Lexi's Love & War

Chapter 33

"Good," he said finally. "I'm done talking to you now."

He abruptly left without even saying goodbye. He went to Lexi's apartment— which was out of sight from Cassie's place— and knocked on the door. It was Nikita who answered, much to his dismay.

"Hey, Isaac. I, uh...heard you yelling at Cassie."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he sheepishly said.

"What brought that on?" Nikita asked. "Lexi said something happened the other day, but wouldn't go into details. I didn't wanna push her on it, so I haven't asked."

"Cassie interrupted our last date when Lexi was at my place. She told us that she contacted my parents and that she'd learned that they don't like Lexi. Of course, Cassie had to go and rub it in her face, as well as mine. Lexi was so hurt that she grabbed her things and left. I haven't been able to get a hold of her since then."

"Oh my God. Isaac, I'm so sorry. Like I said, I had no idea."

Isaac sighed in a heavy manner. "It's fine. So yeah, I was ranting to Cassie about her stunt, her lack of respect, and that I never want to be with her again. That's the short version of it all."

"Jesus Christ," Nikita muttered. "Did you come by to talk to Lexi?"

"Yeah, I am. Is she here?"

"No, sorry. I should let you know that she's been very quiet and withdrawn since that night. She keeps making remarks like, 'I'm not right for Isaac,' or 'I'm not good enough.' I told her that was ridiculous, and even asked why she'd say such things. But she refused to spill the beans. I thought that you two got in a fight— now I know that it's worse."

Isaac's heart sank. His worst fears seemed to have come true— Lexi was doubting herself yet again. Not only that, but she was doubting whether their relationship would work out after all. He swallowed hard like he was trying to swallow the reality of the situation. But he managed to keep his emotions in check while focusing back on the conversation at hand.

"Where's Lexi now?" he asked.

Nikita shrugged. "I have no clue. I've been home for about half an hour, and she wasn't here when I came home. I sent her a text asking if she was okay, but never heard back."

"Damn it," Isaac muttered. "Thanks for telling me everything, Nikita. I appreciate it. And I'm sorry for dragging you into this shit."

"Don't apologize!" Nikita exclaimed. "I know Cassie's been a handful, so it's understandable that you and Lexi are exhausted. But enough talking to me— I think you should go find her."

Isaac managed a slight grin. "That's what I plan on doing right now. Thanks again. I owe you."

"Anytime," Nikita remarked.

With that, Isaac blurted out a goodbye before hightailing out of there. He wasn't sure where Lexi would be, but that didn't deter him one bit.

I need to find her. I need to find her. I NEED TO FIND HER, he thought.

***

Cassie's nasty interaction with Isaac had left her stunned. She hadn't been able to yell back at him when it all went down. She'd tried to defend herself whenever she could, but Isaac clearly wasn't having it. He didn't care about what she had to say; rather, he focused more on getting everything off his chest. She couldn't remember the last time he'd yelled at her so much. Perhaps back when they had dated, there may have been a time or two during one of their fights where he'd raised his voice at her. But even then, it hadn't been as bad as what had just transpired moments ago.

She slowly walked to her bedroom, her hands shaking from having to endure Isaac's obvious anger. Having been in her room during the incident, Mariana came in a moment later.

"What happened?" she asked

Cassie frowned. "You mean to tell me that you didn't hear any of that noise?"

"I wasn't too keen on listening in, so I threw on noise-canceling headphones and blasted my music as loud as I could tolerate."

At this, Cassie laughed with disbelief.

"So...what happened?" Mariana echoed.

"Isaac lost it on me, that's what happened. You remember when I told you what I did last week, right?"

"You mean when you interrupted their date by telling them about your phone call with Isaac's parents? And that Lexi left 'cause she was so upset? Yeah, I remember."

"Well, Isaac told me that I crossed the line again, and how dare I do that. He kept insisting that he's done with me— he doesn't love me, he doesn't wanna date me, he wants nothing to do with me. He was like, 'I'm with Lexi now. I don't care how you feel, but I'm happy with her!' I asked if he was sure, and he acted like he couldn't believe I'd ask such a thing. He insists that he's telling the truth. He was mad when I explained to him what happened when I spoke to his parents. Actually, he fucking exploded. I tried to explain myself more than once, but he wouldn't listen to anything I wanted to say. Then he said something along the lines of, 'I don't ever wanna be with you again. Deal with it and leave us alone.' I had to promise him that I would, and then he left in a huff."

Mariana had to blink hard a couple of times to process everything she'd just heard. She exhaled a low whistle, followed by a bewildered sigh. "Damn."

"Yeah, it was a lot to process," Cassie said. "I can honestly say that I've never seen Isaac so angry before."

"I'm shocked...but then again, I'm not. I think your last stunt pushed Isaac far past his breaking point. He's beyond fed up with all that you've done since he and Lexi started dating."

"You're absolutely right. I'm gonna leave them be for the rest of the year. I'm not too keen on being yelled at again."

Mariana raised her eyebrows. "Does that mean you're gonna give up?"

"Oh no," Cassie answered, "I still want to break them up. But I'm gonna leave him and Lexi alone for some time. I wanna let them think that I've accepted everything. After all, the best offense is a good defense— right?"

"That's better, I guess," Mariana relented.

"I agree," Cassie said.