Is it over now?

Victoria did receive the text Joe sent her, however she only got around to read it the next morning, while she woke up in the middle of the worst hungover of her life, both physically and morally.

Flashbacks of the previous night began to hit her, like sharp knives cutting through her skin, she couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that ensued, even if her and Joe were no longer together, she felt like a cheater.

A strange man approached her at the bar she stumbled upon when she finished her meal at the cozy bistro. She was depressing to look at, a lonely foreign girl chugging vodka shots at the lounge.

He started flirting with her, using cheesy pick up lines in his broken English, but Victoria felt a certain appeal for having a forbidden one night stand with this French man, she was in the city of love after all, but most importantly, she had already ingested just the right amount of ethanol to cloud her judgment and allow herself to make poor life choices.

There was also a certain resemblance between him and Joe, she tried to pinpoint exactly what other was, only to realize it was the eyes.

Mesmerizing, dazzling blue eyes.

This guy was perfectly normal, he knew how to smile, and how to make her feel desired, and how to kiss. But it wasn't Joe's smile, it weren't his lips, it wasn't his hand taking of her dress, or touching her hips, it wasn't his mouth moaning her name. It wasn't his eyes she stared at when he thrusted inside her, as much as they looked alike. It wasn't Joe. And no one could ever be him.

The void left in Victoria's chest when the stranger got up from the cold sterile bed, put his clothes back on and walked away from her hotel room, could only be compared to the one left in her life by Joe's absence. And with that thought, she finally allowed herself to cry.

She crumbled into pieces, she sobbed, she wallowed, she screamed and cried laying on her hotel bed, remembering that this day one year ago, they got drunk in wine while laying on her cheap old coach, innocently falling in love. The date on her phone confirmed it was December 10th, officially Joe's birthday.

In the midst of the storm of emotions that hit her, she decided that if she no longer could suppress her feelings, she would cope in the other way she knew how to, the way that actually led her to Joe: she pulled a bottle of red wine out of the mini fridge in her room and drank, all alone.

She cried and drank until her body gave out. She fell asleep, with one thing in mind, a question on repeat, was it really over now?

Victoria was passed out on her hotel bed, too intoxicated to wake up, completely oblivious of her responsibilities, and the congress she had been invited to, where she was supposed to present her experimental results, hoping to catch the attention of potential PIs for a post doctoral fellowship, since her PhD was close to being done.

Logan and Sal both wondered about her whereabouts, since she wasn't picking up her phone or replying to any text of theirs.

"Okay this is it. I'll go find her" Logan mustered to Sal as he got up from his seat, and left the auditorium of the host University, cursing her in his mind for making him miss the rest of the lecture on bone cancer.

Logan knew that Victoria was in her hotel room, as he had overheard her laughing in the hallway when she came back late at night. He then never saw her leave.

The hotel they were all staying in was a mere two blocks away from Paris-Sorbonne University, Logan ran through the hotel lobby and up the stairs to the fourth floor, then he knocked on the room marked with the number 403, softly at first, but as he got no answer, his knocking became more desperate.

"Victoria!" He yelled outside of her room door, knocking on it so hard by now that he felt like he would wake the entire floor up.

"I swear if you don't open right now, I'll call the police" He threatened. Still no answer.

The thunderous sound of Logan's hand clashing onto her room door slowly pulled Victoria out of her slumber. She waddled to unlock her door, stumbling with her own clothes. She didn't pause to look at herself in the mirror, or she would've noticed the lack of proper attire on her body. She only had an oversized orange bengals shirt and panties on.

Her eyes widened with surprise as her eyes met Logan's when she opened up the door.

The stench of alcohol was undeniable, as much as how wasted she was.

"Seriously? You are drunk? You're unbelievable. Acting like a reckless teenager when you're supposed to make an impression tomorrow at your presentation" Logan made his way into her room, not caring that she hadn't invited him in.

"You're free to join me, I have plenty lefty still. Oh wait, I don't. I drank it all" She grinned, satisfied with what she felt was a great comeback.

"Now you're joking, you think this is funny? There are people out here who could make an impact on your career, and you throw it all away because... why? Do you even have a reason?"

Victoria shook her head. She didn't want to admit that she was avoiding her very raw feelings for her ex.

"Pull yourself together, now" He demanded. After his initial outburst, Logan took a moment to appreciate the scene in front of him: yelling to a drunk friend who was wearing nothing but a shirt his ex boyfriend probably gave her, while they were alone in her hotel room. It didn't look great for either of them.

"He texted, you know?" Victoria replied, as she sat back down in her bed, feeling dizzy.

"Burrow?" Logan inquired, as he fetched her a bottle of cold water from the same mini fridge the wine bottle came from.

"Yep. He texted me. He said he wished we would've gotten to explore Paris together" Victoria had to hold back her sobbing just thinking of Joe's text. She chugged the water, feeling it lubricate her very dry mouth.

"So got all fucked up because your ex texted you?" Logan sat down in the bed, right next to her, making eye contact.

"No, I read his text in the morning. I got all fucked up because I screwed a random dude and I was thinking of Joe the entire time" she chuckled.

Logan's expression changed. If Victoria didn't know him so well she could've sworn there was a hint of hurt in his eyes.

"You picked up a guy from a bar? Classy" He reprimanded her.

"Whatever. We all make mistakes when we're sad. God knows your love life isn't exactly thriving either"

"We're not talking about me, are we?"

Victoria shook her head.

"Let's get you sober, and then we'll deal with the rest. You're lucky you have till tomorrow to get your shit together" Logan got up from the bed, and called the front desk to ask for more water bottles, and extra strong coffee.

"What are we gonna tell Sal?" Victoria inquired.

"I'm texting him right now, I just let him know that you have a terrible stomach bug"

"Logan you are the absolute best you know that?" She offered him a wide smile.

"So are you gonna text him back?" Logan asked, as he received the Victoria-care package he had solicited from the hotel.

"Probably. When I'm sober, I definitely don't want to talk to him when I'm like this"

"That's a wise decision..." Logan made a pause. "So it's not really over between you guys,is it?"

Victoria bit her lip, that was a question she had no answers for.

"I... I truly don't know" she began to cry again, after saying that. The uncertainty was eating her alive.

Logan sat back down, next to her. This time he softly stroked her hair, letting her cry on his shoulder, he could feel her pain, it was all over the atmosphere, and in that moment he felt absolutely helpless, there was nothing he could do to prevent her from suffering.

He thought that it had been a terrible idea to allow her to bottle up her emotions for so long. Now they had come to bite her in the ass.

He listened very carefully to each and every word that came out of her mouth, allowing her the release of emotions she had suppressed for months. She confessed to him that not even Paige or Lexie or her mom knew the depth of the hole she was in at the moment.

After hours of crying and drinking a weird combination of cold water and strong coffee, Victoria finally found in herself to take a shower, and change into proper clothing. She and Logan ordered room service, and she kept on talking about Joe while they ate.

"Well, I personally don't know him, but I can tell you he's a fool" Logan's sentence was final.

"Why? Cause he's not into academia?" Victoria replied, as she munched on her steak.

"Because only a fool would let a girl like you slip away" The words escaped his mouth without permission.

Victoria quickly raised her eyes, to meet Logan's gaze, staring deep into her. She felt exposed for a moment, as though she was naked. Logan refused to take his eyes off of her, almost taunting her to say something back.

After getting no response, he cleared his throat, and got up from the bed they were laying on top of.

"Well, uhm, it will be best if I leave. Please don't get drunk again. See you tomorrow" He tried to run out of her room, only to be stopped by the grip of her hand on his left arm.

"Logan..." Victoria looked up at him.

"Yes? Do you need anything else?" He asked her, gulping.

Victoria also got up from the bed, and stood up in from of him.

"Thank you. For everything you did today, really. You are the best mentor/friend/shrink I could ask for" She hugged him, and he placed his arms around her, relishing on her scent, and the softness of her figure.

"You're welcome" He whispered as he placed his chin on top of her head.

After Logan left her room, Victoria felt sober and emboldened enough to pick up her phone and text Joe back. She needed to reach out, she craved the boost of confidence the talking to him always gave her.

Victoria❤️‍🩹:The city is lovely. I truly wish you were here. I know you'd love the lights, and the awesome atmosphere. I know I do.

She pondered on hitting the send button, feeling her hands sweating when she reached her thumb for the familiar icon. Staring at her phone screen, she stalled for as long as she could, then deciding that she wanted to check on Joe's Instagram profile first, in the hopes of finding something that would encourage her to get it over with and just let the text message go.

Wandering around the internet didn't exactly had a record of making her happy, and this was no exception. Joe had posted a insta story, which Victoria opened up immediately, eager to see something about the team, or their latest game, wondering how they were doing at this point in the season.

However, it was nothing regarding his career.

There he was, looking as gorgeous as ever, hand in hand with a new girl, a beautiful, brown-eyed, wavy haired brunette, that shared an uncanny resemblance with Victoria. They were entering a fancy restaurant she didn't recognize, on the outskirts or Cincinnati.

Her stomach dropped to the ground, a knot formed in her throat, and tears began pouring down her face.

She immediately deleted the text she had written, and regretted even considering reaching out to him, feeling like she had surrendered the last shred of dignity she had left.

That wasn't exactly the kind of reaction Joe had hoped for. He was trying to give her extra push she needed to make a move. The ball was on her court. And she was dropping it.

This girl banging some rando, flirting with Logan and stalking Joe. We stan a messy queen. I hope you're enjoying the story so far❤️‍🩹, and aren't too disappointed because these two aren't gettin back together so easily. I love the drama sorry. Lots of love.