A Mean Tongue and Codeine

Chapter 5

"What are you doing here?" She set the fork down, just hard enough to make Andrew halt mid bite. "I mean, what do you think is going to happen? You're going to make me breakfast, and invite me to rehearsal, and let me stay here, and then ghost me as soon as you leave city limits?"

Andrew's face showed the hurt he clearly felt. "Ghost you? No... No I thought that we could-"

"Stay in touch?" She interrupted him, unable to stop herself, despite feeling her own heart crack. "How many other girls in how many other cities have you told that to? How many of them do you actually keep up with?"

Andrew's mouth hung open, head shaking slightly. The eyes he met weren't the same ones he spent so much time looking into last night. These weren't soft or kind or sparkling with her laugh. These were icy and hard. "Did I say something last night?"

The confusion and slight crack in his voice broke through that flaming wall inside her. She ducked her head, unable to bring herself to see his face. "You're leaving tomorrow and I just," she stood up, realizing that she couldn't get herself out of the hole her temper dug again. "I don't want to be another one of your girls." She set off towards the bedroom, grabbing her stuff and slipping her vans on.

Andrew sat frozen at the island. Maia allowed herself one more glance at him as she put her coat on. She wished she hadn't. His eyebrows were just barely furrowed, mouth still barely open, concern, confusion, and hurt plastered across his face like a billboard. His eyes cut through Maia like a knife. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but no sound came out. Cold guilt filled her where the fiery temper once was. She couldn't stand it, and was out the door and in her car before the first tears fell.

She made the drive home in record time, making it home and almost falling out of the car. She threw the door open, tears blocking her vision and running down her cheeks.

"What the hell happened to you?" Alli asked from the kitchen.

"Get out," Maia hissed at Alli.

She put that stupid, incredulous look on her face. The same one she uses when she can't get a table at a fully booked restaurant despite her Instagram following.

"Get the fuck out, go home!" Maia's voice cracked. She beelined it towards Lauren on the couch who immediately took her into her arms.

Maia waited for the door to close and then some. Partially because she didn't want Alli to be waiting outside the door, mostly because she couldn't form the words.

Lauren rubbed her back, comforting her through the sobs. It wasn't until Maia took a shuddering breath that she spoke, handing her a box of tissues. "Time to talk," she gently ran her hand down Maia's arm. "What is going on? You haven't been you all week and I'm scared."

Maia blew her nose, took another deep breath, and told Lauren everything – details and all. She didn't give Lauren enough credit. Lauren didn't interrupt her once, didn't so much as change the way she breathed as Maia let out a few heaving sobs.

"And that's it! That's the last time I'm going to see him and I'll never hear from him again. Why would he want to after this anyway? I'm such a fucking idiot," her voice broke, head collapsing into her hands.

"Okay, no, we're spiraling again," Lauren cut her off before she could go too far down that path – again. "Why did you flip out? You sounded like you were having a good time?"

Maia shrugged and wiped the tears off her face, finally feeling herself settling down. "I just didn't want to deal with the slow cut off. We both know that's what's going to happen."