Before He Cheats (Watty Awards 2011)

Before He Cheats - chapter 4

A boy and a girl around my age were standing there in the doorway of the apartment that was on the opposite side of mine. The guy was tall, well build and extremely handsome with his perfect smile, blue eyes and dark hair. His right arm was wrapped around what looked to be his girlfriend, who was also tall, slender and very beautiful. She had long, blonde, curly hair, blue eyes and her skin looked softer than a baby's butt. They were both staring at us and smiling in amusement. I smiled back out of embarrassment.

"Hey, I'm sorry if we're making too much noise but this idiot is too lazy to unlock the door," I said apologetically but with an edge to my voice. I saw Grayson roll his eyes out of the corner of my vision.

"It's no big deal; we just wanted to see who our new neighbors were." The guy said and smiled at us once again. "I'm Brandon and this is my girlfriend, Holly." He pointed at her and she waved at Grayson and me politely.

"Hey, it's nice to meet you. I'm Rhiannon," I glanced at Grayson and found him staring at Holly, which caused an uneasy feeling to sprout in the pit of my stomach, but I quickly pushed it down.

"And this is Grayson," I said, motioning behind me. "I apologize in advance on his behalf." Grayson's head snapped in my direction and gave me a cold glare but I returned it with a fake sweet smile.

"Oh, you guys are moving in together?" Holly asked as she looked at both of us. I nodded sadly and she grinned at me. "That's great! Up till now we were the only people under thirty that lived in this building."

"Yeah, it will be awesome to have you two as neighbors," said Brandon, looking at Grayson.

"By the way; is that your ride outside? Because I swear just looking at it turns me on," he said, laughing and then cursed under his breath when Holly dug her elbow into his stomach.

For the first time today Grayson actually smiled as he looked at both of our new neighbors. "Yes, the car is mine. And trust me, I know what you mean. Although I should probably park it in a more secure area because you never know who's out there just waiting for the chance to destroy other people's property." He was glaring at me as he said the last part. I flashed another cheery smile just to push his buttons.

I looked back at Brandon and Holly and smiled at them. "It was nice to meet you guys! I hope that we can hang out sometime," I said with a hint of urgency to my voice. My arms were feeling numb by that point and I was sure that if I didn't put the groceries down soon, they were going to fall off altogether.

They both said good-bye and went back to their apartment, leaving me and Grayson standing alone in the hallway.

"Would you unlock the door already so we can go in?" I asked, annoyed. He didn't move for a minute but then he sighed and readjusted the two bags into his right arm, before he dug into his pocket and found his key. He unlocked the door and I quickly pushed past him and walked to the kitchen, taking my shoes off in the process. He followed behind me and we both dumped our bags on the counter.

Grayson sat on one of the chairs beside the kitchen table and stared at something on the wall while I put all the food where it was supposed to be. When I was done with it all, I sat on the chair that was opposite from his and let yet another awkward silence fill the room.

He was still staring at nothing at the wall when I decided to break the bored stillness.

"Why did you do it?" I asked. It took him a while to actually look at me but when he did, he gave me a questioning look.

"Why did I do, what?"

"Why did you cheat on me?" He seemed really surprised by my question so I continued to talk after he stayed quiet for a minute. "I mean, everything was perfect between us..."

We were staring at each other now, and again, I was shocked by the coldness of his eyes.

"You know damn well that nothing was perfect after the accident." He snapped and I froze at the mention of the subject I had been trying to avoid ever since it happened.

"Don't!" I warned, standing up suddenly. He got up as well and stepped closer to me.

"Why? Why don't you ever want to talk about it?" He face was inches away from mine and voice was cold and emotionless.

"I can't..." I whispered, looking down at my feet. I tried to move away from him but he took a hold of my left wrist and pulled me back to him.

"Well, you asked why I started cheating on you and that's one of the reasons." He whispered in my ear. I pulled apart from him and give him a look of astonishment and disgust.

"You did it because I..." I couldn't finish my sentence because bringing myself to say it out loud just hurt too much. Anger rushed through my veins and before I knew it, my right hand connected with Grayson's face. I was surprised at how good it felt, and I went to slap him again but he quickly took hold of my wrist before I could make contact with his cheek. He looked down at my hand and this time it was his turn to freeze when he saw the little tattoo that I had on the back of it.

"When did you get that?" He asked, still staring down at it.

"That's none of your business." I snapped and struggled to get out of his hold. I quickly pulled my arm from his hand, looking him straight in the eyes.

Then, I brought my leg up and kneed him where it hurts the most. He let out a load groan and doubled over in pain. I walked out of the kitchen, smiling slightly.

"I'm going to bed. I really hope that taught you a lesson, 'babe'."

*****

Hey guys!

I hope you like this chapter! I made it longer than I usually do and I'm thinking of making the next one from Grayson's P.O.V.! What do you think about that?....

Also I really want to thank emma1330!! She's awesome and you should go check out her stories because they're great!