That Blue Gibson: Another Round

twenty-four

"Please don't do this..."

Liz was overwhelmed. Less than a half hour ago she assumed her day would mostly be spent in bed with Dave, but now the grip he had on her wrists was so tight she felt her fingers begin to tingle. She could see the smug smile on Calliope's face as clear as day, Taylor's scowl was directed right at her husband and the tension around them was so oppressive she felt herself sag underneath it all.

She wanted to snap, allow herself to boil over and unleash all of the pain Dave had caused so many people right back onto him, but she wasn't about to give Calliope the satisfaction of witnessing their breakdown.

So, she calmly raised her chin and leveled his stare, "I won't fight with you, David. The terms in the papers are more than fair."

She wiggled one wrist free and made a half turn to walk away before he grabbed for her shoulders and hauled her back close enough that she had to tip her head back to look up at him.

"I don't-," his words flowed in a strangled rush as his hands stuttered down from her shoulders back to her hands, "How could- I don't want... I don't want you to leave me."

"Then why-," she wanted to ask why the hell he served her with papers if he didn't actually want a divorce, but was rendered silent when he opened her hand to press her palm against his chest. His heart was beating so fast that she dug her fingers into the white fabric of his shirt as if that would slow it down to a safer speed.

"Sign the papers, Davey."

His eyes flicked up at the sound of the syrupy voice and the hand gripping Liz's clenched so tightly her knuckles popped.

"Get her out of here, T," he growled.

Liz could hear Taylor's bare feet shuffle on the tile, but didn't take her eyes off of Dave's face. "No, man. I'm not cleaning up after you anymore. You gotta own up to-"

His eyes darkened as they moved off his best friend and onto Calliope, "How'd you get in the house."

To Liz, it felt like someone had pressed a pause button. Where there was once ambient noise and movement around them, now there was none. Everything had gone deathly still.

"I..."

The hand that Dave had pressed to his chest was released as he stepped around Liz, squaring his shoulders at the girl in the white dress. "How did you get in the fucking house, Cal."

Liz heard the undercurrent of fear in his voice and instinctively reached out to touch him again, dragging her fingertips down his forearm to tell him she was there for him. Feeling a bit more confident when he locked his fingers around hers, she allowed herself to look at Calliope who was stammering and stuttering, her eyes glued to their hands.

"The... that... the key you gave-"

"I didn't give you any fucking key," Dave spat, diving towards her so suddenly that Liz jumped to hold him back while Taylor sidestepped his way in front of Calliope.

"You broke into my fucking house, Cal," Dave bellowed over Liz's shoulder, "Admit it, you fucking nutcase!"

"I did it because you promised me, Davey!" she screamed right back at him, struggling against Taylor's hold as she tried to get at Dave, "It was supposed to be us with the big house on the hill, but then she got in the way! You promised me!"

"I didn't promise you shit," he scoffed cruelly, the harsh dismissiveness in his words making Liz's hands fall slack around his middle. She felt an unexpected pang of sympathy at Calliope being subjected to such coldness, but the feeling was gone as quickly as it came.