Coming Back Home

Chapter 37

"Oh...um, oops?" Ella said innocently.

I glanced over at Madison and she had a blank stare in her eyes as we walked inside.

"You good over there Madison?" Ella asked.

I felt terrible that people kept asking her that, but I knew there wasn't really anything I could do about this one.

Madison was spacing out and didn't seem like she heard Ella, so I nudged her shoulder.

"What? Oh, sorry...yeah I'm fine, thanks Ella," she said quietly.

I discreetly gave her hand a squeeze before we walked into the office and she smiled over at me. Not being able to do anything about this was killing me.

***

After work that night, I gave Madison a ride home before I went to grab some things at my apartment.

"I'll be back in just a little bit," I said as she got out of the car.

"Alright, see you soon," she responded.

I watched her walk into the building and noticed her looking around, clearly checking to make sure that Kyle wasn't anywhere in the area.

Maybe I should text Trevor and make sure she gets up there okay, I thought.

Better safe than sorry. I sent him a quick text asking him to check on her and then drove to my place.

I quickly got all of the things I needed and was getting ready to go back over to Madison's. I grabbed on to my door handle and started to pull it open, when a hand came flying up from behind me and slammed it back shut.

I froze in place as Kyle stepped out from the shadows in my hallway and stood behind me. He kept his hand positioned over my shoulder and held the door shut.

"How the fuck did you get in here Kyle?" I asked as I stayed facing forward.

I could feel his presence close behind me and felt his breath in my ear as he spoke quietly in a raspy voice.

"What was I not clear about when we had our little chat the other day?"

The anger in his voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I was trying to stay as calm as possible, but I could feel my heart pounding against my chest.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from quivering.

"You know exactly what I mean," he hissed in my ear, "you're not supposed to be with her any more."

I knew I had to choose my words carefully, he was standing way too close to me for comfort and I had no idea what his plan was.

"Kyle," I said as I took a deep breath, "me leaving Madison isn't going to work like you think it will."

"Do you want me to leave the two of you alone, or not?" He asked.

"Obviously I do," I snapped at him.

I heard him quietly laugh from behind me, for fucks sake he was messed up.

"Then you'll do what I'm telling you to do," he said as I felt him move in closer to me.

I gulped and kept a tight grasp on the door handle as I considered my next words.

"What - how do you think that's going to work?" I asked him.

He obviously wanted me out of the way so that he could be with her, so I didn't trust that he was actually going to hold up his end of the bargain.

"Not that I should have to explain any of this to you, but if it will get you to fucking listen then I will," he said angrily.

"Once you're out of the way," he continued, "and I stop coming around, she's going to come running back to me eventually. I know how she works."

I knew he was wrong, but I'd been trying to figure out how to get him to leave her alone...maybe this was the solution.

Then again, I didn't know everything about Kyle and Madison's relationship. Maybe there was more to it than I thought.

"So if I, if I leave her..." I started.

"And you're not going to tell anyone why," he cut in.

"If I do that," I said hesitantly, "you're going to leave her the hell alone?"

"You have my word," he whispered in my ear, "and just remember, I'll know if you don't."

I let my hand fall from the door handle and slowly turned around to face him as I felt a pit in my stomach. He had a sadistic grin on his face that I wanted to smack off of him as I struggled to keep my composure.

"Alright," I said with a grimace, "I'll do it."

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