It was a normal day for Leah Clearwater. She went to school, went to track practice, and went home to shower. Well the first half of her day was normal. After her shower Leah had sat and thought about her boyfriend, the love of her life, Sam. In recent weeks he had been acting strange, almost secretive. She was worried and wished he would share what was bothering him. Leah sat and thought about the best way to cheer him up. She decided that she would make his favorite meal, a T-bone steak with the works.

Leah worked tirelessly in her one hundred degree kitchen. She chopped, minced, grilled, and mashed all of the food and she even prepared a nice dessert. After an hour and a half she made two big steaks, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, and an apple pie. She then reached into the back of the highest cabinet and found her parents.'s stash of red wine that was brought out only on special occasions. They would never even notice, Leah rationalized. And this was a special occasion. Leah also decided that tonight would be the night she finally gave Sam her virginity.

Leah smiled as she packed the food and wine away. She grabbed her sweater and car keys from the kitchen counter and set out to his house. She debated whether or not she should call first but decided that she wanted to surprise him completely.

She pulled into his driveway and nearly jogged to his front door as she was overwhelmed with excitement as she thought about how happy he would be with her tonight. She rapped at the door, but there was no answer. She knocked again. Nothing. Well his car was in the driveway, he had to be home. He must have been in the bathroom or something. She walked around to use the door at the side of the house which she knew was always unlocked. She opened it and said "Hello?" into an empty kitchen.

She walked in further and took her shoes off set them near the door like she always did. As she did this, she noticed a pair of red ballet flats. She recognized the shoes as her own. She couldn't figure out how they had even gotten to Sam's house because she knows for a fact that she let her cousin borrow them on Thursday. Was she losing her mind?

She walked through the kitchen with her food and wine for Sam, still focused on the evenings mission.

"Sam?" she called into the empty hallway. The entire first floor was empty. So he must be in his bedroom.

She walked up the stairs, turned right and headed for the second door on the left as she had done countless times.

She would have turned the knob but the door was already cracked open. She had heard what was taking place before she forced herself to see it with her own eyes.

Leah heard Sam's name being called out. The sound came from a woman.

"Oh, Sam!" She heard it again.

"Yes baby?" Sam said back. 'Baby.' Leah never heard the term of endearment come from his mouth unless he was speaking to her. She choked on the sob that was forming deep in her throat. She bit her lip down hard to make sure not a sound could escape them.

"Sammmm." She heard the woman call a third time.

"What is it, baby?" He asked the woman. His breath was labored and he was panting heavily.

"Don't stop," she pleaded.

He responded with a kiss, Leah concluded. She heard the wetness of it, the slurping.

"I love you, Sam." She moaned.

"I love you too. So fucking much."

"What about, Leah?" The girl asked worriedly.

"Shhh," he said. "We'll worry about that when the time comes."

By now Leah made herself look through the crack in the door and it was confirmed that Sam was fucking Leah's cousin Emily. She watched as he kissed her again with a deeper passion than he had ever used to kiss Leah with. She watched as he thrusted into her deep, slow, and strong. She watched as they declared more "I love you's." Her cousin screamed out, "HARDER!" and Leah watched as he obliged. She watched the sweat drip from their bodies. She watched Sam flip her over and put her on top. She watched her cousin ride her boyfriend like this was far from their first time doing this. Sam growled a lustful, "Fuck, Em!" and Leah watched as he grabbed her waist to steer her harder, stronger, deeper, faster. Leah watched it all. She heard it all.

Leah couldn't understand it herself why she didn't leave. She was literally shocked frozen. Her Sam and her cousin were having sex. They were sharing something Leah had always wanted to give him, but was never ready for.

'Why?' She asked herself. She couldn't come up with a single reason why either of them would want to do this to her. Emily was her favorite cousin, her very best friend. They had always been so close. The best times of the year were when Emily came to see her. They had been through so much together. Why would he be doing this with her boyfriend. Leah's boyfriend. She had never loved anyone more completely in her life. She had been falling deeper and deeper in love with him for the past three years. He was everything to her: her life, her future, her world. He told her she meant the same to him. She had never done him wrong. She cooked for him, helped him with his homework, supported him in his dreams of playing football. She never nagged, she never hovered, she gave him space. She was the perfect girlfriend: everything Sam wanted her to be. How could he do this to her? What could she have done to deserve such heartbreak?

She let herself and her threatening tears fall to the ground, with minimal grace. She continued to listen to the moaning, the groaning, the scrams of pleasure. She listened to the love they were making together; the love that should have been between her and Sam.

She listened as Emily screamed one last time as she climaxed and the room went silent for a few moments before she spoke.

"We can't keep this a secret anymore. We need to tell Leah the truth. She needs to know everything"

"You know I can't do that right now."

"Sammy, I can't live like this anymore. I don't want to be in the background. I want you to myself."

"Emily, I look at you and I see my entire future. I see you as my wife, the mother of my children, the woman I grow old with. We're going to share a life together."

"Yeah, just like we're sharing a life with Leah. Is she going to live with us too? Maybe you and her can have kids and then our kids can play together. We'll be one big happy family."

"Emily please don't be this way. You know exactly why I can't tell her. Just a short while longer and I'll be all yours. Shit, I'm already all yours except in title."

"It's just hard. Every time I'm with her I have to hear 'Sam this and Sam that' it's killing me inside. She loves you so much I just don't want to hurt her anymore. I hate the lying and pretending."

"I don't want to hurt her either. But she's just not ready right now. This will kill her."

"No girl will ever be ready for heartbreak, Sam."

"Emily tell me you trust me.

"I trust you."

"Tell me you love me."

"I love you, Sam."

"And I love you with my entire mind, body, heart and soul. Leah can never take that from you."

"No, I just took it from her. I feel horrible."

"Leah and I were not made for each other as you and I were. I feel guilty about it all the time, but then I look at you and I know that my life is going to be like from here on out. I look at you and I know that what we mean to each other isn't wrong. It's beautiful. You're beautiful. Our life together will be beautiful. It's just going to be a little while longer."

"Okay, Sam. I have to trust you. I'll try not to bring this up again."

Leah listened to the wet kisses that he sloppily planted against Emily's lips. The moaning started up again and Leah knew she had to leave. By now she had consumed a good amount of the wine she brought over and was a drunken mess.

She sloppily picked herself up and sluggishly descended down the staircase. She tripped over the last few steps and landed on her knees. The thud that came with her fall was drowned out by the sound of Emily's screeches.

Leah picked herself up again and went to put her shoes back on. She never realized they were on backwards. She left Sam's house for the very last time. They never even knew she was there.