Best Friends to Lovers

Chapter 1

As the thunder rolls, I try to calm myself down; as I wipe my tears, the lightning strikes, illuminating the kitchen. I wasn't sure if the tears were happy ones or not. I felt relieved. The front door of my house bursts open and slams shut. I jump a little, feeling my heart rate pick up. Hearing my best friend start to scream, I burst into tears again.

"Melinda, what in the hell happened? You were supposed to meet me at Cora’s Diner two hours ago. Why didn't you answer your phone? I was scar…." Maddison trailed off when she entered the kitchen and saw me sitting at the table, crying, "Oh my gosh, Melinda, what's wrong? What happened? Why are you crying?"

I looked at the table and took a deep breath, "I came home and found Tanner in bed with a woman. When I started to yell, scream, and cry, h..he laughed at me. He told me he wasn't, nor has he ever been in love with me. H..he said I was stupid to believe that anyone could love me and that no man could ever be satisfied by me. He said I was worthless. Then the two got dressed and left the house." I said through tears.

"That prick. The nerve of that asshole sleeping with someone in your bed. Tanner has never been good enough for you, Mel. I never liked him. You deserve someone so much better for you than that freeloading asshole," 

I chuckle, "You're right, Maddie, I do. I know I do. I just don't know if there is anyone that will want me. Tanner broke me. I am not the person I was before him. Tanner has been distant for a while now. He has found ways to insult me and put me down over the last few months. I knew that our relationship was coming to an end. I just didn’t think it would come so soon or like this." I said. Tanner doesn't deserve me; all Tanner ever did was hurt me. "You know, what, why don't you call Hayden? Have him stop at a hardware store and pick up new locks to change the locks. Tanner made his bed. He can find another to sleep in from now on. He sure isn't welcome back to mine.

“While we wait for Hayden to get here, I will toss all of the asshole things out the door. There isn't anything that he can say that will make me forgive him." I said as I stood up and walked to my bedroom, removed the sheets from the bed, tossed them on the floor. Then I headed to the closet, grabbed as much of Tanner’s s**t as possible, walked to the front door, opened it up, walked to the end of the porch and threw what was in my arms into the pouring rain. I continue to follow this process until everything Tanner has in my house is on my front lawn.

Once I was done cleaning the house of everything Tanner, I went to my room, picked the sheets up off the floor, put them in a trash bag, and tossed it in my trash can outside. I walked to the kitchen, grabbed the disinfectant spray, and sprayed my mattress.

"Melinda, are you done yet? Hayden is here with Brenden. They are changing the locks on the front door right now," Maddison says.

"Yeah, I just need to let the mattress dry out before I make the bed,"

"Why don't we go to the kitchen to drink a glass of wine? Then I will find something for you to eat."

"I'm not hungry; I lost my desire to eat when I opened my bedroom door and saw my whole life shatter into a million pieces. Am I too stupid to realize that I was being played for a fool? I mean, we were together for three years. For THREE f*****g years! How could someone be with a person they don't love for that long? I wasted three years of my life on his ass. Was he using me for money and a place to live?" I whispered with tears running down my cheeks.

“Melinda, baby, any man would be lucky to have a devoted woman like you. Tanner just doesn’t realize that he lost the best thing that happened to him. He will soon crawl back to you on his hands and knees,” Maddison says.

“Too bad for him, my momma taught me once a cheater, always a cheater. He could try to come back, but it isn’t happening. I want nothing to do with his abusive murdering ass,” I said, wiping tears from my eyes.

As Maddison and I talked, Hayden walked in, “Melinda, what in the heck is wrong? Why is all of Tanner’s stuff on the front......lawn?” Hayden asked as he walked into the kitchen with Brenden. Hayden looks around, his eyes stopping on me. His smile fell from his face. "Baby doll, what's going on?" He asked.

“I came home after work to change, so I could meet Maddie at the diner for a girl’s night and found Tanner in my bed with another woman. When I started to yell at him, he told me that he didn’t and had never loved me. When Maddie got there, she found me sitting there in the dark, crying. I decided to clear my house of Tanner’s s**t and change locks. It is over between him and me. I can’t take the abuse anymore. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. He has been abusive for a while now. This betrayal is my excuse to kick his murdering ass out.”

“That son-of-a-biscuit-eating asshole. I am going to kill that dude. What in the hell was he doing with you for three years if he didn’t love you?” Hayden says, anger evident in his voice.

“I honestly don’t know. All I know is that I feel like I have had my heart ripped out of my chest, thrown on the ground, and run over by a truck." Not really, but they don't need to know this. “What did I do to get treated like this? Every man I have ever been in a relationship with has cheated on me. Am I that unlovable?” I mumble.

Hayden pulls me to him and whispers in my ear, “Sorry this happened to you. I don’t know why men do this s**t to you. I have always thought of you as a beautiful woman. I will give you time to get used to Tanner not being here. Then I want to make you mine, finally,”

“Thanks, Hayden, you are sweet. I will be right back. I need to get my phone from the car.” I say as I pull away from him.

Maddison looks at me and smiles, “Go get it. We will be here waiting.” she says.

“I will walk out with you,” Hayden says, walking up behind me.

I smiled at him and headed to the front door. Once we get near the door, the doorknob rattles. Hayden and I hear keys jingling at the door. I looked over at Hayden. “The jerk has the nerve to show up here already. Does he honestly think I would forgive him? Who in the hell does he think he is? Let’s see what happens when he can’t get in the house,” I whispered with a smirk.

“Melinda, I know you are in there; open the damn door, let me in. We need to talk. I didn’t mean anything I said earlier,” Tanner yells. I laugh; this man thinks he can come back and be welcome. He has another thing coming.

I threw open the door with Hayden beside me. Maddie and Brenden were behind us, standing in the kitchen’s door frame, with smirks on their faces. “I don’t want to hear anything your cheating ass has to say to me. Didn’t you get that memo when you saw your s**t on the front lawn? Get your s**t off my lawn and leave my property.” I said with my head held high.

“Baby, I love you. We can work this out. I never meant to hurt you.” Tanner says.

“Oh, is that so? What about when you laughed at me and told me you weren’t, nor have you ever been in love with me? I don’t know who you think I am, but I am not a weak woman that will let you worm your way back into my life. I wasted three years on you. THREE f*****g YEARS! I would have done anything for you. How do you repay me? You repay me by killing the only good thing that has happened to me. You repay me by f*****g some w***e in my bed. You make me sick. I can’t stand to even look at you anymore. Get your s**t off my lawn and leave before I have Hayden here; kick your ass, then throw all your s**t in your car soaking wet.” I said as I walked around Tanner and headed to my car.

Tanner grabs my arm, holding me still. Hayden starts to walk toward us. “Melinda, I am sorry, I didn’t want you fat. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant the words that came out of my mouth tonight. I was embarrassed that you caught me with another woman. I didn’t think you would be home until much, much later, ” Tanner says, whining. I pulled out of his grasp.

“You asshole, you cheated on her. She caught you in her bed with a w***e. All you have to say for yourself is that you thought that she would be home much later. How many times have you cheated on her? It has to be quite a few times since you felt you could bring some w***e here and get away with it. I would bet that you were never faithful to her. She is the best thing that has ever happened to you, yet you can’t respect her enough to keep it in your pants. When she becomes my woman, I will make her my number one. I will never cheat on her or break her heart. She will be my queen,” Hayden says to Tanner with a smirk on his face.

“She is mine, you bastard!” Tanner yells.

“Excuse me, Tanner, but the minute I caught you in my bed with your lady friend, I quit being yours. I am single now. If I choose to date Hayden, it is none of your concern,” I screamed at him.

“You are just going to let what we had to go because I made one mistake. I told you I was sorry.”

“Sorry, don’t fix a damn thing. It just wasn’t one mistake, Tanner. There were a lot of things you have done to me. What you did that hurt the most didn’t open my eyes. But what you did to me today opened my eyes. I now see you for who you truly are. First, you abuse me. Then you have the nerve to cheat on me in my home. You tell me you never loved me and crushed my heart. You took something precious away from me. I can never forgive you; we are over. Now get the hell out of here, you jackass.”

“Fine, I will leave. Don’t think you can come crawling back to me when you see that you made a mistake.” Tanner says.

“The only mistake I have ever made regarding you is believing you when you told me you would never hurt me again. You are the biggest and craziest mistake I have ever made. I will never crawl back to you. I was fine before you and will be even better after you,” I say as I grab my phone out of my car. “Oh, Tanner, my credit card you have has been canceled. It is no longer active.”

“You….you can't do that to me. I have no money and nowhere to stay.”

“Oh, I can and did. You’re not my problem anymore. You made your bed; now lie in it. Have your w****s help you. Have a nice life,”

“You b***h, you will regret this,” Tanner says, glaring at me.

“Whatever, be gone from my sight. I don’t want to see your face anymore.” I said as I turned and walked back into my house.

Once inside, I go to the kitchen, pull the rum out of the cabinet, and pour myself a shot. I walked to the table and took a seat. “I can’t believe the nerve of that man,” I said as I swallowed the shot.

“Melinda, how are you feeling? What did you mean when you called him a murderer?” Maddison asked.

“I don’t want to talk about that right now. The man I was madly in love with turns out to be a murdering, abusive, cheating bastard. That never loved me. How do you think I am doing?”

“Sorry, hon, I am worried about you,”

“I will be fine after I drink this messed-up day away," I said.

I looked over at Hayden, “Hayden, you and I need to talk, but not tonight. I am not in the right frame of mind to have that discussion with you.”

“I am looking forward to it, baby girl,”

“Why don’t we go watch a movie or something?” Brenden asked.

“First, let me tell Melinda what I wanted at dinner that we never had,” Maddison says, then turns to me, “I have been seeing someone for a couple of months. He makes me happier than I have ever been; the person I have been seeing is Brenden. We have felt an attraction towards each other for years.”

“Melinda, I have liked Maddie for a while. I just didn’t know how to go about telling her. Then one day, she and I were hanging out; one thing led to another. I promised her, and I promise you right now that I will never do anything to hurt her intentionally,” Brenden says, looking at Maddie with love shining in his eyes.

“Relax, guys. Just because my life has gone to hell doesn’t mean that I am not happy for both of you,” I said with a smile.

“Alright, what movie do you all want to watch,” Hayden asked.

“It doesn’t matter to me. I am game for anything,” I said.

“Why don’t Brenden and Maddison choose while you and I talk on the porch?” Hayden asked.

“Great, come on,” I said, grabbing the rum bottle and heading to the front door.

Once we are on the porch, I sit on a bench, looking out into the night. I look at Hayden and smile. “Mel, I know you said we needed to talk tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know that you mean the world to me. I won’t let that asshole come near you ever again.”

“Hayden, why are you just now telling me that you have feelings for me? I want to understand why it is just coming out now,” I said in a whisper.

“I realized I was in love with you right about the time you and Tanner started dating. You seemed happy. I didn’t want to interfere, so I decided to work on myself so that I could be the best I could be if I ever had a chance with you.” Hayden says, looking at the ground and only glancing at me when he finished talking.

“Oh my gosh, Hayden, I wish I had known. I would have left Tanner in a heartbeat and saved myself a lot of pain and heartache. When you beat Corbin up after we caught him cheating on me, I fell for you. I never thought you would feel the same way, so I never pursued it. I never thought I stood a chance. We will continue this tomorrow. Come on, let’s go watch this movie,” I said, smiling at him,

“Alright, baby doll, let’s go,” Hayden says as he helps me up and follows me to the door.

We walk into my living room and find Brenden and Maddie making out. I cleared my throat. They pulled away from each other. ”Did you two decide on a movie?” I asked as I grabbed a blanket from the love seat and settled down, Hayden sitting beside me. He looks over at me and smiles. I returned the smile and looked at Maddison. “Well, what movie are we watching?”

“Oh, we decided on Saw,” Brenden says with a wicked smile.

“For the love of all that is holy, what are you trying to do, kill me?” I asked.

“Something like that, Mel,” Maddie says with a smirk.

“You have Hayden there to protect you, you big baby,” Brenden says, laughing.

“You all know how I hate horror movies. How in the hell am I going to sleep after watching this?” I say.

“Hayden will sleep with you,” Maddie says, grinning at me.

“Maddison, what the hell? Mel and Tanner just broke up. I will not force a relationship with her while she is broken-hearted. When we enter into a relationship, I want it to happen when we are ready and not before. She needs to grieve for the relationship that has ended. I hope that you will not push the two of us. I want to let things happen naturally.” Hayden says as he looks over to me and sees me smiling at him.

“I understand what you are saying, but I can’t help but to want my best friends to be happy and together.

“Let’s watch the movie. Hayden and I need to talk about the two of us. What happens after that is for us to figure out, Maddison. I have made up my mind about Tanner and nothing will change that,” I said in a dismissive tone.

“Very well,” Maddison says, then pushes the play button, starting the movie.