All Bad

38. Water Runs Dry

Now they can see the tears in our eyes
But we deny the pain that lies deep in our hearts
Well maybe that's a pain we can't hide
Cause everybody knows that we're both torn apart
Why do we hurt each other, why do we push love away....

Brie's POV

I sat in silence on the hotel bed, mulling Justin's words over. I could hear him talking on the phone in the bathroom and the sound of his voice was making me feel sick.

I looked around the beautiful hotel room; it looked a lot less romantic now that my boyfriend was being a prick.

The urge to cry was present, but the tears wouldn't come.

Justin and I hadn't exchanged words since the car ride. I had nothing to say to him and I guess he was out of hurtful things to say to me. How could he play with my feelings like that? How could he back me into a corner, making me choose between my job and a faithful relationship?

I needed to know whether or not he was bluffing, whether or not he'd actually go and have sex with another girl all because things didn't go his way.

Was this purely because he didn't trust me or did he simply want to inflict the pain upon me that I had served to him? Or maybe a mixture of the two?

At least I never did it intentionally. Justin didn't get that though.

Why was it that no matter how sick I was because of him right now, a part of me still longed for him to kiss my neck and melt this horrible feeling away?

He was the curse and the cure.
-----

I awoke early, just as the sun was rising, and for a moment forgot the events of the day before. It was only when I turned over and realized that Justin was sleeping all the way on the other side of the bed, instead of right next to me, that I remembered the things that he said and the ultimatum he'd given me.

As we got ready for the day, we moved as if we were leading completely different lives. He was acting as if he didn't even know I was there, like I didn't exist. I received no response when I said good morning to him, instead he acted like he didn't hear me. The extent of him ignoring me hit me at breakfast and he didn't sit with me, he just ate alone in the living room.

I began to feel like I was the one who had done wrong, instead of the other way around.

In the elevator, I grabbed onto his hand, hoping that I could coax him into talking to me. But instead of lacing his fingers with mine, he just allowed his hand to flop there.

By the time we were in the car, it was all too much.

"What have I done wrong?" I asked Justin as we navigated out way out of the sub-level parking lot.

Justin' eyes stayed fixed on the road. "We'll talk later." He said before turning the radio up.

I sunk back into my seat, feeling sad and lonely.

We arrived at the mall and met with a whole group of people, including Justin's friend Khalil and a girl I guessed he was dating, Za, Mikey and a few other people that I didn't recognize and whose names didn't register when they were introduced to me.

I walked a few steps behind Justin as he shopped. By the time we entered the fifth store, I was desperate to smooth things over with Justin. The cold war we were engaged in hadn't gone unnoticed by the others and their looks filled with pity made me feel even smaller than I already did.

I slipped into the changing room after Justin as he went to try on a pair of ripped jeans.

I stood with my back against the door, looking at Justin as he kept his eyes trained on his reflection in the mirror adjacent to me.