Roommates

Chapter 22

.A/N.

This chapter contains mature content. Please use reader discretion. Warnings are given when it begins and ends.

Driving around town to look at lights, Evangeline turned out Trey and Aurora's chatter. She bit at her nails anxiously, trying to put the thought of Chloe out of her head. Like a weed, she kept creeping into her mind. The scene of her the night before she left, standing there in Evangeline's tee-shirt, hair still a mess. It was an image she couldn't get rid of despite all of the conflicting feelings she was experiencing. How beautiful Chloe was even when she was angry. That last night they spent together consumed her thoughts. Every small detail of their first kiss and what followed.

Aurora's hand had melted into Evangeline's thigh over the course of the last hour. Her handprint burned a hole in her skin. It was electrifying. Aurora's touch sparked a feeling inside Evangeline that she couldn't distract herself from. It only led her back to thinking of Chloe, in all of the worst ways. She readjusted in her seat to hint to Aurora to let go, but to no avail, Aurora's hand did not budge. In fact, she squeezed tighter and slid her hand up farther Evangeline's thigh.

Evangeline swore to God the woman was trying to tease her.

"What now?" Aurora asked, gazing out the window of the car as houses passed by with strings of red, white, and green lights. They'd seen the entire west end of town and they were circling back towards the middle of town.

Evangeline closed her eyes briefly, trying to bring herself back to the present. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I think I just need some time alone."

"That's perfectly fine," Aurora said empathetically. She was also worn out. Everything she'd been avoiding for years had been brought up for her and it was emotionally draining. She couldn't imagine how Evangeline felt.

Evangeline looked in the rear view mirror. "Trey? If you want to hang out with Aurora at my place, I can bring you to work tomorrow."

"Sounds good," he mumbled with his face pressed up against the glass window.

Continuing to nibble at her fingers, Evangeline drove them towards her apartment building. Her maladaptive coping skills were in the spotlight, but it was the farthest thing from her mind. All she could imagine was Chloe's texts from this morning. The premise of her messages were eliciting an intense sensation, overpowering the anger, sadness, guilt, and regret she felt.

"I'm going to go to bed when we get home," Evangeline reported. She wanted to envelop herself in Chloe's sheets and forget about what had unfolded in the last week. She wanted to be back in her arms... to be back between her legs. She craved anything, as long as it meant she'd be with her again.

All three of them lost track of the miles as Evangeline drove them home. The sun had set only an hour ago, but the full moon and plethora of Christmas decorations in each neighborhood lit up the night as if it were high noon.

Parking behind the building, Evangeline led Aurora and Trey upstairs to the apartment. After taking her 9 pm medications that had dispensed minutes prior, Evangeline quickly headed off to the front bedroom. She prayed the mood stabilizer would help regulate her fluctuating emotions, but it was looking grim. If she thought the last few days were awful, she wasn't prepared for them to get any worse.

"Good night," Evangeline said flatly. She slammed the door behind her before either of them had a chance to reply.

Evangeline quickly stripped off her suffocating bra and pants, leaving her in a tee shirt and her black panties. She collapsed into the mattress and buried herself in the bedding. She laid motionless in Chloe's bed, tucked between her sheets and suffocated by the smell of her that was fading by the day.