Heartbreak Anniversary x Jeremiah Fisher (2)

Chapter Eleven

~ Now ~
Thanksgiving, November 23rd

"Need me to go with you?" Conrad whispered to Angelina as she got up from beside him on the couch. She simply nodded no. Angelina quietly stepped away from the living room with her empty popcorn bowl. Susannah and Laurel sat watching the movie on the other couch.

She needed a drink and not water. Angelina was hoping to find some hard liquor somewhere that Adam might have left behind or smoke, she just needed something to calm her down.

When she walked into the kitchen, Angelina saw Jeremiah gripping the edges of the sink with his head lowered as if he was having difficulty breathing.

A small gasp left Angelina's mouth and Jeremiah's head whipped so fast towards her, their eyes meeting in a frantic stare.

She couldn't do this right now. Not when Conrad, her fake boyfriend and his brother, their mom and Laurel sat in the living room watching a movie. The movie was loud, Susannah wanted the volume turned up so it would be hard for them to hear their conversation but still. She wasn't prepared mentally for this conversation, hell she wasn't prepared to see him. After dinner, Jeremiah said he was going to his room so Angelina wasn't expecting to run into him.

She quickly turned away to leave the kitchen when she felt his hand grip her wrist and spin her around to face him. "Did you sleep with him?" He said roughly.

Angelina's face hardened. That hurt. "Really? After three months of not answering my calls, texts or seeing me, those are going to be the first words you say to me?"

He chuckled but it wasn't one out of amusement. It was darker, more harsh. "Haha sorry, let me rephrase that, cause you guys have slept in the same bed before. Did you fuck him?" Jeremiah said with venom in his voice.

Before Angelina could stop herself, her hand flew up making contact with Jeremiah's cheek. Tears began to form but she stood up straighter and said, "fuck you, Jeremiah."

Angelina had just slapped him and the hard reality had hit him with the impact of her slap. What was he doing? He grabbed her arm pulling her into him before she could walk away again, her chest slamming against his. She tried to squirm away but Jeremiah held his grip on her tighter.

"God, Jeremiah. Were you always this much of an asshole," she said pausing, the sound of her voice cracking. "You didn't even say one word to me at my dad's funeral."

Jeremiah immediately released his grip from her arm and took two steps away from her. Guilt washed over him completely. "How could I? When your dad was being buried and I was the reason you almost were too," Jeremiah rasped as a single tear ran down his cheek.

"Jeremiah-" Angelina said softly, stepping forward but Jeremiah shook his head and walked out of the kitchen leaving Angelina to stand there alone.

~~~

"Um, I could take the floor," Conrad said standing at the edge of his bed. This wasn't supposed to be the plan. They both thought Jeremiah wouldn't be home. Conrad was going to sleep in Jeremiah's room and Angelina would sleep in Conrad's room.

Angelina shook her head, "don't be ridiculous. This is your room. Plus, you already fall asleep in my dorm room. What's the difference now?"

Conrad gulped. A lot was different but he nodded and got under the covers beside her. His body lightly brushing against hers on his twin bed. "Is this okay?" He asked quietly.

She let out a low chuckle. "It's fine, Con. Stop thinking it's more and you'll be fine."

What felt like hours to Angelina, only had been minutes and Conrad finally fell asleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Jeremiah. Their conversation from the kitchen kept replaying in her head. He was cruel in the way he spoke to her, it made her chest ache. He had never spoken with such spit to her before, the closest had been at the debutante ball when he had just found out about his mom's cancer. But this was different, it was meant to be more spiteful than painful.