Chapter 22
***Liliana's POV***
"Can we take a nap?" I asked.
"Uh sure." Alex responded.
We got up from the couch and went to my room.
Alex and I hadn't talked much since we got into the apartment. I didn't want to talk to him though. I wasn't sure what I would say.
"Are you sure your cheek doesn't hurt?" He asked me when we laid down.
"Only when I touch it. I don't think we have anymore band aids." I frowned.
"It's probably gonna be there for a while."
"I know." I sighed and closed my eyes.
"Annie can we talk?"
"About what?"
"Ashton." Alex said.
I kept my eyes closed. "Why?"
"Why did he buy that stuff for you? And why did he call you Liliana?"
"Shaylin's birthday is coming up and I was going to get her a cake. Those were just samples of a bunch of stuff. I offered to pay, but he wouldn't let me." I explained.
"But why did he call you Liliana?"
"Because it would be unprofessional for him to call me Annie." I lied.
"Please look at me Annie." He quietly begged.
I opened my eyes.
"I've been trying really hard to keep my temper in line, but seeing you talk to him today almost made me lose it." He said
"You've been doing so good. I'm really proud of you."
"I love you." He whispered.
I smiled at him. I kissed his cheek and laid my head back down on my pillow.
"Get some rest. You've had a long day." He said.
My eyes closed and I drifted to sleep.
@@@@@
"Alex?" I mumbled as I opened my eyes. He wasn't in the bed beside me anymore.
I sighed heavily before laying my head back down on the pillow.
"I can't talk right now Emily. I'm with Annie." I heard Alex's muffled voice say.
"I know baby. I miss you too." He was outside of my room.
My jaw dropped.
"I can't wait to see you tonight. I just have to tell her that I have to work or something. Meet me at Applebee's at seven."
I heard him laugh.
"I know. Dumb bitch believes anything I say."
I felt tears form in my eyes.
"Bye baby. I'll see you later."
The door knob twisted, and I quickly rolled over on my stomach.
"Annie." I heard Alex whisper and he began lightly rubbing my back.
I tried my best not to cringe.
"What?" I asked quietly.
"I have to go to work."
"Bye."
"Love you." He said. I felt his lips press against the back of my head.
I pretended to be asleep once again. I heard him leave, but I stilled laid there.
Tears began falling from my eyes. It all made sense. Why he didn't want to stay the night. Why he had to "work" so much. Why he never wanted me to use his phone. He was cheating. Alex was a cheater, and though I had just come to the realization that I didn't love him like I thought I did, it still hurt me.
Spending seven months with someone just to find out that they were cheating was heartbreaking.
I don't know how long I was laying there before I heard the door open again.
"Annie?" I heard Shaylin's voice.
My door opened.
"You're home early." She said. "What's wrong?"
"I don't feel good." I lied.
"What? What hurts?" She came over to the side of the bed I was on. "My god! What happened to you?" She gasped.
"I feel so sick."
"It's okay. You're going to be okay." Shaylin said softly.
There was an awful ache in my chest, my head was pounding, and my stomach was churning.
"You wanna tell me what happened?" She asked quietly.
"No."
"Water?"
"No."
"Well, what do you want?" She asked.
"To be alone." I whispered.
"I'll come and check on you in a little while." She said giving me a gentle hug.
She let go of me and I felt her get off of the bed.
I couldn't tell Shaylin what happened. She would kill Alex. I wanted to kill Alex. After all of the shit he put me through, he cheated.
Of all people that would've been justified to cheat, it was me, but I didn't. I was faithful, never got upset with him, and always supported and encouraged him.
I didn't understand it. What had I done wrong?
My phone vibrated on the table next to me.
"Hello?" I answered without looking to see who it was.
"Lily?" I heard Ashton's voice say.
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I told you. I'm fine."
"Liliana if you don't tell me what's wrong right now then I'm coming over there."
"Ashton I'm okay." I sighed. "Did you need something?"
"Not anymore." He said and hung up.
"What the hell?" I mumbled.
I put my phone back on my table and laid my head back again.
Almost a year with somebody down the drain. Alex said he had changed, but I didn't think he meant into a cheater.
The awful pounding in my head had gotten worse. I could hear and feel my heart beating.
I closed my eyes in hopes of getting some sleep, but that was as unsuccessful as my attempt to stop thinking of Alex.
I didn't know what I was going to do. I needed to break up with him, but when and how? Did I need proof of him cheating before breaking up with him?
I heard a knock on the front door.
"Shaylin get the door!" I yelled.
The knocking continued.
I groaned before getting up and walking to the door. I wiped my eyes before opening the door.
"Ashton?" I frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"You wouldn't tell me what was wrong."
"You're fucking creepy." I laughed lightly.
"You wanna tell me what happened?" He asked.
"No."
"Can I come in?"
"No."
"Lily why are you acting like this?" He asked me sadly.
"It's been a bad day."
"You look like you could use a hug." He opened his arms.
I looked at him for a moment before walking into his embrace. I inhaled his familiar scent and nuzzled my face into his chest.
"Did you just smell me?" He laughed.
"Mhm."
I felt butterflies in my stomach as he giggled.
"Ash I need your help with something." I said looking up.
He was biting his lip trying to contain a smile.
"Why are you smiling?" I asked curiously.
"You called me Ash."
I rolled my eyes. "Will you help me?"
"Yeah. What's up?"
"I need you to take me to Applebee's at seven."
"May I ask why?"
"I uh, I think that Alex is going to be there."
"I don't want to take you there so you can go on a date."
"But I think he's meeting another girl. I need someone else there to tell me that he's not cheating on me and I'm being crazy." I said. "Or maybe I just need someone to tell me that he is cheating."
A look of sympathy passed through his eyes. "It's almost seven. Let's go to Applebee's."
"I need shoes."
I went to my room and quickly put my converse on.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"What's your shirt for?" He asked.
"What?" I looked down. "Oh. It's an old tournament shirt."
"Tournament for what?"
"Softball."
"You played softball?"
"Yeah. I played on a competitive team. We weren't that good, but it always gave me something to do." I said as we got into his car.
"I bet you were amazing. You probably got all the outs and points, but you're just telling me you aren't that good because you want to be humble."
I laughed. "I actually wasn't that bad. My freshman year I was scouted to play for an Australian team."
"What?" He gasped dramatically.
"Yep. I could've gone to Sydney for a summer and played softball. If I liked it, I could've moved out there."
"So you're telling me that I could've met you earlier in life?"
"Yes, but I was fifteen when it happened. I'm not sure that you would've wanted to talk to me."
"I always want to talk to you." He said sweetly. "But did you go?"
"No. I wanted to, but my mom said she didn't want me away for so long. She could've handled me away for the summer, but I didn't go then either."
"Why?"
"I was afraid that I would meet a tall handsome Australian man with blonde hair and a super adorable smile. I didn't want to be heartbroken when he decided to give up on his music career and move to Los Angeles to run a family business."
"You think my smile is adorable?" He asked with a stupid grin plastered on his face.
I rolled my eyes. "Off all the things that I said, that was what you heard?"
"No. You also think that I'm handsome." He smirked.
"I was talking about Luke."
"What?" He said with wide eyes.
"Yeah. I've only met him a few times, but I think he's the greatest. I want to climb him like a tree."
"What? Are you serious?"
"No." I laughed. "He's hot, but not my type."
"Thank god. You scared the shit out of me."
"He's got really nice legs though. I would gladly swap legs with him."
"He does have nice legs, but yours are better."
I blushed at his compliment.
"Thanks."
"I mean it. Your legs are tan and really long compared to the rest of your body. They're soft too. His are just pale and hairy and bleh."
"I get it." I laughed.
"Sorry. Just trying to get a point across."
For a few seconds, I forgot that I was sad. I forgot everything that had happened in the few hours previous to this awful day.
It was like the few seconds after you wake up and you forget everything. You don't remember what's going on in your life. That's what Ashton did for me. He made me forget the bad and only see good.
"Can I ask you something?" He asked after a while.
"Sure."
"What are you going to do if Alex is there with another girl?"
"I don't know. I don't want to confront him." I sighed. "Maybe I'll talk to him about it tomorrow."
"We're here."
I quickly got out of the car so I wouldn't have a chance to change my mind.
Ashton followed me, but when we got halfway to the door, I stopped.
"What's wrong?" He asked me.
"I can't do this."
"Yes you can. Come on." He walked toward me, but I backed away.
"What if he's in there and he's with a girl? What do I do? I can't just watch him cheat on me. What if he sees us? What if he gets mad and-" I cut myself off before I said too much.
"And what?"
"And hurts you." I said, but I wasn't as concerned for his health as much as I was concerned with mine.
"I'll be fine." He said putting his hands on my shoulders. "Now let's go."
"But I'm scared." I pouted.
"Woman up." He said.
"What?"
"Kind of like man up, but woman up because sometimes women are stronger than men and the world needs to realize that."
"That's the most wonderful thing I think you've ever said."
"Thank you. I saw it on tv."
His right hand slid down my arm and grabbed my left hand.
I looked down at our entwined fingers.
"Okay. Let's go."
We walked the rest of the way to the restaurant. We got a table in the corner of the place and ordered drinks.
I nervously moved around in my seat and looked for Alex. I didn't see him until I looked at the bar.
He was sitting there alone.
"Ash I see him."
"Where?"
"He's at the bar, but he's alone." I said before I took a drink.
"Uh. I don't think he's alone."
I looked up to see that Ashton was right. There was a girl there that wasn't there before. Her hair was shoulder length and dyed bright red. She was absolutely stunning. He kissed her cheek and held her hand on the countertop.
The waitress walked back over to us asking if we were ready to order.
"Can we get the check?" I asked.
"Uh yeah. Sure thing." She said and walked away.
I pulled ten dollars out of my wallet and put it on the table.
"You said that I could pay, so I'm paying." I said before Ashton could protest.
The waitress dropped the check off and I handed her the money.
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be." I said sadly.
When we were walking out of Applebee's, he put his arm around my shoulders.
"It'll be okay. We'll figure something out."
We got to his car and he hugged me.
"You're taking tomorrow off." He said.
"No. I always take off and you should just fire me or something. I don't deserve that job, I don't deserve Alex, and I don't deserve your kindness." I felt tears build up in my eyes as I pulled away from him.
"Stop it." He said sternly. "Alex is the one that doesn't deserve you, and you do deserve my kindness. You deserve more kindness than I could offer. And as for the job, you earned that."
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"For what?"
"I always drag you into my drama."
"I don't care about any of that. I like hanging out with you." He said sincerely.
"Will you stay the night?" I asked sadly.
"Of course."
____________________
I know that I haven't updated for a while, but I have good reason. We found out that my dog had cancer last week and we got her put down today because she couldn't walk or breathe. I tried to spend as much time as I could with her, so that's why. I'm trying to not be sad about that, so let's move on to happier things.
LOUIS BROKE UP WITH ELEBEARD AND AAAHHHH LARRY IS REAL!!! I WAS AT A CAST PARTY SATURDAY NIGHT AND MY FRIEND TEXTED ME "LOUIS BROKE UP WITH ELEANOR!!!!! #larry2015" AND I START FREAKING THE FUCK OUT!!
FUN FACT: My favorite kind of juice is Apple juice. Yeah. Mmm. Boring.
Anywhooooo
I love you guys. Thank you so much for sticking by me and reading this shitty story.
Stay crocs.