My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 15

I woke up with the same worrying feeling in the pit of my stomach. Luckily, everyone was either busy with work, or going somewhere so I didn't have to see or talk to anyone today. I knew eventually I'd have to face the world, but the longer I could put it off, the better.

Rolling over, I reached for my phone to check for any new messages. For probably the first time ever, I had none.

'Like the quiet before the storm...' a part of me whispered. I pushed this voice to the back of my mind and tried to think of something happier. After several failed attempts I shut my brain off entirely and tried to go back to sleep. Even as I slept, images of last night, things said, lies told, all passed through my mind. I found myself slipping in and out of sleep, hoping I wouldn't get nightmares this time. I felt guilty for cheating on Nick. I cared about him, I really did. And yet, I couldn't help but wish I hadn't stopped. Despite all my hatred towards Zayn, I couldn't stop being drawn to him. I always was bad at choosing men, why stop the trend when I've finally found a good one? Note my sarcasm.

Just then, Elizabeth walked in.

"You know," I said, "There is such thing as a doorbell."

"Really?" Elizabeth said, matching my tone, "Never heard of it."

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be at work?" I asked abruptly.

"Yeah, well this is important," she said, "It's not like they'll notice anyway."

I rolled my eyes, "Okay, what is it?"

"You need to tell me what happened last night!" Elizabeth said excitedly.

"And this couldn't wait until after you finished work?" I asked.

"Whatever," she said, "Now tell me!"

I sighed, "Nothing. Nothing happened."

"Uh huh, I'm sure 'nothing' happened. Don't pretend I didn't see the looks between you and Zayn!"

I really didn't want to talk about this, "We just had a talk. That's it."

"I'm not stupid, Mandi," Elizabeth crossed her arms, "I want to know exactly what happened and I refuse to leave until I know."

With a huge breath, I spat out everything with enough detail to keep Elizabeth happy. By the end of it, she was staring at me in disbelief with a smirk on her face.

"You nearly did it in a bathroom?" she said trying not to laugh.

"Seriously?" I said, "THAT'S what you get out of my story?"

"Well, it's terrible what he said to you, but I mean, you nearly screwed ZAYN MALIK in a PUBLIC BATHROOM," she didn't restrain her laughter this time.

"Stop laughing at me!" I said, chucking a pillow at her, "it's not funny!"

"Fine," Elizabeth said, calming down.

"Do you think he's right?" I asked. It was the one question I had been deathly scared to know the answer to, but I had to know.

"Well...." Elizabeth looked at her hands, "It was harsh, but..."

I sighed. This was what I was afraid of, "It was true."

"Yeah.... I'm really sorry, but you did cheat on my brother. In a bathroom. With a guy you're supposed to hate."

"What do I do now?" I asked, because I honestly had no idea. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but no matter what I did, I ended up hurting them anyway.

Elizabeth thought for a moment before saying the five words I was dreading the most, "You're gonna have to choose."

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