A T H E N A
"Please have mercy on me, take it easy on my heart even though you don't mean to hurt me, you keep tearing me apart, I'm begging you for mercy"
° ° °
With my lips parted and eyebrows furrowed, I watch how Lucy smiles and dances around the room.
"I knew it! I knew it, I knew it!" she exclaims.
"How? What do you mean...?" I ask, confused at her reaction.
She takes a seat next to me on the bed.
"I don't know, I just kind of felt the sexual tension between you two," she laughs. "I remember when I went over to your house, I smelled some cologne on your bed and I recognized it when Vincenzo introduced himself to me," she shrugs.
"And it was hilarious how you got so pissed when I asked his number, I was just testing you to make sure."
This isn't the reaction I expected from her.
"B-but..."
She laughs at my expression and pinches my cheek. "I understand why you didn't tell me, but I would never judge you girl," she says and smiles at me.
"So, you're not disgusted with...?"
"No! I'm happy for you," she says. I don't know whether to laugh or be concerned about her reaction.
For the first time in a very long time, I'm happy I don't have to hide this anymore for her.
"But," she says, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Does Chris know?" she asks. My amused expression disappears, and I shake my head.
"No," I whisper.
"I know I'm not exactly a good role-model when it comes to relationships and stuff, but cheating is wrong, Athena. You should tell him," she says. "I know, but I just can't," I say, and feel the tears coming up again.
"Oh honey," she says and hugs me.
"I can't bring myself to do it. The whole week I was with Vincenzo and I was so happy with him, Lucy. So happy but I couldn't help but feel guilty when I was doing the things I did with Vincenzo even though he made me feel so happy and amazing," I cry into her shoulder.
"I don't know why I kept cheating on Chris, but Vincenzo just kept coming back, he attracted me so much," I sob.
"Shh, it's not entirely your fault, Athena. Yes, instead of resisting Vincenzo you gave in but girl, I can't really blame you! You got a fine piece of man!" she says, making me chuckle.
"But it's also his fault. He knew you had a boyfriend and he still tried to seduce you," she says. I wipe the tears away and look up to her.
"What should I do?" I ask. She looks at me with pity.
"There's only one thing you can do, Athena. And that's telling Chris the truth."
° ° °
"Athena!" Chris greets me happily and wraps his muscular arms around me. "I missed you so much," he mumbles in my hair, and tightens his grip around me.
I feel the tears welling up at his innocence, and my heart hurts for him.
Right after Lucy convinced me to text Chris, she dropped me off at my house. I'm surprise at how supportive she was.
"You need to tell me everything about your trip, I'm excited to hear it," he says and pulls away a little.
His bright eyes shine with happiness, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. I force a smile back, and when he leans in to peck my lips, I dodge it by hugging him again.
I can't kiss him after everything that has happened with Vincenzo. I pull away from the hug and take a step back.
"I'll tell you everything," I say, and he nods, not knowing the double meaning behind my sentence. His eyes fall to my neck.
"Is that a new necklace?" he asks, a frown edging his features. My hand instantly goes to the golden necklace Vincenzo bought for me in New York.
"Y-yeah, thought it was time for something new," I smile, but it's not genuine. "Alright," he says, still frowning, "let's go upstairs."
He takes my hand in his, an action that hurts me so much and together we walk up to my room.
"So, how was your trip?" Chris asks me as soon as we're in my room. He takes a seat on my bed. I sigh, and wonder how I'm going to tell him.
"It was great," I say honestly, but keep it short. "How was everything? Did you enjoy it?" he asks, curiosity clear in his eyes.
"Chris... I have to tell you something," I whisper, and feel the tears brimming my eyes.
Immediately, he stands up from my bed, concern written in his eyes and he takes my face between his hands. "What's wrong, Athena?" he asks.
A sole tear slides down my face, which I quickly wipe away but it's useless as other tears start rolling down my face.
"I-I," I sob and can't get the words out.
"Shh, you know you can tell me everything, I won't judge you," he says, trying to calm me down and leads me to the bed. His words only hurt me more. But nothing will compare to the pain I'm about to cause.
I untangle his hands from me – he'll probably be disgusted with me after I tell him everything so I want to create some distance between us.
I take a shaky breath and close my eyes for a second before I open them again. "Chris," I begin and look into his beautiful blue eyes. "You're my best friend," I tell him, my voice breaking.
I genuinely don't want to lose him – as a friend. I realize I'm not crying because our relationship is about to be over, I'm crying because I'm about to hurt him, a lot.
Vincenzo just helped me in realizing that I don't love Chris the way I should've loved him, but I love him as a friend.
I take a deep breath and wipe my tears away, but it doesn't help much as more tears start streaming down my face. Sobbing and hiccupping, I bring my knees up and hug them while I try to get myself together.
"Athena, you're scaring me. What's going on?" he asks and puts a hand on my shoulder. I let go of my knees, and move a little so his hand isn't touching me anymore. I can't bring myself to say the words.
Just spit it out.
"I-I cheated on you, Chris. I'm s-so sorry," I sob, and hide my face in my hands, like the coward I am.
I hear a sharp intake of breath, making me look up into his eyes, and see the light slowly disappear from them, the life fading away and the usual happiness they're holding dies down.
"What?" he whispers, and a horrified expression takes over his features. "I'm so sorry, Chris. I don't want to hurt you but it just happened and..."
He stands up from the bed, cutting me off, and walks away – away from me. He rakes a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut. He takes a deep breath and starts shaking his head like this is all a dream.
"You cheated?" he whispers, and looks at me with hurt in his eyes. I bite my lip, trying to prevent myself from sobbing but fail. I also stand up, and walk up to him but he just takes a couple of steps back. That gesture stings.
"But, only kissed another guy?" he asks, still a hopeful glint in his eyes.
"I wish," I whisper and close my eyes when I see his face.
I hear his heavy breathing, and I open my eyes to see him walking around the room. Then he looks back at me, and instead of seeing sadness, I now see rage in his eyes, something I'm not used to see.
"So, you just slept with another guy while I was waiting patiently for you. I thought you weren't ready but there you go, fucking another boy," he says, raising his voice slightly.
I flinch at his tone and harsh but true words. "No, Chris, it isn't like that..."
"It's exactly like that!" he almost yells. I flinch back at his tone and take a step back, hitting the wall with my back.
His eyes fall to the necklace around my neck.
"Did you get that from him too, huh? Was his better than mine? I gave the necklace to you with so much love, Athena, while he's just probably using you for your body," he says angrily. His eyes are filled with rage, hurt and betrayal.
"No, he isn't like that, you don't know him," I say, but I know I shouldn't have. He rakes his hand through his blonde hair, and I see his eyes turning glossy. It pains me so much to see him like this.
And it's your fault.
"I don't even want to know who it is," he says, his voice quivering. "I just wonder what he has that I don't," he says and looks at me directly in the eyes.
"Chris, please. I'm so sorry I did this to you," I sob and wipe my tears away.
"No, you're not," he says, his tone sad but also angry. "If you really have loved me, you wouldn't have cheated on me," he says.
"But I do love you," I whisper. He clenches his fists by his side and his head snaps up, his raging blue eyes meeting my sad ones.
"Don't lie to me, Athena! You're just lying to me and to yourself! You've never loved me like I love you. God, I loved you so much – and still do. I was prepared to wait for you, Athena. I was willing to wait a whole life-time for you because I love you so damn much," he says, his voice breaking at the end.
I see he's fighting against the tears that want to escape, but he holds back. He's containing his anger – his body language gives it away. Hell, if it would've been me I probably would've burned the whole house down.
"Chris, I really am sorry," I whisper. Something inside him seems to snap at my words, and he looks up into my eyes.
"Stop telling me lies, Athena!" he yells, and stalks up to me. My breath hitches in my throat at his pace. His fist hit the wall, right beside my head.
His body is caging me in, scaring me a little bit. With a terrified expression on my face, I look up at him and see his eyes closed as he breathes heavily. I'm so pained by this, so incredibly hurt of seeing him like this even though I'm the cause.
Slowly, he opens his eyes and his blue ones meet my green ones. When he sees the horrified look in my eyes, I see regret taking over him.
"I can't do this," he whispers and before I can hold him back, he turns around and exits my room.
"Wait, Chris," I call out after him. "Don't, Athena," he warns, and just in time, I see him raise his hand to his face, and he wipes a tear away.
I hear his footstep run downstairs and then the front door being opened and slammed shut. I cover my mouth and sink to the ground, still crying and sobbing like crazy.
After what seems like hours of just sitting there and crying, I stand up and walk up to my bed. My parents are out to have a dinner with the two of them, so I'm glad they weren't home to hear what was going on. I grab my phone, unlock it and go to my contacts.
I call the first person that comes to mind, and after a few rings they pick up the phone.
"Bella?"
. . .
Lmao, I remember how anxious I was to write this chapter back then. I used to postpone it all the time because I was nervous in Athena's place *crying emoji*
Anyway, sorry for the spam lol