“Yeah. When I went back to his apartment the next morning, he was hungover and in his clothes from the night before. He was shocked to see me but excited, too. He picked me up and gave me a big hug. I think he was still drunk since he didn’t notice I was about to cry. I asked him what he did last night and he said he stayed in and watched TV.”

Maggie nods and I go on.

“I lost it. I told him I knew he was lying and when I tried to leave, he said everyone from work went out and got wasted, and he ended up passing out at Madison’s. Obviously, I flipped. He swore nothing happened, but he had just lied right to my face. And in the midst of everything, I asked him, if he were single, would he be dating Madison? He wouldn’t give me a straight answer and that was it for me. I was miserable all the time and he was clearly at the point that he couldn’t be honest with me. I told him we were over.”

“How’d he take it?” Maggie asks hesitantly.

“Not good. He begged me not to end things and said he would do whatever I asked. He’d said he’d quit his internship and move to New York. I knew I was hurting him, but we couldn’t go on the way we were. You shouldn’t have to force a relationship to work when you’re twenty and twenty-two.”

“Very true,” Maggie says. “So that was it? That was the last time you spoke to each other?”

“After the breakup he called me a lot. I never answered but every day I could feel myself getting closer to picking up. One night, he called when I was at my parents’ house. I told them I was thinking of giving Ryan a second chance and they got so mad. They knew what happened when I went to visit him, and they thought we were done for good.”

“Didn’t you think that, too?”

“I did, but I also missed him so much. I thought I’d feel better after we broke up, but I felt more depressed than ever. My grades tanked, I barely hung out with my friends... I was in a bad place and my parents—my dad especially—resented Ryan because of it. We got into a big fight after he called. He told me I was acting like a zombie and that being with Ryan was draining me. He said love wasn’t supposed to be like that and he raised me to know better. I ran out of the house.”

“Oh, no,” Maggie says, guessing where I’m going with this.

“Yeah. The accident happened the next day.”