Keaton stopped again. Even after so many years, even though he had long since moved on, his heart still ached when he got to this part of the story.


    After a long moment, he looked at Winona and managed a smile. "Surprised I had a moment of being such a pathetic loser?"


    Winona''s brow was furrowed, her expression shifting from shock to sympathy. "....."


    Anyone else hearing this story would think the girl was trashy and stupid. To throw away a guy like Keaton for some low-life thug-she''d folded on a royal flush. They would think Keaton was lucky to be rid of such a thankless woman. But Winona saw something more: Keaton''s pain.


    How angry, how suffocated, how pained, how hopeless must he have been as a teenager? Other people''s first loves were bittersweet; his was just bitter.


    Seeing her silence, Keaton asked with augh, "No thoughts?"


    Winona sniffled, then clinked her ss against his. She finished her drink before speaking. "Who wasn''t an idiot when they were a teenager? Being a simp for your first crush is pretty standard. But damn, you had it rough. Serves you right for getting into a serious rtionship so young, though. Puppy love never ends well. So what happened next?"


    Her deliberately casual tone made Keaton smile. "Things got messy after that. My parents were furious. They called the police, who investigated the whole thing. The thug and his buddies, including her, were all arrested."


    "After I recovered, I was sent abroad. And just like that, she was out of my world..."


    "One heartbreak nearly cost me my life."


    "Later on, I don''t know if it was the more open-minded environment abroad or just time healing the wound, but I suddenly figured it out."


    "Life is a journey. On this journey, you''re bound to meet all sorts of people and go through all kinds of things."


    "No matter who you meet or what you experience, there''s no need to make a big deal out of it."


    "If you deeply loved someone and then you broke up, it just means they weren''t the right one for you. They were just a passenger on your life''s journey."


    "And how can you let a mere passenger derail your entire life?"


    Winona nodded in agreement. "You''re right about that." Just a passenger, not worthy of messing up your whole life.


    They had a few more drinks. Keaton said, "My parents don''t know the whole story about Clementine. Back then they just thought was bem... Bullied They never knew how deeply I loved her."


    "Tarquin knows about it, but not the details. You''re the first person to hear the entire story."


    Winona raised her ss to his. "Your secret''s safe with me. Drink up!"


    One ss after another, they finished the first bottle and immediately opened a second.


    By the time the second bottle of whiskey was empty, they were both drunk.


    When they stood up to go to the bathroom, their steps were wobbly.


    Sitting back down, Keaton slurred, told you about Clementine


    because because I needed get it


    off my chest and also to give you some advice."


    "A scumbag like Zane isn''t just unworthy of ruining your whole life, he''s not even worthy of ruining your mood."


    "Of course, you can''t always help it. Sadness just hits you when it hits you, it''s out of our control."


    "Being sad isn''t the scary part. The scary part is keeping it bottled up inside and letting it destroy you."


    "I''ve been there, I have experience.


    You really can''t keep painful things locked away. You have to talk about


    them. Only when you talk about


    them can you truly be free.


    "You can tell me what''s buried in your heart. I''ll listen. I''ll be your audience."


    Keaton''s words were starting to float. Winona''s eyes were hazy, her cheeks flushed. She was even more drunk than he was.


    "You''re right. Everything you said is right. That scumbag Zane doesn''t deserve to ruin my mood! He''s not human! He''s a bastard! He has no heart!"


    "If he had even a shred of a conscience, he wouldn''t have done this to me!"


    "He was the one who came after me! He chased me until I broke, and for what? Just to throw me away!"


    "When he was pursuing me, he did everything he could to be good to me. I really thought I had found true love, but I never expected..."