Song of the chapter: I'm Not The Only One - Sam Smith

The next day is a blur: a lot of dramatic events unfolded in the space of under 24 hours. My daily morning routine of checking my phone for the latest news and any notifications was interrupted by Tyler yelling at me to come to her room immediately.

"I have some important news to share with you."

Of course, I was curious - Tyler always had news but none was ever important or heightened the seriousness of her voice.

I skipped into the room, jumping onto the bed where she sat, her laptop planted atop her knees. "What's up? Why was I summoned to Her Highness' private chambers?"

"Now, I know how you like Mitchell and everything," she began, turning her MacBook away from my prying eyes. This is about him, I thought.

My pulse rate increased, my heartbeat quicker than it had been a few seconds ago. "You two have been flirting back and forth but I know you're kinda with Nicolas now and..."

"Tyler, just tell me what it is," I interrupted, annoyed. I was getting extremely impatient.

She slowly showed me the website open her screen, a foreign looking online magazine clearly popular only among in-the-know Europeans.

The headline on the page ripped my heart out of my chest, obliterating it in front of my eyes tearing up at the heartrending sight.

It read: Guitarist Mitchell Crawford of 5SOS dating runway model Paisley Reiner?

According to the tabloid, Mitchell and Paisley were caught on camera kissing the night away at a grunge club opening him and his mates were invited to in Milan the previous evening.

When asked about his relationship status earlier in the day, he had told a radio interviewer that he was single. And searching, it highlighted. The editors were spinning this to be a fated love affair.

There are so many subtle and respectful ways to dump a person but he happened to choose the most public and humiliating way, to me, to go about it. I never knew love could hurt this bad.

I was shocked beyond belief - not having the strength to comment on this overwhelming news, I broke down in Tyler's room. I was finally letting my guard down and allowing my best-friend to enter the secret life I'd been living alone with my now ex-boyfriend.

"Aw! I didn't know you liked him this much," she soothed, resting my head on her lap and rubbing my back. "I would have been more subtle about this. I'm sorry, Zoe."

"N-no. I, we, um, we-" sob, "we, he, hewamaboyfriend," I mumbled into the sheets spread over her legs.

"Zoe, slow down. Repeat what you said?"

I sobbed even more, searching for the right words. "Phone," I called out suddenly. "My-m-my ph-phone, Ty."

She reached into my shorts pocket and brought it out, unlocking it and looking for his contact as per my instruction. "What am I looking for?" she asked when she opened the texts between Mitchell and I, not following the dramatic turn of events.

I told her, mumbled really, to scroll to the furthest point she could which was more or less a year's worth of texts back and forth between us. There were at least way over a thousand of them; she didn't have to read everything to understand what I'd been trying to say - her incredulous expression gave it away.

"Oh, oh my! Oh, Zoe! My poor darling Zo," she cried, hugging my body close to hers. "I am so very sorry! Don't cry, babe. I'm here for you."

How couldn't I cry? I had been suffocating alone, shouldering my heavy burdens on my lonesome. I was living a very comfortable life that had come crushing down, its jagged shards stabbing me, cruelly, in the back. This lie had left me bleeding with no-one to turn to in time before it caused colossal damage to my wellbeing.

Mitchell had used his hold over me to push me off our idyllic pedestal among the clouds without warning, basically leaving me alone without a purpose or meaning.

My unwavering and immense, profound love for him weakened my defences, breaking down all the walls guarding my fragile, trusting heart. It seized my heart, leaving me at love's mercy. Now a merciless foe, this love hurt me, broke me. Killed me.

Tyler called for Min and Rae who came running due to the concern apparent in Ty's voice. Min immediately began consoling me while Rae questioned Tyler about my emotional state.

She told them everything, most of which Min had suspected but wanted me to confirm it before hounding me about it. Rae offered to call a cousin of her friend, a Jersey native who could 'deal with my problem'.

"I have an uncle," Min chimed in. I really loved my friends.

"You guys, I don't think she wants him to die," Tyler objected with an air of seriousness.

"I d-don't. I love... I love him," I mumbled in between sobs.

They awed and apologised, Rosette bringing us our breakfast upstairs. She offered me some soup which tasted like heaven. It was magical, and it made me feel better, temporarily halting my showers.

With a deep breath and some wiping away of my tears, I made a conscientious decision.

"I have to go."