extra stories to share. (tgwdlm//bf)

nora & zoey; attached.*

// og post date: july 25th, 2020. sfw. word count: 1,792. //

~

there he goes again, blowing up her phone with angry messages that had manipulation written between the lines. it was draining her battery faster than usual, which added onto the stress that she'd have to face more insulting words if she didn't respond back quick enough.
zoey didn't know what she had done or said to provoke the nasty side of sam, and she felt sick to her stomach as she read the paragraphs displayed on her dim screen. she played with the cord of the charger as she tried to come up with a safe explanation back on why she was sorry and get that flame of his burned out; she can't give a genuine apology if she did not see what was wrong in the first place. his texts didn't help out with that, either.

"you rushed out on your shift again today, zoey," said nora, as she walked into the back room only meant for employees. "is somethin' wrong?" she asked shortly after making her comment, taking a seat next to the somewhat younger girl. nora was one of the only people she could trust with her personal life and issues - she is never judged or dismissed, and usually is given some form of advice in return that tends to work out more often than not.
"oh, ya'know, i'm just a bit overwhelmed with work. i don't mean to hop in and out like this, but the amount of customers that come in is just, like, bonkers. i'll get back to it in a minute," promised zoey, as she flashed her the fake grin she expresses to the people that visit. that statement surely would have convinced someone like emma, or one of the other rare employees that pick-up hours there, but it didn't fly with her.

nora propped an elbow on the table and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "you are stressed but not from work. ya look pale, too, and sound nervous. let me take a guess, is it sam?"
"you're too good at this, you know that, right?" she put her phone down and stared at it, watching the last text deliver to her private chat. she slid the device over after scrolling to the very top and kept a gaze on the table covered in scratches and ink spots. nora took it, scanning through the insults and poor word choice like she was a high school english teacher skimming through an essay.
"he's going on a ramble 'bout literally nothin'. accusing you for not returnin' the attention he gives you, just a tad hypocritical in his case." she kept scrolling up and down, noticing the timestamps and zoey's lack of replies. "looks to me he's back at it with the guilt-trippin', do you know if he was already in a bad mood?"

zoey folded her arms on the table and put her head down, a sigh escaping from her. "i don't know, i don't know anything. all he ever does is argue with me about the most ridiculous of things. i can't do my job and stay off my phone for a few hours without him getting, like, insecure i'm cheating on him. ironic how that works, huh?" she turned her head so she could look at her, trying to hold back tears. she didn't like wasting her energy and emotions on him, yet it was hard when he's the main factor in her existence that drove her to keep living.
"i guess i haven't been texting or seeing him a lot lately. if i just finished my college assignments when they need to be written instead of chunking hours into multiple days, maybe this could have been avoided." she continued as she sucked in a shaky breath between gritted teeth. it was her fault for about every problem they faced, and she had to find new ways to make her apology better than the last.

"zoey, honey, college and work have always been your first priorities. you want to get enough money to keep takin' the courses to be a theatre actress, your dream role since you were nine. you get busy and shit happens, you can't always have time for one person, sam should know this as he is older."
"but in a relationship, i need to at least show i'm willing to put in the effort! i've thought about buying tickets to a show at the starlight theater, it would be a wonderful chance to express my care and i deeply feel bad i haven't been the best girlfriend. i know that afterwards i can make a direct apology for all the issues i've caused." she countered as she dug her acrylic nails into her arm, not understanding the point her friend was making. she was taught that when you love someone, and they love you back, they are one of the most important things in your life; you should take risks for them, and do whatever it takes to ensure they are happy.
unfortunately, she didn't get the full meaning behind that sort of lesson.

nora turned the phone screen off and set it aside to let it gain charge, and she looked at zoey. she wasn't irritated with her, nor did she think her friend was stupid to believe this sort of ideology. she had to be patient, let her process it for a moment. "i have a question for you: how many times, if you can remember, has sam owned up for makin' a mistake and made a sincere apology? one that didn't deflect from the situation, or excuse his actions, or turn it around on you?" she folded her hands into her lap as she spoke.
zoey went to answer but nothing came out. she closed her mouth and shifted her gaze from nora's face to her bowtie, tracing the outline of the piece of cloth with her eyes as she thought about a possible answer. all the fights were a blur to her at this point, and the times she could remember was when she allegedly messed up and swore to never do it again.

that must be a reason why she was so tense around sam, or why she would flinch when things got too noisy with or without his presence. she's locked away the rules of what and what not to do or say whenever he could see or hear her, and constantly feels like she is walking around eggshells - he's a ticking time bomb in her mind. she can almost tell the exact moment something will go down just by the twitch in his facial expression, or how the tension in the atmosphere suddenly rises.
"then why is he calling me out for how i'm terrible at picking up the phone? it's nothing but true, i can't even get to it fast enough to chat with him."
"you cannot always be near your phone twenty-four seven, it isn't possible. you don't owe him your time if he demands it or not. think about it some more, doesn't he also take a few hours or days to properly get back to you?"
"well, yes, but that's because he can't let charlotte have her suspicions that he-" zoey paused then turned her head away from nora again, hiding her face. she brought herself into a fucked situation, just because she was desperate for the care from another person. how on earth she kept forgetting was beyond her.

the phone started vibrating excessively, catching their attention after the second buzz was felt. it was sam. zoey sat up and leaned back in her seat, as if she didn't want to risk being close to the device in fear it would harm her. nora put a hand on her shoulder to reassure it would be okay, and brought a hand up to go and decline the call.
"no, don't, last time i ignored him he- you know-" she sniffed as she implied the impossible-to-forget memory, which caused nora to stop what she was planning, then took her hand away from the phone. the buzzing went on for a bit longer, and zoey took that impulse to answer it before it went to voicemail. it didn't take any time for the man on the other end to begin questioning the young adult on her absence.

"no, hey, listen- listen to me, please, for once- sam, i am at work, i can't have my phone on me unless i'm on a break... you know this. i told you this." she said into the microphone, not acknowledging that nora was staring at her while she spoke. "and- and you are also on the clock, and if i try to reach out, you yell at me about it. how is that fair?" she stood up and began to pace back and forth. she was ignoring the fact nora remained in her chair.
"that doesn't make sense. just because your job is more important doesn't mean- could you let me talk? and maybe not call me a whore? no, i already told you, i'm at work, i'm not sleeping around. why should that matter to you, anyway?" she didn't want to fight fire with fire, as in mentioning him projecting his faults onto her isn't going to solve anything. accountability, though, may be worth a shot.

too bad she couldn't get into it before sam began screaming into her ear. zoey held the phone away from her and stopped pacing, biting her tongue as she heard the muddled garbage spewing from the device. out of anger, she hung up on him and slammed the phone back down on the table; she ran her hands through her hair and stood there stiffly, unsure what to do. she wanted to punch a wall, but that'll just end in broken bones. she missed the moment when nora had stood up and cautiously went over to her, no effort to put physical contact on her just in case that isn't what she needed.
"do you need a place to stay tonight, to play it safe if he tries to go to yours?" asked nora in a soft tone, as she listened to her inhale deep breaths and let them out shortly after.
"please," answered zoey, as she pulled her hands out of her hair and hugged herself. "i don't want to be alone."
"you aren't, don't worry." she held out her arms as an offer, to which zoey accepted by stepping into the embrace and buried her face into nora's shoulder.

despite all that was going on, zoey was happy to know she had a friend like nora. she began to think she was the one to actually motivate her in staying alive.