Tragic Magic

Chapter Eight

We walked for hours, talking about this past month and all the things that have happened in mine and Ronnie's relationship. Things weren't adding up.

Finally we gave in and called Max. He picked us up shortly after and took us back to Craig's house. Of course, Max expected a story, so we spilled our guts.

"Don't let her out of your sight, dude," Max said, letting us out at Craig's house.

"Oh don't worry, man. I've got her," Craig says, walking me up to the front door.

Craig's house; One word, huge.

It's dark by the time we arrived at his house, so I didn't see much on the outside, but once we got inside I was speechless.

The lights automatically turn on.

"What's mine is yours," he says, closing the door behind us and punching in the security code.

"Holy shit," I put my bag down on the floor in the foyer. "This place is nice."

He shrugs, "I like it a lot, but it gets lonely."

We walk up the stairs to the second floor. There's a space similar to a living room in the middle and two hallways, one to the left and one to the right.

"Alright, my bedroom is to the right and the guest bedrooms are to the left," he says, leading me down the hallway towards the guest bedrooms.

"Pick any room, it doesn't matter to me," Craig smiles.

"Thanks, Craig. This means so much to me, you don't even know," I find myself back in his arms.

"Don't sweat it, Julie. I know how you're feeling. Just hold your head up and things will be fine." Craig holds me tighter.

After a while Craig pulls away, "People change, Julie. Don't let those people change you though." He ruffles my hair and kisses my cheek, "Goodnight, darling. I'm just a heartbeat away if you need anything."

We embrace one last time before heading to our rooms. I decide to go with the last one on the left. It's big and beautiful. The carpet and walls are white, there's a bathroom to the right, and a big queen bed in the center.

I place my phone on the vanity in front of the bed and look at myself in the mirror. What have I done? What has he done? We were almost perfect, then bam, he cheats. My eyes fill with tears of anger.

I look down at my phone, which I haven't check all day.

26 missed calls
12 new voicemails
7 unread messages

I whine and crawl straight into bed. Forget this and forget him.

For the next hour I lay there listening to the silence and occasional buzzing of my cell phone. I can't sleep.

Without thinking, I drag myself out of bed and head to Craig's room.

I walk down the hallway, past the commons area and straight to his room. The door is open, so I let myself in. I pull back the covers and crawl into bed with Craig.

"Are you okay, Julie?" He asks in a tired voice.

"Not really. Go to sleep though, you've done enough for me already," I say quietly.

He pulls me into his arms and we lay there in silence. In that moment, I felt more comfortable and safe than I ever have before. I knew nothing could break this comfort and that made me forget all about the pain inside.