Note: I originally wrote this story for someone, but since then have decided to submit it to Lit. So many thanks to Techsan for editing and helpful suggestions. Thank you ahead of time for any feedback! -- SR
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I knocked and the front door opened, already ajar. "Scott?" I called, stepping through. I made my way back to the living room where I saw him, sitting on the couch, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
"It's done," he murmured quietly, disbelieving. "We agreed to divorce."
"Oh, god, Scott, I'm so sorry," I replied, rushing over to kneel next to him. "How did it--I mean, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand..."
"I'm not sure... It hasn't quite sunken in yet," he said, and looked at me then. His eyes were dull, shell-shocked, and glazed. "It just feels so... final."
I moved up to sit on the couch beside him, leaning against his side. "Scott, I'm so sorry--I just don't know what to say..." I felt him sag against me, and I wrapped my arms around him awkwardly, given his larger size. "Shhh... It's okay. It's going to be alright, I promise..."
I ran my hand over his back and neck as if I were comforting a small child instead of the fully-grown, dark-haired man beside me. Sitting like this, his arm pressed against my breasts, but I tried very hard not to notice, to focus instead on the hurt he was suffering. I could smell him, warm and dark and male enveloping me, but again, I attempted to shake it off and be a friend to him.
He turned his head to look at me. "I just don't understand it; I feel like that's it--like I'll never be able to find someone again. Like, everyone gets one person to spend their lives with, and I already used up my chance."
"Scott, don't say that!" I said, genuinely shocked. I pulled his face closer, so that his forehead and mine were touching and I was staring straight into his shadowed eyes. "You are a kind, gentle, funny, adorable, and
very