Forced Into Insanity

Chapter 12: South

— Francesca —

Great. My first interaction with Katherine and we're talking about her relationship with my brother. To add to that, she somehow knows about my feelings for Oliver, fantastic.

The cherry on top is, it's all in front of Thomas.

Fucking phenomenal.

"Excuse me?" I start.
"Oh don't play dumb, Fran. You love Oliver, so what? I love Gabriel, what's so wrong here? I honestly don't see a probl-"

I cut her off immediately.

"I deserve to know." I say through gritted teeth, anger slowly boiling at my blood, destroying the entire supply; like acid, slowly burning me from the inside. I can't breathe without screaming at someone, I can't move without hitting someone. I've never felt such overwhelming anger.
"I deserved to know about you and Oliver, Fran."
"And why is that?" I retort. Katherine only shoots me a confused look.
"They were dating." Thomas utters.

I'm not functioning anymore. I can't..can't live, can't move, can't...

Feel.

Memories flood my mind of everything between Oliver and I, from our first meeting to me running out of his house, to think of Katherine and him together makes me sick. I'm holding back tears even when I feel angry, I'm angry at everything, at her, at him, at Thomas and even Gabriel.

Most of all at Gabriel.

God I wish I could bulge his eyes out right now.

"Fran, how..how long have you known Gabriel and I were together?" Katherine asks, a newfound nervousness coating her throat. I take a quick minute to ponder an answer. I knew..no, I suspected they were together when I first saw her behind the counter but now I'm unsure how long ago that was.
"When I saw you behind the counter, I knew something was horribly wrong." I admit.
"Were you there to see Gabriel? I must have interrupted that, sorry." I only hear her tone clearly now; It sounds make-pretend, like a doll's voice, childish and absurdly high pitched. I glance at Katherine's blonde locks, I only notice how long her hair is now, has it always been this long and straight? Her locks frame her figure nicely, ends coiling at the tips like they were artificially made to stay like that forever. She looks majestic, like a statue and,

I'm about to ruin that artificial beauty of hers by truly putting her through what I went through.

I finally break.

I walk over and lean over ever familiar shoulders,

"I suggest we go, Tom. I don't want to cause any trouble here." I plant a small kiss on his cheek and look at him expectantly. It takes him a moment to process this, he scowls but ultimately plays along. He nods, we interlock arms and walk out nonchalantly.

—~~~—

— Oliver  —

I get to work on a small bottle, my masterpiece. Who would suspect a small bottle like this be the reason they choke on their own saliva?

This is going to be fun, so very..fun.

I've thought about it and for the longest time, I knew I loved Katherine but I think my mind is changing.

I've found myself a miracle, a person I truly love.

However, sometimes the people you love can't accept your true nature.