My eyes couldn’t possibly have rolled further into my head than they had when Jay updated his instagram; two girls wearing nothing but short-shorts and a bra on either side of him while his hand lightly touched one of the girl’s s from over her shoulder and his eyes were staring into the other’s eyes as she bit her lip. This was a regular thing, he’d go out to nightclubs all the time, post photos with groupies and then come home to me where he’d take cute photos of us and post them to all of his social media accounts. Sure, he hadn’t been in a relationship in such a long time so at first I let it all slide, but now? Now it was too much. I was irritated. I felt disrespected. How could he say he loved me when those groupies were all over his and he didn’t do anything about it, just ignited the fire by making them relevant on his instagram.

I was in the kitchen making myself a midnight snack when he stumbled into our apartment. Jay had this stupid smile on his face and he wasn’t even drunk. It wasn’t hard at all to know why it was there, gracing his face ear-to-ear. I looked away, not interested in talking to him but as I busied myself in the kitchen, trying my hardest to be quick so I could go to sleep and not have to deal with him, I felt his hands slide around my waist. Jay pulled me to him, our bodies so close I could feel everything; I wasn’t having it. I deserved better is what I kept telling myself. He started kissing my neck, hand inching ever so slowly under my tank top. That was when I stopped him, turned around, pushed him aside and walked over to the kitchen table to eat my snack.

“Babe?” He was confused, “What’s the matter baby?”

er.

I didn’t answer. He was smart enough to realize, right? Wrong.

“Something happen with your mom? Is that why you’re in a bad mood?”

I almost choked on my food because I burst out laughing. Jay stared at me, he was getting annoyed now and honestly I couldn’t care less.

“Are you angry at me?”

“Yes.” I said.

“Why would that be?”

I glared at him.

“Oh I don’t know... “ I said in a sarcastic tone, “Why don’t you figure that one out as well, hmm?”

He obviously didn’t like my tone because he walked right up to me, grabbed my wrist and pulled me up to my feet before slamming my back against one of the walls in our living room. He wasn’t doing this to hurt me, he was trying to so I’d warm up to him but I pushed him away again and he got mad.

“What the did I do!?” He yelled.

“Check your ing instagram, .”

It was like a dark cloud had lifted as soon as I said that. He knew what I was referring to, his eyes suddenly looked frightened and a little apologetic.

“Those girls don’t mean-”

“Anything,” I finished his sentence for him, “I mean the world to you though, right?”

He moved towards me slowly and reached for my hand but I stepped back.

“I’m done with your bull, Jay,” I told him, “I deserve better than this.”

“It’s just a photo-”

“It’s not just a photo!” I groaned, “You’re out there every ing week with these , letting them touch you, take photos with you, get way too comfortable around you and what do you do? Nothing. You make them think they actually have a chance by posting photos of you all on instagram as if it’s a memory you don’t want to forget and I’m starting to think that that’s true.”

He stared at me sadly, searching for the right words to say yet I beat him to it.

“Do you actually love me or is it all a joke to you?”

“I love you more than anything.” He told me.

“Then prove it,” I demanded, “Stop hanging out with those . Come home early. Let me be the only one to touch what’s mine. Respect me enough to do that, Jay. I don’t want to leave you but if this keeps happening that’s what I’ll do.”

Jay quickly pulled me to him by the hips and crashed his lips to mine. I was so mad but I felt like I’d gotten through to him and that he’d change so I kissed him back. He pulled away to gain his breath as our foreheads rested against each other. His dark brown eyes stared intensely in mine as his hand slid to the small of my back, pulling me closer to him. “I’m sorry baby. You’re all I want don’t ever forget that.” Those plump lips met mine once more and my arms wrapped around his neck. We ended up in bed, cuddling until we both fell asleep and in the morning I was greeted with a giant smile that warmed my heart and breakfast in bed. Jay kissed my forehead and sat next to me. After breakfast he took a shower while I laid in bed a little while more, surfing the internet until I remembered his instagram and somehow convinced myself it was a good idea to go on it again. What I saw surprised me. Jay had deleted every single photo he ever posted with groupies and posted a new one with the caption saying he’d be taking a break from partying for a while.

What was in the photo? The necklace I had bought him when we first moved in together.