Chapter 12: Why did it end?

"Yes, yes I do."

Alexandra was taken aback by Stephanie's reply. She didn't exactly expect to hear those words come out of her mouth. 

"What did I even do?" She asked as surprise laced her voice when she looked up at Stephanie with her brows furrowed together in confusion. 

Stephanie was now looking at Alexandra, her eyes filled with a hint of anger as she recalled all those times she watched her son cry in his room and refused to leave or do anything. 

But of course, Alexandra didn't know that. All she knew was that Caleb was the one who broke up with her right before she left for college, leaving her heartbroken for a long time.

"You broke his heart 8 years ago."

It was almost a decade ago when Alexandra and Caleb were sitting by the swing in her backyard. That was where she broke the news to him. She got accepted into her dream college, Le Cordon Bleu, where she took classes on Pastry and Confectionary.

Caleb was of course happy for her. There was this huge grin on his face as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. "That's what you always wanted right? I'm so happy for you."

"But I-" she started but was quickly interrupted by him, as he put a finger to her lips.

"Ah ah, no buts."

"It's in Paris."

There was silence between them as they sat on the swing, looking down at their laps as all the thoughts and what-ifs consumed them.

Caleb didn't let it show at that time, but there was sadness brewing within him. A part of him didn't want her to leave but he knew he had to let her go. So he did what he thought was the best at that time, but of course, he didn't know any better. He was only 18 after all.

After that day, he had started distancing himself from her. It was like he was an entirely different person. Alexandra couldn't understand what exactly was going on back then, all she knew was that he wasn't talking to her as much as they used to and they barely even go out on dates anymore. 

It wasn't until later that she lashed out at him, yelling and screaming at him, pleading to know what was wrong. "Please Caleb, tell me what's going on. Why are you acting this way?"

"Let's break up."

She didn't realise it back then and not even as she grew older, but he was only doing that to push her away. He didn't want to be the reason why she ended up not going to Paris for college. He didn't want to be the person holding her back. To this very day, Alexandra still believed that they broke up because he lost feelings along the way and that he didn't love her anymore.

"Mum, enough," Caleb's voice boomed from behind her, jolting her back to reality this time.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't act dumb here Alexandra. You should know exactly what I mean," Stephanie responded as she took a step closer to her.

"Enough!" He yelled this time as he glared at his mother. 

"I'm just saying…" She commented, flipping her hair off her shoulder, unfazed by his yell. 

"Al, let's go," he said, grabbing her by her hand. The warmth of his hand seeped into hers as he led her out of the ballroom once again. Caleb simply ignored his mother who was calling for him to stay and walked past anyone who stopped to congratulate him on his new title. 

"Where are we going?" Alexandra asked, looking up at him. He looked dazed as he stared ahead for a while before looking back down and their eyes met.

"Out of here, away from everyone"

It was late at night. Caleb and Alexandra found themselves sitting by a beach again, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing onto the shore in the quiet night. It reminded her of the first time that they met on the beach ever since they broke up over 8 years ago.

"I'm sorry about my mum," he started. 

"Was it true though? Was what she said true?" She asked as she turned her head to look at him, a serious look etched onto her face. She needed to know, she wanted to know. 

"I broke your heart? You broke up with me, Caleb."

He ran his hand through his thick dark hair as a sigh escaped his lips. "I… I was young and stupid alright."

"What? I don't understand." 

Confusion was written all over her face as she looked at him, waiting for him to say something again. The memory that was buried deep inside her mind was now dug up, as she awaited for the closure she never knew she needed.

"I broke up with you because I didn't want to be the person holding you back from attending college," he confessed and silence lapsed between them for a while, but it felt like forever for Caleb. 

"So… That's why? You mean all this time, I hated you for breaking up with me… I thought you just woke up one day and decided that you didn't love me anymore…" He could hear her voice faltering towards the end. 

"Al…"

"Why?" She asked, her voice trembling and the brim of her eyes started to fill with tears glistening under the moonlight. She no longer knew what to think anymore - everything she had ever known was all just a lie. "Why did you do that?" 

"I thought that's what's best for us."

She turned to look at him and their eyes locked as a single tear fell down her flushed cheek. "You don't know what's best for me!"