The Perfect Drug (Ariana/You)

Chapter 18

To say that the atmosphere in the studio was tense was an understatement.

I don't think I was very popular among Ariana's group of friends right now as I caught two girls who were sitting next to her glaring at me quite a few times.

A driver had come to pick me up. The ride was very nerve-wrecking as I was leaving my comfort zone and was entering hostile territory. It was Ariana's playground now and the ball was in my court. When the door had opened up for me, her friend with a blue wig on pretty much blocked my way in asking me if I was going to be an asshole again. I guess word got out about our last interaction.

"Njomza, it's okay. Really. Let her in." I heard Ariana say from inside.

She still held my gaze as she moved away from the entrance she was blocking and let me through.

Ariana was sitting in a large couch filled with pillows. I had been offered the cold plastic chair in front of Ariana by the girl called Njomza. As I sat down she stood next to Ariana and her friend who had yellow short hair.

"Girls, it's seriously okay. Y/N and I are just going to chat."

"Give us a shout if there's anything, we'll be right next door." The girl with the yellow hair said as she was looking at me, her guard very high.

It made me feel like I was in the wrong here. As if I had just left her for a year and broke her without any other explanation than a text.

"Thanks Tayla." Ariana spoke softly. She too was looking at me at this point.

The girls, I had learned were called Njomza and Tayla, left the room and suddenly I didn't feel so worried anymore. They were a bit intimidating.

"Sorry about them. They've just been very overprotective of me generally over the past year. They are the sweetest of girls once you get to know them."

"Oh yeah, sweet is definitely the word I was looking for to describe them." I couldn't help but be sarcastic. Ariana laughed which made me a little happy inside.

"Guess I need to apologize for being an asshole yesterday." I said looking down at the floor. Somehow, eye contact with her made me shy.

"Yeah you were kind of an asshole. Not to mention fucking annoying and stubborn..." she laughed but I couldn't help but to feel a bit triggered by those words as she was not exactly innocent herself but calmed down when she spoke out another sentence "...but I guess I deserved all of that."

I looked down at my feet as I wasn't really sure of how to continue or even start this conversation.

"Have you heard from Pete?" Ariana spoke out. Why was he the first thing she was bringing up?

I bit my tongue. I needed to calm down and have a normal conversation with her.

"No, not since..." I trailed off, I think Ariana knew what moment I had meant as it was her turn to lower her head, in shame.

"What happened with you two?" I dared to ask, not sure if I wanted to hear it all.

"We left for California and he entered rehab." She paused. "It was going great for the first month, he was actually looking healthier and our relationship was going gr..." she interrupted herself again, probably not wanting to talk about their relationship with me. "He just spiralled down again after the first month, taking more dangerous drugs. He was a bit more verbally abusive, acted out and he kept flirting with so many others too, pretty sure he cheated at some point too but I guess I'll never know." She looked down at the hem of her shirt. "I just couldn't handle it anymore. I called it quits then. I couldn't keep putting myself through this anymore." I heard her voice break a few times as she was telling me all this and I saw tears threatening to fall.