The Infamous Truth

4: Reunited

Eliza's POV
I arrive at our breakfast place 10 minutes early just to get seated and everything before Alycia gets here. I want her to see that I have my life together now and she doesn't have to be afraid of me abandoning her again. My nerves are still there, telling me she's gonna hate me, yell at me, and not want to be my friend anymore. And honestly if that happened it wouldn't hold a grudge against her. I don't deserve to be forgiven.

All my worries fade when I see her walk through the door and my excitement grows. As the waiter walks her to the table and her eyes meet mine I can't help but run up and hug her. She stumbles back as I bump into her and squeeze her tight. "Well hello to you too." She says as she finally wraps her arms around me too. I single tear falls from my eye onto her shirt as I whisper "I missed you." I hadn't realized how much I missed her presence in my life until now, and it feels amazing to hug her again. Alycia doesn't say anything and I pull away, noticing I may have been hugging her for too long. She looks at my face and then her eyes wander questionably down to my scarf. "Eliza it's 90 degrees outside. Why the hell are you wearing a scarf?" She asks. I finally get to see her smile again. I give her a sad smile as I look to the ground. "We should go sit." I say ignoring her question. She looks confused but then nods. This is gonna be a long day.

Alycia's POV
It's a surreal feeling sitting down with Eliza again, just like old times in our breakfast place. She's still acting like she's hiding something but I can't put my finger on what. We sit in silence as we look over the menu's. After we ordered, I keep on glancing at Eliza and try to decipher what's going on. After a while I speak up, seeing as she wasn't going to. "Eliza, we have to talk. Otherwise this was pointless." I say looking at her eyes. I waited for her to make eye contact but she didn't, just starred at the table. "A lot has happened Alycia..." She says showing no emotion in her voice. "Okay so tell me!" I say getting a bit frustrated. Eliza looks anywhere but my eyes and doesn't say a word. I wait a while before saying "Alright I guess this was a waste of my time." I get up and start to grab my things.

"Wait." She finally says as she grabs my hand to stop me from going. I look back at her, still frustrated when she motion for me to sit back down. I do as she says and she pulls down her scarf to reveal a giant bruise that covered her whole neck. My face softens as I see the pain in her eyes. My mouth drops as I quietly say "Eliza..." She covers it again and looks down to the table. "I know... it- it looks bad." She says shyly. "No.. I just.. I'm still confused. Who did this to you?" I say and I see her cringe thinking about the disgusting person who did this. It boils my blood to think that someone had hurt her. But then I feel terrible for not being there to protect her. I should have seen something was wrong. Was this the reason she hasn't spoken to me? "I don't think I should say it here. It's too public.. someone could hear." She says. I don't say anything while I try and process this information. How long has this person been hurting her? Why would she shut me out because of this, I could've helped her? I knew I couldn't ask these questions right now. I could see how on edge she was when I looked up to her so I reach across the table and place my hand on top of hers. "It's gonna be ok. You don't have to tell me right now." I say when her eyes meet mine, knowing I want this information very badly but not wanting to force her. She gives me a small smile and grabs onto my hand tightly.

Eliza's POV
"I really did miss you..." I say looking at our intertwined hands. "It was all just... complicated." I look up to see Alycia nod and I continue. "I didn't mean what I said last time.. that I was worried you would catch feelings. I know you wouldn't have done that to my.. relationship." I cringe at that word, thinking of what Bob did to me. I really did love him. But I guess hearts can love the wrong people. I need to focus on what I do have. I have Marie.. and I might have Alycia. "Is that who this is amount? Bo-" Alycia starts before I cut her off. "Shh.." I say suddenly with wide eyes looking around to make sure no one's listening. I realized that our food had come and I didn't even notice. "We should take this to-go and go to my place. So we can actually talk." I say at Alycia confused face. "I-.. okay." She says. We ask the waiter for boxes and head out to my place.
——
"Oh by the way, Marie is here I hope you don't mind." I say as we pull into my driveway. "Not at all! I haven't seen her in forever!" Alycia says excitedly as we get out of the car. I can't help but smile at her, watching as she runs up to the door. It's just like it was in 2015.

Alycia waits at the door, patiently waiting for me to open it. Once I do, Marie sees Alycia right away and yells "OH MY GOD LYCIAAAA!" Right before slamming her in a tight hug. "Marieeee! I missed you!" Alycia says. "Damn I thought this was our reunion, Lycia." I say sarcastically, giving my best pouty face. She pulls out of Marie's embrace and pushes me on the arm. "Oh shut up, you know I love you too. It's called tough love!" She says with a smile on her face. I smile at her words, knowing I'm getting my best friend back. "So I guess you two kissed and made up?.. Thank god, I was getting tired of just this one over here! Come on in!" Marie says, definitely way too energetically. She turns to walk inside, leaving the door open. Me and Alycia look at each other with confused smiles. Why the fuck would she say kissed? I walk in and look back at her, pushing my hand out for her to hold. She smiles, takes my hand and closes the door behind her.

"It looks different from last time I was here." Alycia says looking around. As she's spinning around the room I go to take my scarf off. Suddenly Alycia walks back up to me and inspects my neck. She's really close to me, our faces maybe a bit too close when she looks up into my eyes. "He did this to you?" She asks with sad eyes. I looks down to the ground and slowly nod, not wanting to cry. The memory replays in my head as Alycia pulls me into a hug and I rest my head on her shoulder. It all comes flooding back.. like it's happening all over again.. way too vividly.

—February 2, 2021–
⚠️ possible trigger warning, assault ⚠️
Today was off to a good start, I scrolled through Instagram for a bit in the morning and felt brave enough to comment on Alycia's post and then Marie came over to hang out. We had hung out for a few hours already when we decided to go swimming. She went to the bathroom to change while I went to my room. Once I got there the day started going south.

"What the hell is this?!" A manly voice says in an intimidating tone. I look at the door to see Bob standing there looking very angry. He's holding his phone up, showing my comment on Alycia's post. "I- I can explain." I say backing up, scared of what he might do. Over these past few years things have gotten pretty bad, but I'm too scared to do anything about it. "THEN FUCKING DO IT! EXPLAIN ELIZA!" he yells, spitting in my face. I was feeling quite brave today, which was not a good thing. "Can I not comment something nice on my friend's post?!" I say back, probably a bit too angrily. He looks at me with so much hate in his eyes. "THATS IT!!" He yells before snatching me by the neck throwing me on the bed. My breathing quickens as I'm scared he might kill me this time. He jumps on me and squeezes tighter than he ever has. My mouth opens wide as I try my hardest to get air in my lungs. I see the world spinning around me and I just know that this is the end. He wasn't letting go anytime soon and with the grip he had I was not getting out of this alive. Just before I thought I was done for, I hear a yell from the bedroom door and his grip loosens a little. "PUT YOUR FUCKING HANDS IN THE AIR YOU BASTARD! I WILL SHOOT!!" The voice says. I finally feel the pressure on my throat go away and breathe in more air than I ever thought I could. The room stops spinning around me and I can look over to see Marie with a gun in her hands, pointed at Bob. "Marie.." I whisper so quietly she doesn't hear. "Marie it's not what it looks like, I swear." Bob says. "Really?! Cause it looks like you're trying to kill Eliza!! NOW IM GONNA CALL THE POLICE AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA MOVE A MUSCLE! YOU HEAR ME?!!" Marie yells before grabbing for her phone with the gun still pointed at Bob. My vision starts to go dark as I hear the start of the call. "Hi, yes I have a man that's trying to kill my friend..." my ears go quiet as I'm now in total darkness and silence. My body limb to the bed in seconds.
——
"Eliza! Eliza, it's ok I'm here. You're ok." I hear as my flashback ends. I look up to see Alycia's worried eyes. I can feel sweat dripping down my whole body and tears soak my face. "You're ok.." she says once more, seeming to be convincing herself more than me. Tears still cloud my vision as I say "I- I'm.. ok.."