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Just as I’m about to put her phone back on the nightstand, Hannah walks into the room, looking like my every fantasy come to life but I can’t help but wonder what else she’s hiding from me.
“What are you doing with my phone?” she asks, her entire body rigid as she stands at the foot of the bed, her eyes wide.
“It wouldn’t stop going off, so I picked it up to turn it off.”
She says nothing.
“Why is Steven texting you?”
Her face scrunches, her chest rising with a shuddering breath.
“You went through my phone?” she accuses, and I shake my head.
“I didn’t go through it wanting to read all your texts, but baby, some of these are bad. Like stalker kind of bad. You need to tell the cops.”
She shakes her head and walks over to where I’m sitting and takes the phone from my hand, throwing it to the other side of the bed.
“It’s harmless, they’re just words, Cash.”
Does she really believe that? Because in my gut I think it’s a load of shit.
“Harmless? Hannah, he’s threatening you. What if he comes here to find you?” I know I’d do everything in my power to protect her but this sinking feeling has me second-guessing everything.
“He won’t.”
“How do you know? He beat the crap out of you, Hannah. You were too dense to see the red flags five years ago, don’t make that same mistake again.” I know the second the words leave my mouth that I fucked up.
“Too dense? Is that how you see me, Cash? The stupid girl who chose the abuser over you?”
I open my mouth to defend myself but she stops me.
“No. You don’t get to talk right now.” She takes a breath before continuing. “You know what? I need some air,” she mutters before picking up her clothes and getting dressed quickly.
“Come on, baby, you know that’s not what I meant.”
Once her clothes are on, she picks up her phone and heads out of the room and down the hall. I quickly grab a pair of shorts that were thrown on the floor and slip them on and I run after her.
“Hannah, stop,” I beg, the weight of everything crashing down on top of me.
Her steps falter as she stops at the foot of the stairs. Nothing prepares me for the sight of the tears rolling down her cheeks as her eyes meet mine.
Fuck, I’m an asshole.
“Don’t go, please. Let’s talk this out.”
She hesitates and for a split second I wonder if she’ll stay, but then she turns and walks out of the front door. That’s the second time I’ve watched the love of my life walk away from me, and I still have no idea how I’m going to fix this.
Hannah
The second I step outside into the darkness I stop, peering at my car as it sits alone in the driveway. For a moment I look around the yard, feeling this odd sense of being watched but I pass it off as being paranoid because of the texts and the fight. Conflicting emotions war inside me as I look back at the house, silently begging Cash to come running out the front door to stop me. But when I stand there, surrounded by only the glow of the moon, I know he’s giving me space, and even though every instinct I have is telling me to turn around and run back inside where Cash and I can talk things out, do the one thing we didn’t do five years ago, I don’t. Instead, I pull my car keys out of my jeans pocket, open my car door, and back out of his driveway.
I know he didn’t mean what he said, and I know he didn’t mean for it to rip open an old wound that I’ve barely kept stitched together over the years, but for some reason his words tore through every barrier I created for myself, tearing me to pieces along with it. My headlights flash down the empty road as I plug my phone into my car and call the one person who might be able to talk some sense into me.
“Hello?” Addison answers after the first ring.
The sound of her voice on the other end of the phone brings back a slew of memories from before I left. We might not have been best friends, but we were close. So close that I wonder if maybe she’s the only person who can see this for what it really is… fear. I know I’m scared of what my life is becoming, I know I’m terrified that what I have with Cash is temporary even though he’s given me no indication that that’s the truth. But Steven’s voice echoes in the back of my mind, telling me just how worthless I am without him, how no one could ever love someone like me.
All those thoughts race through my mind as I drive down a deserted road, leading me somewhere away from my fears and my past.
