Remedy [MxM]

Chapter 14: How to Massively Complicate Your Life

This chapter was edited on 2/3/2016 and includes minor alterations. Enjoy!

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"So let me get this straight. You, fresh out of a relationship where someone cheated on you and you broke up with them, started having an affair with some bartender guy who happens to be dating the guy whose house we just left?"

"Yeah."

"And that guy happens to be the same guy who totally just came onto you in his own kitchen and kissed you?"

"Yeah."

"And this is after the first guy told you not to call or see him anymore, because he didn't wanna cheat on his boyfriend even though he likes you more?"

"I mean. That's what he said, so. Yeah?" I sighed quietly, leaning back against the couch. I had just finished explaining the situation to Lizzie concerning Chris, and now Eliot. Leaving out certain key-points of course, but I gave her the general overview of everything that had happened in the last five or six months.

"Damn, Arden. I hope my love life is as interesting as yours one day."

I snorted. "Oh, no you don't. Trust me. It's nothing but stress."

Stress and worrying and nervousness that were taking up any and all of my free time. First I was just worried about Chris, but now I was worried about Eliot, too. What if he called me or something and tried hitting on me again? What was I supposed to do if I ran into him in public a third time? Was he going to tell Chris what happened? The third thought was the worst one. How was I supposed to explain that I just let Eliot kiss me? "Sorry I kissed your boyfriend, I was too terrified to move?" Oh yeah, that would go over real well.

Lizzie nodded and started to reply to my earlier comment, but my phone began to ring, catching me off guard. I really wasn't sure who'd be calling me, other than Linsey or maybe Mom to ask when I'd have Lizzie home, but I pulled it out of my pocket and nearly dropped it when I saw who was calling. Chris's name lit up the screen, and I didn't know whether or not to answer. The party had been over for roughly an hour, and Lizzie and I left three hours ago, during which time I'd been busy explaining everything to her about why we left so abruptly. So why was he calling? Shouldn't he be, I don't know, fucking Eliot or something?

Lizzie, during my mental rant, took the phone from my hand and solved my issues for me, answering the call and placing it against my ear. I glared at her before answering quietly. "Hello?"

"What the fuck are you doing?"

I jumped a little at the outburst, not expecting the loud voice. Chris sounded very unhappy. "Um. Breathing? Talking? Thinking?"

"Don't be a smartass, Arden, now what the fuck were you doing at Eliot's?"

I sighed quietly. "I. He invited Lizzie and me. He saw us a couple days ago in the park."

"And you fucking agreed to go? What the hell? Why? Why were you even talking to him? And why the fuck would you be alone with him?"

So Chris knew something about that, then. Lovely. Was it because Eliot told him, or because he'd seen both of us leave that particular room?

"Chris, I think you're sort of blowing this out of proportion—" I tried, but was quickly cut off by more loud swearing.

"The fuck I am! You had no reason to be there!"

"He asked us to come, so we did! That is all that happened!" I replied. Lizzie rose her eyebrows at me as I stood up, going into a different room of my apartment to talk with a little more privacy. Just because I told Lizzie what was going on didn't mean she needed to know every little detail.

"And you didn't even. Say anything to me! You just. I." Chris trailed off with a long, frustrated sigh, making me frown.

"Look, I didn't want to go in the first place, alright? But he asked, and. I wanted to see you, okay? I'm sorry, but I did. It just, it got. I'm sorry, alright?"

Chris was silent for a minute, and I heard him inhale slowly before he spoke again. "Why were you...alone with him?"

To lie, or tell the truth. On the one hand, if I said nothing happened and Eliot was just getting me a drink, Chris was more likely to accept that without additional questioning. If I told Chris that Eliot kissed me, he either wouldn't believe me, or he'd ask things like why I let it happen, or why I didn't walk away, or other questions that I wasn't prepared for and didn't have an answer to.

"He just got me a drink. Really. That's all that happened." I settled for eventually, trying not to wince at the lie.

"I'm sorry," came the quiet response after a minute of silence, and wasn't that unexpected?

"Uh. Sorry for what, exactly?" I asked. Chris sighed again, and waited another minute before answering.

"For yelling at you. And assuming that something was going on."

"Oh. That's, fine. Don't worry about it, it's not a big deal."

"I still feel bad, and. I just, I know what Eliot can be like sometimes, and, you were just there all of a sudden and I didn't know why, and. And I really miss you."

That last comment was said much more quietly than the rest had been, but I couldn't help myself as I smiled slightly. Apparently I wasn't the only one taking this whole thing hard. Before I could think twice on it, I was talking again and asking a question. "What are you doing right now?"

"Sitting in my living room," was the tentative reply.

"I assume Eliot's not there?"

"You'd assume correctly, yes."

"Good. I'll be there in about ten minutes."