of this guy she spent so much time with. She’d brushed it off. “Oh, come on. He’s not as handsome as you. Besides, he has a girlfriend. Don’t be jealous.” I remember one time I called her on video, feeling low after my scholarship application was rejected. She was in the middle of an experiment but picked up anyway. Seeing my face, she immediately put on a goofy dancing bee filter to try and cheer me up. Then Ethan had popped into the frame. He’d snatched the phone from her, switched the filter to a kitten one, and said with a smirk, “Ava, that filter is lame. The one I picked for you is way better.” She’d laughed, calling him a pest as they playfully fought over the phone, the filters flashing wildly between bees and cats and aliens. I just watched, a silent, awkward third wheel. I couldn't get a word in. When she finally won the phone back, her face framed by the kitten filter Ethan had chosen, she’d smiled at the screen. “E is so ridiculous. Caleb, why are you so quiet?” A sour, indescribable knot had formed in my throat. She must have sensed I didn't like him, because she stopped mentioning him as much after that. Until tonight. At the concert. I finally put the face to the name. He was good-looking, I guess. But he wasn’t as handsome as me. But he had something I didn’t. He had the swagger, the unshakeable confidence of someone who knows they’re backed up by the person they love. And suddenly, the whole thing just felt… exhausting. I didn't bother replying. I just blocked him. I turned my head and stared out the window. The endless black of night slowly gave way to the soft, grey promise of dawn. I’d taken hundreds of flights and bus rides over the past four years, but I’d never once noticed how beautiful the scenery was. I was always so consumed with the journey being over, with just seeing Ava again. The next morning, at seven o’clock, I was home. I tried to slip in quietly, but my parents were already awake. They were sitting in the living room, studying a neon sign I’d ordered that spelled out the word “MARRY ME?” in bright pink letters. They looked from the sign to my bruised face. “Honey, what happened to your face?” my mom asked, her voice tight with worry. “Why are you back alone? I thought you were going to the concert with Ava… and proposing? We were about to decorate the house to surprise her… Where’s Ava?” My hand instinctively went to the small, velvet box in my pocket. I’d bought the ring weeks ago, a simple, perfect diamond, convinced this trip would mark the end of our four years apart. I was going to ask her to marry me under the stadium lights. Instead, I was a joke. And the ring would never leave its box. Faced with their gentle concern, the dam inside me broke. A wave of humiliation and grief washed over me. I placed the ring box on the coffee table, my voice a raw whisper. “Just… return all this stuff, okay? We’re not getting married.” I escaped to my room before they could ask anything else. We’d been together since high school—seven years. My parents already thought of her as a daughter. I had no idea how to explain this to them. They must have understood. They left me alone until lunchtime, when a soft knock came at my door. “Caleb? Come on out and eat something, son.” The table was filled with all my favorites. Halfway through the meal, there was a knock at the front door. “Carol! It’s me! Can I borrow your car for a bit?” That familiar, booming voice belonged to Ava’s mom. Our families lived next door to each other; we’d been borrowing cups of sugar and lawnmowers our whole lives. My mom opened the door. Ava’s mom saw me sitting at the table and stopped short. “Caleb? Weren’t you two supposed to come back together?” I just stared at her, confused. She looked just as baffled. “Ava called. She said she’s coming in on the afternoon bus today. She asked me to pick her up from the station.” 2 I was stunned. Wasn’t she on a road trip with Ethan? Ava’s mom, oblivious, just smiled. “Well, since you’re here, Caleb, why don’t you come with me to get her?” The last thing I wanted was to worry our parents. I nodded. At the bus station, I smoked two cigarettes back-to-back, trying to find some semblance of calm. I decided I would face her, be civil, and get this over with. I wasn’t prepared for the sight of them walking out of the terminal, two figures leaning into each other, their hands intertwined. The moment Ava saw me, she dropped his hand like it was on fire. Her mother’s brow furrowed. “Ava, who is this with you?” Ava didn’t look at her mother. She stared straight at me, her voice sharp and defensive. “He’s a junior from my program. It’s too hot back home for him, and he doesn’t have the money to travel. What’s the big deal if I bring him to our town for the summer?” I didn’t say a word. I just dropped my cigarette, crushed it under my shoe, and got into the driver’s seat of the car. Ava’s mom smacked her lightly on the back. “What is wrong with you? The way you speak… Only Caleb is patient enough to put up with your temper!” Ava, furious, banged on my window. “Caleb, what the hell is this? Are you following me? I told you to go to my school in Miami!” Her mom cut in before I could. “He got back this morning. How could he have followed you?” The anger seemed to drain out of her, replaced by confusion. She did the math. It was impossible. Her lips parted, then pressed into a thin line. She pulled Ethan into the back seat without another word. The ride home was heavy with a strange, suffocating silence. When we parked, her mom, trying to salvage the situation, suggested a big family dinner. It was what we always did. I had no reason to say no. By dinnertime, nothing had changed. Usually, our parents would save two seats next to each other for me and Ava. Tonight, Ava sat down and pulled Ethan into the seat beside her. Every eye at the table flickered toward me. I kept my face neutral and took an empty chair on the other side. Ethan shot me a smug look, then launched into a loud, animated conversation with Ava about inside jokes from their campus, laughing obnoxiously. The whole spectacle turned my stomach. Halfway through the meal, I excused myself and went upstairs to my old room. I didn’t expect him to follow me. He walked in without knocking. With a single, deliberate motion, he swept the framed photo on my desk to the floor. It was a picture of me and Ava from our high school graduation, our arms around each other, making a heart shape with our hands. The glass shattered. I turned and looked at him, my voice dangerously quiet. “Wandering into someone else’s room? Breaking their things? Is that what they teach you at home?” Ethan just smirked, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket and slapping it down on the desk. “Cut the crap, Caleb. Do you really think she’s going to spend the rest of her life in this frozen wasteland with you?” “Sorry to break it to you, but she’s already applied for the graduate program at our university. She’s staying in Miami to take care of me, make sure I adjust to my senior year okay. But hey, if you want to keep being a pathetic leech, you can stick with her. Enjoy another three years of long-distance.” On the desk was a graduate school application. It was already filled out, signed by Ava at the bottom. My chest tightened. It felt like the air had been punched out of my lungs. I remembered Ava, years ago, crying into the phone. “Caleb, just give me four years. I promise. The second I graduate, I’m coming home. Even if I go to grad school, I’ll apply to the one back home!” The last ember of hope in my heart died out. I let out a cold, sharp laugh. “If you’re so desperate to have a mommy take care of you at school, nobody’s stopping you. But don’t worry, I have no interest in being this kid’s stepdad.” Ethan’s face turned crimson with rage. He pointed a trembling finger at me, speechless. Suddenly, the soft creak of footsteps sounded on the stairs. His ears twitched. Seizing the moment, he shoved me hard. Caught off guard, I stumbled back against the desk. He grabbed my head and slammed it down toward the sharp corner. As I fell, my hand instinctively shot out, grabbing the desk lamp and pulling it down with me in a chaotic crash of metal and broken glass. When Ava burst into the room, she saw me on the floor, my vision blurring, blood trickling down from my forehead.
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