She got lost in her own little world for a moment. As she worked on the other eye, Sophie broached the subject. "So, Easton? You’re done with him, right?"

"Yeah, I'm done with him.” I swallowed the churning bile that wanted to make an appearance. Dr. Kaufman was right. I blamed myself. And I hadn't been in love with him for a long time. So it was time to do things that were good for me. Fun for me.

"I mean, I've always hated him, but you knew that. What prompted you to pull the trigger?"

As great as my friends were, it was hard enough to admit to Dr. Kaufman everything that I had been through. I didn't want to go through it with these guys. Inside, I was still trying to make sense of it all. How I'd ended up in that position. Not that it was my fault. She'd helped me see that. But I did tend to make some decisions that weren't in my best interest, and I needed to fix that. I needed to break that cycle of decision-making. "Well, I guess it's been brewing for a while. I've known for way too long that he wasn't the right guy for me. But it's kind of easier to go along to get along, you know?"

Sophie nodded. "You always deserved better than him. You know that, right?"

I sniffed. "Yeah, well, I know that now. And then him hiding my acceptance letter and shredding my passport… That was some next-level crazy. So, I'm here right now."

She shook her head. "I still can't fucking believe he shredded your passport. Who does that?"

From the bed, Faith offered, "Someone crazy?"

"Someone controlling," I added.

Sophie sighed. "Can I ask you something, Abbie?"

"Sure.” My stomach flipped and knotted upon itself. Not knowing what to expect.

"I mean, is that why you pulled away from us a little? I'm not saying that you did it on purpose, or whatever. And we weren't upset, but we did notice. Especially after college. We didn't get to see you hardly ever. And all of our conversations were usually cut short by Easton or by you hurrying to do something for him."

A fresh wash of shame splashed on me, just when I thought I'd had enough. There it was, willing to add more. "He didn't like it. He didn't like when I had any other friends, actually. He wanted to isolate me, and it’s horrible that I let him. But I'm planning to fix all that. You guys are my best friends. I never should have let anyone come between us."

She sat back and smiled. "No way was he going to come between us, because when we did see each other, it was just like old times. I just wanted to see you more. And I got the impression you had to earn the time with us."