To Fall for a Friend

Chapter 11

"Hey!" Stiles smiled as he entered your room. He paused as he was slipping off his shoes when he saw you pressed against your door. "... Why is your ear against your-"

"SHHH!" You waved your arm dramatically before pressing against the door again. "My parents are in the hallway talking."

"You know, maybe you shouldn't be listening in on that," He spoke in a hushed tone before seeing your sarcastic look. "What?! It's private."

"Right. But it's different when you listen in on your dad's phone calls or that police radio. Oh and how about stealing Lydia's phone? And getting your dad drunk to-"

"Okay! Fine, what are they saying anyway?" He huffed before throwing his shoes next to your bed and walking over and pressing his ear against the door too. It was mostly a bunch of muffled, inaudible speech with the occasional clear sentence here and there. "Therapy?" His eyes lit up, as he looked over at you.

"I heard Teresa," You furrowed your brows. His smile quickly dropped into a sarcastic frown.

"Y/N, do your parents know anyone named Teresa?" He hissed.

"I don't know! Maybe she's another mistress!" You defended. "Shh! I'm trying to listen!"

"You shush! I'm better at this and I'm trying to focus," He argued, making you smile at the playful banter. You both stayed silent for a little while longer before their footsteps approached slightly, making the conversation easier to listen to.

"Just don't make me sound like the bad guy," Your father sighed. "She won't even look at me!"

"You cheated on me. Newsflash! You are the bad guy!" You heard your mom snap.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! You're the one who said you wanted a divorce, Y/M/N!" He raised his voice. "I didn't cheat! You broke up with me. You made it very clear that we weren't a couple anymore. But if you want to believe that I cheated on you to hide behind the fact that you don't love me anymore, then so be it! But she deserves to know the truth!"

You looked at Stiles with wide eyes and lips parted in utter shock. He mirrored your expression and mouthed Oh my god.

"Why couldn't you have slept with anyone else? Hm? You just had to go after the woman I've been stressing about since high school!" She methodically avoided his statement. "I knew you were in love with her!"

"I WAS HURT AND MAD AT YOU!" He roared. You could count on one hand the number of times you've ever heard him raise his voice, but never like this. "I was mad that you asked for a divorce. I was mad that you pushed me away and blamed it on the job that you made me take! Do you have any idea how much it hurts to watch the love of your life fall out of love with you?! No! Because I still foolishly answer your every beck and call just for the opportunity to be NEAR YOU! So yeah, I slept with Natalie. And yeah! It was a stupid, selfish, spiteful move. But don't you dare accuse me of loving anyone other than you. Especially since you can't say the same."

"Are you implying that I'm in love with someone else, Y/F/N? Because you would be sorely mistaken," She spat. "I respect the fact that we are still legally married."

"I'm implying that you aren't in love with anyone other than yourself!" He paused to lower his voice. "Look, stop dodging it. The fact of the matter is that you don't love me anymore. I've known that for years, Y/M/N. And I happily played along in your charade for as long as you allowed me to. But once you brought up the idea of a divorce, I knew we were done. So I slept with the woman you were foolishly worried about as a way to end all of this once and for all. I don't want to be sucked back into this loveless marriage for yet another five years. I don't want to work this out through therapy. I just want to move on."