If He Had Been with Me, #2
If Only I Had Told Her
by Laura Nowlin
Contents
Jack — Ten
Overview
Jack meets Alexis to formally end their undefined summer relationship. Alexis accuses Jack of neglecting her grief, but Jack confronts her self-centeredness and points out Sylvie has also distanced herself. Realizing the relationship’s toxicity, Jack ends it and walks away, clarifying his post-Finn boundaries and priorities.
Summary
Jack meets Alexis at a coffee shop after she texts that they need to talk. He tries to keep the tone casual, but immediately senses she has scripted the encounter. Memories of studying there with Finn and Sylvie contrast with the present tension.
Alexis declares Jack has been a terrible boyfriend despite their not being officially together, citing their summer of sleeping together. Jack reminds her they broke up months ago and that he has been grieving Finn’s death, which is why he’s been distant.
Alexis insists he left her to grieve alone. Jack, stunned, counters that she never checked on him either. He realizes her anger mirrors Sylvie’s recent decision to step back from their friendship, and he suggests Alexis is reenacting that hurt with him rather than reflecting on herself.
Pressed, Alexis claims she and Sylvie mutually needed space. Jack points out the day after the accident people gathered at Alexis’s house instead of Alexis going to Sylvie, arguing Sylvie needed her more. He states comparing Alexis’s grief to his or Sylvie’s is unfair and reveals how unsupported he felt.
Seeing the pattern clearly, Jack concludes Alexis centers herself in relationships and lacks maturity. He ends the conversation and leaves, decisively closing their entanglement and affirming new boundaries shaped by Finn’s death.
Who Appears
- JackMeets Alexis to talk; rebuffs her accusation, exposes her self-centeredness, links it to Sylvie’s distance, and ends the relationship.
- AlexisConfronts Jack, claiming he abandoned her grief; reveals insecurity and control needs; is called out and left by Jack.