Breakable Heaven

Chapter 3

"God, what do you do to me?" Harry mumbles as he looks me up and down, and I grab him by the shirt and pull him back in, crashing our lips together. My hand cups the back of his neck and I pull him on top of me, falling back onto the table. Just as Harry goes to lift my shirt off of me, I hear the door open. 

"Oh my god, Taylor?" 

Harry scrambles off of me and I nervously prop myself up on my elbows to get a clear view of the person at the door. 

Karlie. She looks horrified. 

"Erm, hello," Harry says with a devilish smile, and Karlie stays silent in shock. 

"Uh- yea, hi. Actually- I'm gonna go. Um, have fun," she panics and leaves as fast as she entered, the door closing behind her. Harry stares at me. 

"Go," I warn quietly and run for the door. "Karlie, what happened? Stop," I say as I jog lightly towards the model who's waiting for the elevator on the other side of the door. 

"No, I'm gonna go. Sorry. I shouldn't have come," she says, seemingly embarrassed. She crosses her arms over her stomach and makes eye contact with only the floor, failing to look up at me. 

"Hey, no. You're not leaving. Talk to me. Kar, please," I respond, ducking my head in an attempt to make eye contact with the model. She eventually looks back at me, sadness filling her eyes. It's obvious she had been crying. "Hey, no. No, no. Come here," I whisper and take the model in my arms as sobs start to escape her. 

I see Harry walking towards us as I embrace Karlie, and I widen my eyes at him warningly, reminding him to leave. Harry surrenders, putting his hands up, and heads for the staircase down the hall to leave me alone with the model. 

"Come inside babe," I say, breaking the hug and taking Karlie's hand as I lead her back into my apartment. I shut the door behind us and bring Karlie to the couch, wrapping a blanket around her. 

"Talk to me," I say, sitting criss-cross and facing the model in front of me. 

"Josh. Stupid shit. I feel stupid for coming," she says with a sniffle. I give her a look of confusion. 

"Why? Don't feel stupid. You have a key for a reason. I care about you much more than Harry, you know that," I answer as I rub her arm. 

"He was supposed to be home at 10:30 this morning. I got home, cleaned the house, and made cookies to welcome him back. I had this whole plan of just laying everything on the table and calling a truce. I was excited," Karlie explains as she fiddles with her rings. "He didn't come home till 5 pm. Not a phone call, text, anything. I could smell the alcohol on him. He wouldn't talk to me, said his flight got delayed and he was tired. And then he just... went to bed." I stare at the model, but before I can respond she speaks again. "I thought you weren't seeing Harry anymore? Why was he here? What are you doing?" Karlie asks, sounding hurt. I try to hide my confusion, but wonder why the model seemed to care so much. 

"Uhm, yea. We weren't seeing each other anymore. I'm not sure, he texted, and then he was here and then that happened, and then you were here. It just happened. I'm sorry about Josh, Kar, that's awful," I say, offering an explanation while also attempting to acknowledge my friend's feelings. 

"It's fine. He's not good for you, you know," Karlie states, finally meeting my eyes with hers again. 

"I mean, it's not the best situation ever... I know that. But it's just sex," I say, offering a calm rebuttal. 

"You shouldn't be seeing him," she says persistently, but offers no explanation. I stare at the model. 

"Why?" I say finally. She sighs and switches her attention to the bookshelves across from us.

"Nevermind. I need to leave," she says finally, standing up and throwing the blanket that wrapped around her back onto me. I toss the blanket aside and follow her. 

"What? Karlie, stop. This is ridiculous," I answer as we walk towards the door. Karlie starts putting her jacket back on. 

"You're right, Taylor. This is ridiculous. What are you even doing? What are you getting from this? What void are you trying to fill?" She asks, growing angrier and angrier. I stare at the model in disbelief. 

"What? Oh, that's good. That's good coming from you," I laugh angrily. 

"At least I'm toward a stable, long-term relationship. Harry doesn't know what that is, and I'm starting to think you don't either," she responds. 

"What? Where is this coming from? Karlie, you come here every day crying about Josh and I listen and I hug you and I support you. And I love being that for you because that's what friends do. But for you to come in here and judge me? And for what? Having sex? I'm sorry you aren't getting any but that's not my fault," I respond, regretting the words as they leave my mouth. Karlie's eyes fill with fire. 

"You know, there's a reason he only wants to fuck you, Taylor. You only care about yourself. You're only redeeming quality is the publicity that he'll get by being with you but I think he quickly realized you're not worth the trouble," Karlie states angrily. My face burns and my eyes swell with tears, not believing the words that came from my best friend's mouth all too easily. 

"You know what, leave Karlie. Go figure your shit out somewhere else. I'm not going to be your punching bag tonight," I say, trying to contain my tears, opening the door and gesturing for the model to exit the penthouse. 

"Will do," she mumbles and disappears down the hall.