Page 74 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

“That’s not the point!” I said defensively.

“That is exactly the point,” Honey chimed in.

I exhaled, dragging a hand down my face.

“I just—” I started, then stopped, trying to find the right words. “I can’t forget what happened between us.”

That shifted the energy slightly.

Mel looked up at me properly this time.

“You remember him cheating on me, right?” I said, more plainly now. “Multiple times.”

Silence.

“That I kept forgiving him,” I went on. “Over and over again. Making excuses. Thinking maybe this time he’d change. Or are we forgetting ancient texts now?”

I let out a quiet, humorless laugh.

“He didn’t change, by the way,” I added. “Just to remind you.”

No one interrupted.

“I was the one who walked away in the end,” I said. “And yeah, it hurt. Of course it did. But…” I shrugged. “It didn’t destroy me.”

“Because you knew it wasn’t your fault,” Andre said.

I nodded. “Exactly.”

That was the difference.

With Kyle, I knew what I was dealing with. He messed up—repeatedly—and that was the clear reason why it ended. Clear and undeniable.

But with Victor… it wasn’t like that. There was no label. No real beginning. No official ending. And somehow, that made it worse. Because I didn’t even know what I was grieving. Just that it had wrecked me in a way Kyle never did.

And I hated that.

I hated that something so undefined could leave me such damage.

But I didn’t voice it aloud.

And still, Andi responded as though she had read my mind.

“Okay,” she said. “So let me get this straight.”

I already didn’t like her tone.

“You have one ex who cheated on you, yes, but is now actively chasing you, and clearly wants to have another chance⁠—”

“Don’t say it like that,” I muttered.

“And another man,” she continued, ignoring me, “who couldn’t even commit to you in the first place, and somehow you blame yourself for the situationship that ended, and somehow that’s the one you’re loyal to?”

I opened my mouth—and then closed it.

Honey leaned in, resting her chin on her hand. “When you say it like that⁠—”

“It sounds like you’re holding on to the wrong thing,” Andre finished.