CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE #2
“Please stop using that support as an excuse to attack me. Don't come to my page and call me selfish or cruel. Stop saying I abandoned someone I cared about after he almost died. You don’t know what I did for him when the cameras were off,” Bee continued.
“You don’t know what happened in that hospital room. ”
Maya looked down. She knew exactly what Bee was refusing to share.
Bee stopped herself there. She would not tell strangers what she confessed beside Wes’s hospital bed.
“I’m not giving you that,” Bee said quietly.
She breathed slowly until she felt steady enough to continue. Even after everything, she wanted Wes to recover.
“I hope Wes heals,” Bee said. “I hope he gets back to work.”
Bee blinked while her tears flowed. The next wish hurt in a different way.
“I hope he gets another truck he loves as much as the last one,” Bee continued.
A tiny, broken smile appeared before disappearing again. Bee could almost picture him behind the wheel of another truck.
“I hope he is okay,” Bee said.
She looked directly into the camera. Her decision had not changed.
“I’m done talking about him,” Bee said.
Bee reached toward the screen, then stopped. There was one boundary she still needed to make clear.
“One more thing,” Bee said.
Maya raised her eyebrows but remained quiet. She waited to hear what Bee had forgotten.
“If I post a video about coffee, don’t ask where Wes is,” Bee said.
Maya covered her mouth to keep from laughing. Bee ignored her and continued.
“If I post Grandma cooking, don’t ask where Wes is,” Bee continued.
Her voice became firmer. These were the comments she never wanted to see beneath her videos again.
“If I go shopping, don’t ask if Wes would approve,” Bee said. “If I make a stupid video about a broken shopping cart, don’t ask whether Wes fixed it.”
Maya let out a soft laugh. Bee almost smiled.
“My page existed before Wes,” Bee said. “It will exist after him.”
Her expression became serious again. Her page still belonged to her.
“That’s all I’m saying,” Bee said.
She stopped recording and stared at her frozen face on the screen. Her chest hurt badly enough to make her question whether the video had been a mistake.
Maya crossed the bedroom and sat beside her. She gave Bee a few seconds before asking anything.
“That was good,” Maya said.
“Was it too much?” Bee asked.
“No,” Maya replied.
“Was I mean?” Bee asked.
“No,” Maya answered.
“Did I sound angry?” Bee asked.
“Yes,” Maya admitted.
Bee frowned at her. “Maya,” Bee said.
“You’re angry,” Maya said. “There’s nothing wrong with sounding like it.”
“I don’t want people thinking I hate him,” Bee replied.
“You told them you hope he heals and goes back to work,” Maya reminded her. “You even wished him a new truck.”
“That part about the truck sounded stupid,” Bee muttered.
“It sounded like you,” Maya said.
Bee looked down at her phone. The breakup line continued echoing in her head.
“I said we’re officially broken up,” Bee whispered.
“Yeah,” Maya replied softly.
“I didn’t know I was going to say it until I said it,” Bee admitted.
“I know,” Maya said.
“It feels worse now,” Bee whispered.
Maya reached over and took her hand. “Because now you said it too.”
Bee nodded. A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away before another could follow. She was exhausted from crying and did not want to start again.
“I don’t want to cry again,” Bee said.
“You probably will,” Maya replied.
“I hate you,” Bee muttered.
“No, you don’t,” Maya said.
Bee gave her a tired look. “Apparently everybody knows me better than I do,” Bee said.
Maya squeezed her hand. “Are you posting it?” Maya asked.
Bee looked at the video for another moment. Part of her wanted to delete it and disappear until everyone forgot her name.
Then she remembered the comments accusing her of abandoning Wes when he needed her. She remembered Sarahlee saying Wes deserved someone who would stay when life became difficult.
Bee pressed post. Her stomach twisted immediately. The decision felt almost as painful as saying the words aloud.
“There,” Bee whispered. “It’s posted.”
Maya immediately took the phone from her hand. “Now you’re done,” Maya said.
“I want to see the comments,” Bee protested.
“No,” Maya replied.
“One comment,” Bee bargained.
“No,” Maya repeated.
“Just the first one,” Bee said.
Maya stood and held the phone out of Bee’s reach. “You’re approximately five seconds away from losing phone privileges again,” Maya said.
“I’m an adult,” Bee reminded her.
“Then act like one,” Maya replied.
Bee stared at her cousin. “That was rude,” Bee said.
“That was love,” Maya said.
“That is Navajo love,” Bee corrected her.
“I can live with that,” Maya replied.
Bee followed Maya back toward the kitchen. Her heart was still pounding. She refused to ask for the phone again.
The video was already spreading while they sat with Grandma. Within minutes, the comments began filling beneath it.
@livvyrose: THIS is why people needed to wait before attacking either of them.
@rachaelw_22: She asked for time. He showed up anyway. That changes a lot.
@taylorkayx: I knew something was missing.
@kaylamarie: This entire thing is sad. They’re both clearly hurt.
@amberlyn: He came over because he wanted to FIX IT. Why is everybody acting like that makes him horrible?
Sarahlee appeared in the comments soon afterward. Her support for Wes had not changed just because Bee had responded.
@sarahlee: So Wes tried to talk in person because he didn’t want to lose the relationship. Your grandma made him leave? I’m sorry. I still understand why he feels like you ended it.
Replies began piling beneath Sarahlee’s comment. People argued over whether Wes had been wrong to show up.
@livvyrose: Bee said she wasn’t ready to talk before he showed up.
@sarahlee: I heard her. I’m saying I understand why he went. He was scared of losing her.
@rachaelw_22: Being scared doesn’t mean you ignore somebody asking for time.
@sarahlee: Saying yes when someone asks if you want them to leave has consequences too. They both made choices.
Another follower joined the conversation. Her reply immediately supported Sarahlee’s version of what happened.
@jessica_marie: Thank you, @sarahlee. Everybody is acting like Wes committed some horrible crime because he tried to save his relationship.
@taylorkayx: Nobody said that. Bee is explaining why his video made the breakup sound different from what happened.
@sarahlee: I still think Wes believed she broke up with him. I don’t think he lied.
The comment section continued dividing into sides. Bee sat in Grandma’s kitchen without seeing any of it. Some people apologized to her. Others defended Wes. A few seemed disappointed that the story did not have one simple villain.
Maya kept Bee’s phone anyway. She had promised to keep Bee away from the comments. She intended to keep that promise.
At Wes’s house, his phone vibrated on the coffee table. He sat watching television without paying attention to the screen. He had stayed away from Bee’s page since posting his own video. Every time he considered checking, he remembered his mother’s warning.
Another notification appeared on his phone. This one came from a familiar username.
@sarahlee mentioned you in a comment.
Wes frowned and picked up the phone. He opened TikTok and immediately saw Bee’s face.
His stomach dropped when he read the caption. Bee had answered him publicly.
I’m saying this once. Please respect what I’m asking.
Wes stared at the screen before pressing play. He had no idea how much Bee had decided to tell everyone.
“Some of you think I’m the villain,” Bee said in the video.
Wes’s chest tightened. He kept watching anyway.
Bee explained the argument at his house. She told everyone he had said he should not be with anybody. Then she told them he had suggested space.
Wes stayed still as she reached the next morning. He already knew which detail she would include.
“The next morning, Wes texted me and asked to talk,” Bee said in the video. “I told him I wasn’t ready. I told him I needed time.”
Wes looked down. Hearing Bee repeat her request made his decision to show up feel different.
“He came to my grandmother’s house anyway,” Bee continued on the screen. “I hadn’t invited him. I didn’t know he was coming.”
His jaw tightened. He heard movement near the doorway but did not look up.
Wes’s mother entered the living room and heard Bee’s voice coming from his phone. She stopped near the doorway when she realized what he was watching.
“Is that Bee?” his mother asked.
“Yes,” Wes replied without looking at her.
His mother stayed near the doorway. “What did she post?” his mother asked.
“A response,” Wes answered.
His mother did not ask another question. She stayed quiet and listened with him.
“Grandma asked Wes to leave,” Bee said in the video. “She didn’t want either of us saying more things we would regret. Wes asked if I wanted him to leave too. I said yes.”
Wes looked down. He did not need to see his mother’s reaction.
“That’s the part he told you,” Bee continued on the screen. “He didn’t tell you I had already asked for time before he came over.”
Wes’s mother looked at him. He refused to meet her eyes and kept watching Bee instead.
Then Bee reached the part that made his entire body go still. Until that moment, Wes had refused to question what he called their separation.
“I wouldn’t have called what happened between us a breakup,” Bee said in the video. “I thought we were taking space.”
Wes stared at the screen. Bee had believed they were only taking space.
“Wes told all of you we weren’t together anymore,” Bee continued.
His stomach dropped. He knew what she was about to say.
“I guess there’s no confusion left,” Bee said. “We’re officially broken up.”
Wes paused the video. The living room went silent. His mother watched him from the doorway and waited for him to speak.
“She broke up with me,” Wes said quietly.
His mother walked farther into the room. “That isn’t what she said.”
Wes looked at her. “You heard her say we’re officially broken up,” Wes said.