"I kind of wanted to live with my girlfriend."

"We just started dating..." I said.

"I'm desperate, Amber."

"I can ask," I said.

I had no idea how I was going to break it down for Dad, but I could maybe ask Mom. Mom had a soft heart, so maybe if I told her a sob story, she'd agree.

"Nothing is going to happen to you. I swear," Andrew said.

"Are you sure?" Ethan asked.

A surge of anger raged through Andrew – I could see it in his eyes, but he took a breath. "Yes, I am sure, Ethan. Why? Does it seem like I am not?"

Ethan didn't comment. He just stabbed his salmon.

"Do you even like me?" Andrew asked me.

"Yes?" I said. "Why wouldn't I?"

"So, how would you like to lose your virginity, if you lost it with me?"

Like someone shat on the table, Ethan became very quiet, looking at Andrew like "You're not seriously talking about this right now are you?" He would have said something if he had time to process it.

"Uhm...I think we should wait until we're alone?" I said.

"It's fine. He'll take notes."

"For what?" Ethan spat. "My sole goal in being with her isn't to get into her fucking pants."

"Fuck off."

"No, you fuck off. You were the one invited."

"She's my soulmate."

"Do you legitimately want to have sex with this guy or are you just saying you want to have sex with him?" Ethan asked me.

"Not really..."

"Okay, then why are you persisting?" Ethan asked Andrew. "Because there's gotta be a reason."

"It's just sex, bro. It's just sex. We're just talking about it."

"You're a rapist."

The world dropped about ten feet. Like a pile of bricks hit the floor, Andrew and I became silent. As though he'd been punched in the gut, he sat stunned. The horrible feeling I had before started to whirl, and I wished I had never invited Andrew in the first place.

His face heated up so hard I almost felt it off of him. With rosy cheeks, he excused himself from the table. We watched as he went outside and sat on the bench by the front window. Tears formed in my eyes again.

"We're just going to leave," Ethan said, taking out cash and putting it on the table. He waved at the waitress to come around. "Here's cash. It pays for everything. Keep the change. We need to go. It's an emergency."

Seeing the urgency on his face, she simply nodded.

"We can't just leave Andrew."

"Yes. We can."

He got out of the booth and stepped outside.

"It was nice hanging, Andrew, but we got to run. Drive yourself, okay?" Ethan said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Andrew said, walking up to us. "I'm sorry. I never really looked at it that way before."

"Like what? Like a creep?" Ethan said.

"I'm not trying to be a creep. I just want to have something meaningful with Amber."

"She doesn't want to have something meaningful with you, though."

"Is that true, Amber? Or are you going to let him speak for you?"

"I think we should break up. For good."

"You're my soulmate," Andrew said.

I felt bad for Andrew, and for all tense and purposes, he seemed to really mean it. With watery eyes, he gave me a puppy expression in desperation of simply wanting to be seen. Sighing, I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do about the situation.

"You need help. Seriously," Ethan said.

"Maybe you should with me to therapy?" I asked Andrew. "Maybe we can talk about it?"

Ethan shoved the truck open and entered. Andrew smiled a kind smile, tears streaming down his face. God. I didn't realize Andrew had it this hard.

"Yeah, I'd love to," he reached for a hug. "Can I get a goodbye?"

I hugged him, pressing my head into his shoulder. Feeling a wave of guilt, I wanted to convince Ethan to let Andrew come with me, but that had codependency written all over it. At the end of the day. Andrew needed to help himself. I couldn't save him. The most I could ask for is for him to listen during our session, but that didn't guarantee success.

Waving a sad wave, I watched Andrew get in his car as we left the driveway. I cried so hard I thought my soul would leave my body. I didn't think Andrew was evil. I didn't even think he really was a rapist. I just thought he was confused and lost.

Hurt.