Deafening Silence

7 // Betrayal

The police, thankfully, had been unsuccessful in their attempt to find me and alert me that my father had passed away. Not that I cared, anyway. For the entire day, I was in Derek's apartment, sobbing my heart out in his arms. Thankfully, he didn't seem to care, he just ran his fingers through my hair as I buried my face in his chest.

But there came a time when he wanted me to eat.

"No." I grumbled, turning on the bed as I buried my face in a pillow. I smiled a little bit at the smell of cologne that had been permanently embedded into the fabric. He tore me up from the pillow, making my smile disappear as he held my shoulders.

"Come on, I'm begging you." He groaned. "It's been two days, Bryn."

"I can't." I whined, sitting upright as he rested his hand on my cheek. Eventually, I looked up to him and saw those irresistible green eyes. This time, they weren't icy and guarded, but warm and open.

"Fine..." I murmured.

"See?" He smiled, getting up as he strolled over to the fridge. "The puppy face works every time!"

I smiled a bit and rolled my eyes, but quickly diminished it after he caught it. I hugged my knees to my chest, silently humming to myself. As Derek smiled, I had to stop doing that too.

"Why are you doing that?" He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

I tried to speak, but only tears came. He sighed, walking over as he kissed the top of my head. Guiding me over to the table, I saw that he had laid out a piece of toast with my favorite spread, Nutella. I hid a smirk, taking small bites from the bread.

"Will you be okay for tomorrow?" he asked, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"To be honest, Derek, I don't know if I'll ever be okay." I muttered. I rose, finished with the bread. "I need to go take a walk, alright?"

"Come back within the hour." He pleaded, giving me a tight hug before watching me leave.

He was allowed to be concerned; I mean I completely understood that. But lately, he seemed a bittoo concerned. I already assumed much of what was going on his head. So far, I've come up with the fact that he just wants to trudge through this so that he can get back to what he needs. But after I kept repeating that angrily over and over in my mind, I realized that it was just my anger getting at me again. Maybe he really was concerned about me, and it was just an obsession because he was worried that he would lose me because of this. The last one sounded more like Derek, or that's just what I wanted to hear.

As I neared the graveyard, I know what you're thinking now. Oh, she's mad at Derek, so she's going to run off with Isaac. No, I'm not that kind of girlfriend. But when Derek refuses to listen to everything that I say, Isaac will listen to the parts that he won't. Plus, Isaac doesn't judge me like Erica and Scott do.

Craning my neck in the dark of night, I finally spotted him on the same bench that we had spoken on the other day. He looked up, hearing me approach him as he smiled.

"Well, I didn't expect to see you here." He beamed.

"Neither did I." I sighed, plopping down next to him.

"Fight with Derek?" He guessed.

"Okay, so maybe you can read minds now." I muttered, running my hands through my hair.

"Look, just tell me what happened." He offered, turning his body to face me. I took a deep breath, and explained everything.

I explained absolutely everything, if not too much. I knew as soon as the first syllable spilled from my mouth that Derek would kill me if he found out, but I blew it off. I wasn't the type to go write down her feelings and troubles in a diary, because to me, that just signals as evidence. Evidence that I was hurting, that I wasn't as strong as everybody else wanted me to be.

When I was finished, he sat back, thinking it all over. So that left me and my thoughts as he comprehended it, wringing my hands until they were practically raw.

"Why are you telling me this?" He bit his inner cheek, contemplating my available answers.

"Because, I mean, sure, Derek understands. But lately, he only understands what he wants to hear." I shrugged. "And you...you listen to everything." I murmured.

I froze as he cupped my face in his hands, staring into my eyes. My eyes flashed a threatening purple, but that only made the sides of his mouth twitch up in a smirk. In response, he flashed back a golden yellow, and his lips were just inches from mine. I turned when I heard a growl, and confirmed my worst fear.

"Derek, please." I begged.

I couldn't talk, just watched as he shifted and ran off into the woods. Warm tears ran over my dried ones, and as Isaac reached for me, I pulled away. I ran after him, trying to catch a scent that wasn't there. So I collapsed, right there, on the floor of the forest. I didn't scream out into the sky, I didn't cry out his name. I didn't believe in all that tacky stuff.

He had trusted me, and I broke his goddamn heart of stone.