The Girl In The Dirty Shirt

Chapter 24

I stood motionless suddenly feeling very sick.
I looked at Liam who hadn't said anything; he just stood there, still looking at Noel; almost like he hadn't processed what he'd been told yet.

"You what?" Liam asked

I watched as his whole body went tense.

"Had sex" Noel said again

Liam's curiosity quickly turned to rage; he quickly started to close the short distance between him and Noel. I stepped between them, Liam digging his heel into the carpet stopping himself, but not before l had to take a step backwards to avoid being hit myself; I backed into Noel knocking us both into the wall.

I held my hands up grabbing Liam's arms. "Stop"

He took a step back and looked at me. "Did y'fuckin' do it?" He asked

"I just said I'd marry you, what do you think?"

I asked hoping he would come to his own conclusion and I could avoid lying right to his face.
He thought about this for a minute before looking behind me at Noel and shaking his head.

"Y'always been jealous of me, cunt"

He turned on his heel and let himself back into our room. I waited making sure he was gone before I turned around glaring at Noel and shoving him hard into the wall.

"Are you fucking stupid?!" I asked. "Why the fuck would you tell him that?"

"Because he deserves to know"

"And I’ll tell him"

Noel shook his head. "You fucking will not"

"So what if I don't?" I snapped. "It's my fucking relationship, my fucking business. We've all got fucking secrets Noel. I'm doing a fine job of fucking up my life on my own; I don't need your help"

"You wanna marry him keepin' that secret?" He challenged. "Course y'do," he nodded answering his own question. "If you told 'im he wouldn't want to marry you"

I didn't say anything

"What if it were Sally?" He asked. "What if she was in your place?"

"Don't bring my sister into this" I glared

"She's not like big sister Lyla is she?" He pretended to think for a second. "Maybe she is, you're both pretty good at lyin' to the people you love"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"She ain't as sweet and innocent as she seems"

"Noel, I swear to god, if you touched my sister you won't have to worry about Liam, I’ll fucking kill you myself"

He shook his head. "Not me love; 'er and Guigs though, they're gettin' pretty friendly ain't they?"

"Oh for fuck's sake Noel, grow up" I turned around to go back into the room.

"Ask her where they went when you and Liam went out for breakfast, I'll bet she'll lie, just like 'er big sister"

I turned around looking at him again. "I did not lie"

"No," Noel shook his head. "Just manipulated, exactly what you're good at"

"You know," I sighed. "You might think Liam is a cunt, but you're not any fucking better; get off your fucking high horse, Noel, you're no better than anyone else"

I'd started to feel the beginnings of a headache, exactly what I needed right now.

"You're just some guy who got lucky, and if it hadn't been for him," I continued referring to Liam as I pointed behind me at the door. "You'd still be lugging boxes like the rest of us scraping by to pay rent."