Never Judge

"Jen told me that she had confessed to you on your last day of high school, just as you told me, but the story she narrated was vastly different." Alexi said with a sigh.

"How?" Selina asked.

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"She said that you had asked her for time, that you wanted to figure out if you wanted to be with her. She said that you asked her to wait for you." Alexi revealed to Selina. Selina tried to hide the disappointment and confusion from her reaction, but her eyes said it all.

"That\'s not -" Selina began to say.

"I know now that that isn\'t the truth, that what she told me is a lie." Alexi said, shaking his head.

"No one told me this." Selina said with a frown.

"Didn\'t my sister?" Alexi asked. 

"She told me vaguely, but not the details, I don\'t think she knew the exact story that Jen had been telling people." Selina said with a frown. 

"No, I don\'t think my sister knew." Alexi said, shaking his head. "Jen was always cautious around Katerina, and rightfully so. Katerina doubted her. Even when all pieces of evidence pointed to Jen being innocent, Katerina still questioned her motives."

"But still, Jen turned out like this because I broke her heart. Because I never gave her a chance." Alexi could see that Selina was on the verge of tears. He placed a hand on her back and patted it gently.

"I\'m not a child!" Selina complained. Alexi grinned as she stayed still and allowed him to comfort her.

"Selina, it\'s not your fault." Alexi said with a frown. "You don\'t love her. You shouldn\'t force love, love should be the easiest and most natural thing in the world."

"But what if I gave her a chance?" Selina asked as she blinked up at him.

Alexi sighed and shook his head. "Then it wouldn\'t have felt right and you would have been making both her and yourself miserable."

"She was fine when she left you know." Selina said as she calmed herself. 

"When she left?" Alexi asked. 

"We were in Milan, I think. I forced myself to forget, I was starting my company when Jen barged into my makeshift office frantically." Selina explained. "She demanded to know why I was making out with some guy. That some guy was my boyfriend, I told her. She was so angry at me, she said I led her on. Then I told her to just leave. When I got home to our shared apartment she was there waiting for me. She apologized and told me that she wanted to leave and discover herself. I was so happy for her that she decided to move on."

"Do you think she did?" Alexi asked.

"Maybe, maybe not." Selina said as she rubbed her fingers together out of anxiety. "The next I hear is that she is dating you. A friend told me they saw you together."

"That must have been awkward. Your ex-best friend and your ex-almost fiance." Alexi frowned as he thought of what Selina had to go through.

"It wasn\'t a big deal. I was happy she found someone, but I was surprised that that someone was a guy." Selina said with a laugh. "I thought she was just confused and that\'s why she ended up in your bed."

"Well, I don\'t know if it\'s still the truth, but Jen told me that the reason she slept with me was to rid herself of the pain and so that she could discover what she truly wanted." Alexi said with a shrug. "It was probably a lie though."

"A part of me wishes it wasn\'t." Selina frowned.

"Selina, I hope this frees you of your guilt, as for me, I hope you\'ll forgive me for my horrible treatment of you." Alexi said.

Selina smirked and looked up at him.

"Maybe, we can be friends?" Selina tentatively asked.

"Of course!" Alexi said with a smile. "Our families go way back, and we were almost engaged. Of course we can be friends." He said as he winked at her.

"I\'m sad for Jen, but I\'m happy you found out the truth about her." Selina said as she looked at the distance. "How are you holding up? From what I\'ve heard and seen you were very in love with Jen."

"In all honesty, at first I felt so broken. I couldn\'t believe that she used me, I wanted revenge. I was out for blood. Then my friend, the CEO of the Reyes Group, talked some sense into me. We need to find out why she broke into my sister\'s lab, and me breaking up with her will only make her suspicious." Alexi explained.

"What? She broke into Natalia\'s lab?" Selina asked in shock. "Doesn\'t Natalia work on some sort of secret projects for the government?" 

"You are not supposed to know that." Alexi said with a laugh.

"Well, your parents told me." Selina said with a shrug.

"I\'m so sorry for being so cold to you all those times. I should have been nicer." Alexi said as he  felt a wave of regret pass through him. 

"It\'s alright. I understand." Selina said with a smile. "If you need to talk about Jen, I know it\'s not much, but you can always call me."

"I will most definitely take you up on that offer." Alexi said with a nod as he looked into Selina\'s eyes. A few moments of awkward silence passed as he continued to just look at Selina, he was seeing her in a new light today. He was happy he knew that Jen was tricking him, at least now he could see the world better.

"It\'s getting late, we should head home." Selina was the first to speak, breaking their peaceful moment. 

Alexi nodded and they walked back together in silence, when the coffee shop was in sight Alexi realized that he didn\'t want to go separate ways with Selina just yet. 

"I\'ll walk you back to your car." Alexi offered.

"I actually took a cab." Selina said with an embarrassed smile. "I didn\'t want to think of where to park my car." She explained with a shrug.

"Then let me drop you off at home." Alexi said as he pointed towards his car.

"Are you sure? Won\'t Jen get mad?" Selina asked.

"I don\'t care anymore, remember?" Alexi said with a grin. "Plus, you\'re a friend. This is the safest way for you to get home."

Alexi watched as Selina hesitated at first, but eventually she nodded and gave in.