Strings (1 of 2)

Chapter 64 - Confrontation

"I see a stranger in your eyes, where once I saw a soulmate. It breaks my heart." - Unknown

His eyes watch me silently as I sit in the chair across from him and fold my hands together on the table to stop them from shaking. I can see the nervousness in his eyes growing by the second, fueling my rage even more the longer he doesn't speak.

"Tell me this isn't what I think it is." I tell him and he doesn't move at all - his mouth, his body, nothing - almost like he didn't hear me.

"Tell me what I'm thinking is a lie." I say, my voice a bit more shaky.

"Emily..." He says and I shake my head, reading his mind already.

"Nathan. I swear to god. Explain right now or I am leaving and telling my parents exactly what I know happened. Right now they only know about her." I try to threaten him, but my voice cracks on the last word.

He was with her the whole time, wasn't he? Everything he promised me about her was a lie...

He nods slowly after a second and runs his hand through his hair.

"I'll start from the beginning." He says and all the air leaves my lungs as a weight collapses on my chest as he explains it all, confirming what I already knew deep down - what his eyes gave away. I stay quiet as he explains the whole thing, not trusting myself to speak without crying.

"The night I met you, I wasn't working at the hotel where the party was. I was outside smoking trying to come up with a plan to meet you. I never expected you to show up out back. I also didn't think you would ever say yes to leaving with me... but you did." He chuckles humourlessly for a second and then frowns again as he looks down at the table, avoiding my eyes, like he just realized laughing was the wrong way to go.

"I never planned on us sleeping together - you have to know that. I thought I would get close, be your friend. I didn't intend for it to be this way. Fuck, I never thought it would go this far. But I couldn't stop myself that night when you went to my bed to charge your phone..." he trails off as we both remember our first night together silently... heartbreakingly.

"Anyways, you left the morning after, so I had to figure out how to see you. I found you at the café. After our date, you said you didn't want to do anything because you were moving. I didn't know what else to do. But then you offered up our rules. I could keep you for the summer. At that point, that was perfect for the plan. It made sense. But I know now I really only did it because I liked you. I just didn't admit that to myself. I could have let you walk away and find some other way to make the plan work. I knew it would hurt you to keep going, but I couldn't get enough. I was addicted to you. To us..."

He looks up to meet my eyes, his own begging for me to understand something I can't even fathom.

"I'll cut to it. I took a USB from your father's office that weekend. I gave it to Gabby, she was working for him. She used it to get access to his computer somehow. I don't know, she's good with computers, I guess."

That's how she got the money...

"I left the door unlocked for her a few times at your house. God, how I regret that now. No, I regretted it the whole time. I knew it was wrong. I knew, but didn't stop her. I was a fucking idiot, Em. I was." He reaches out for my hands and I snatch them back instantly, glaring across the table.