RESPONSABILITY RAIN

VI

Lucy was sitting on the couch, feet crossed, with a hot tea mug in hand. She was staring into emptiness with a worried look and didn't hear the door open.

"Lucy?" someone said.

She woke up from her trance and turned her head. Noa was standing in the hallway, her head tilted to the side a little bit, smiling widely.

"I don't hear from you no more!" she chuckled and walked into Lucy's direction to hug her.

"It's been 5 days, hey, stop overreacting. Did you forget I passed by the house four times, last week?" Lucy asked and raised an eyebrow. She was happy and relieved to see her best friend. She smiled sadly.

"What's up? You don't seem okay. I would've proposed you a drink but I see you helped yourself already! It's okay, though: mi casa es tu casa."

Lucy giggled softly but quickly went back to her serious self.

"It's Tyler. He's been sleeping on the couch for a week, eating downtown with his friends... The only thing we say to each other is bye, when I leave to work, and sometimes he doesn't even reply."

"But I thought everything was going well between you, guys!" Noa said.

Lucy sighed, looked down and took a sip of her tea.

"You have to promise me not to ask any questions, okay? I'm about to tell you the whole story."

"I promise..." Noa replied, suspiciously.

"Basically, Tyler and I went clubbing, I drank way too much – so don't even bother asking me about that night, I don't remember – and I told him something about my past." Noa eyed her friend to make her talk more. "You promised!" Lucy said.

"Okay, okay... What, then?"

"He thought I was cheating on him."

"Were you?"

"No!" Lucy hit her friend with a pillow. "I told him it was something hard for me to talk about but that he had nothing to worry about, and even though he said that it was fine, I know he thinks I just made an excuse up to get away with it! He's been giving me the silent treatment, since then."

Nobody said anything for a moment.

"So, that thing from your past... Spill the tea!"

Lucy eyed her.

"Are you serious?"

"Okay, okay!" Noa answered and raised her hands in a defensive way. "Well, I'm just saying, it's normal that he's not back to his normal self a couple of days after what you told him. You have to admit, it's a little bit suspicious. Maybe he needs time to figure it out."

"But can't he figure it out with me? We don't even talk! It's killing me..."

"Not everything is about you, okay? Some people need to figure certain things out with themselves. It will pass, stop worrying about it so much."

Lucy scoffed.

"Easier said than done."

"Isn't everything?"

They looked at each other for a second and Noa opened her arms for a hug. Lucy put her mug down and took her best-friend in her arms. She closed her eyes.

"Thank you. Those were the words I needed to hear."

"I know. That's what I'm here for."

The rest of the evening was a lot less filled with stress. Lucy was feeling more care-free than she had in a long time and the two friends were finally spending quality time together. It had been long since the last time they actually hung out. Noa talked about Brad and how they were on a break because she was feeling a bit bored by him and she thought they could use some time off each other. She admitted that she missed him a little but that she thought this would make everything better between them. Lucy started telling stories about her annoying coworkers and they laughed while watching a comedy show on the TV. After a couple of hours, Lucy looked at the clock and got up to go.

"Tyler's going to be more worried than he already is if I don't come home soon. But maybe we could grab lunch tomorrow?" she suggested.

Noa nodded and escorted her friend to the door.

"I missed you, girl. I missed this."

"Me too, Noa. A lot."

The door closed behind Lucy and she looked at the time on her phone. It was nearly 11p.m. and the streets of New York were still busy. As she walked on the sidewalks, Lucy felt a presence behind her. She shrugged and continued her trip, but when she glanced over her shoulder in a mechanic move, it wasn't Jason's aura behind her, but an actual silhouette.

A tall man in a hoodie was following her, shadowing her steps to try and make the less noise possible. Lucy tried to reach her phone but the second her hand moved towards her bag, she heard the footsteps get faster. He was running. She looked over her shoulder. The silhouette was coming fast. Turning right in a little alley, she started sprinting as fast as she could. Her heart was pounding in her chest. "I don't want to die." She thought. "Not tonight." And she ran even faster than she thought she could. The man wasn't giving up. She could almost hear his breathing a couple of meters behind her. There she saw it, her apartment. If only she could make it in time to the front door. The man reached for her bag and she felt his fingers brush her hip. She was sweating. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She accelerated and her lungs were burning. She opened the door. Her neighbor Ronnie was in the hallway, waiting for the lift. The man ran in, saw Ronnie's muscular built, glanced at Lucy angrily and disappeared in the darkness. Ronnie turned his head to Lucy. He saw her crying on the floor, unable to make any sense.

"Oh, my! What happened!" he asked but she couldn't reply. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called his boyfriend to help. "Babe, Lucy needs help downstairs, come quickly!" and hung up.

He tried to comfort her but nothing would make her stop crying. Fortunately, Liam arrived in the hallway moments later, and helped get her up, horrified.

"What happened?" he asked his boyfriend, whispering. Ronnie shrugged and seemed very worried.

"Let's just get her to Tyler, and fast."

They took the lift and carried Lucy to her apartment door. Liam ringed the bell three times in a row, panicking a little.

"I'm coming! Oh, my God!" an irritated voice shouted from inside. The door opened and Tyler's head appeared. "What the hell, Ronal-" he stopped when he saw his girlfriend. "What happened?" he screamed and grabbed Lucy by the waist. "Are you okay? Of course, you're not! I'm so dumb, what do I do!?"

Lucy gagged. She threw up on the floor.

"Ew." Said Liam. "Maybe we should go. We don't know any more than you do. Call us if you need anything. We mean it. Anything."

Tyler nodded and carried Lucy on the couch. He took her shoes and her coat off, brought her a glass of water and wiped her tears away with a tissue. She was still sobbing, but seemed to have calmed down a little.

As he was looking at her lying on his sheets in the yellow light of their living room, he couldn't be angry at her anymore. He thought about it for only a second, and all the love he felt towards her flooded in, all the hurt disappeared: he wanted to spend his life with her, no matter what she'd done.

"I love you, Lucy. I'm so sorry for everything. I never want to lose you."

Her eyes opened and fluttered, adjusting to the light. She smiled weakly and looked at Tyler in the eye. He made her fear go away. She was safe again. She was safe, like every time she stood next to him, like every time he was by her side. And she smiled.

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