How To Stay Afloat (BxB)

Chapter 45: not your friend

As I walk outside the building, the sun makes my headache a lot worse. I shield my eyes and look around.

Austin is waiting next to the door.

"Harry already left." He explains. "Let's go to the train stop."

Austin's voice sounds nonchalantly.

He doesn't even look at me. Which is good because one look at my face would give away I just cried.

We walk silently next to each other until we reach the platform where we wait for the train.

"Did you settle things with Noah?" He asks me.

Noah fucking threatened to kill me. I nearly passed out. He pressed my face to his disgusting dick. That's as far from settling things as it can get.

"What is it with you and him? Are you best friends now?" I ask Austin, feeling angry.

He laughs dryly. "Do you mind it?"

I frown at him. "Uhm yeah? Why? Why do you like him all of a sudden?"

He sighs. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, it does fucking matter." I shout angrily.

"Because he's the one who kissed you in a stupid club toilet and I wanted to at least know how he's like." He says.

"And?" I ask.

He shrugs. "He seems okay."

I ball my hand into a fist.

Okay? How can he seem okay?

"But you said you hate him." I state.

"I hate him because of you. I wouldn't hate him if he hadn't kissed my boyfriend." He says, rolling his eyes.

"How can you not hate him?" I ask, feeling frustrated. Maybe Noah was right. Austin doesn't love me, right?

"What is it with you? Last week you defended him all you could and now you get mad at me for getting along with him."

"Last week he didn't break my fucking finger while you were passed out on the couch next to us." I shout.

Austin looks at me puzzled. "What?"

"He broke my fucking finger." I say, holding my hand up. "And you were sound asleep next to us."

"Accidently?"

I'm so fucking angry right now. "No, not accidently. He grabbed my hand and bent it back as far as he could until my finger broke. That doesn't happen by accident. He found it hilarious to watch me cry out in pain."

He frowns. "Why would he do that?"

"Because he's a fucking psycho and a sadist and he thinks that he can gaslight me into thinking I want or deserve it or some fucked up shit." I yell angrily. "And he said no one would believe me anyways."

Austin looks around and then grabs my hand. "Hey. Calm down, okay?" He says. There are a few other people on the platform and I think I gained their attention with my desperate yelling.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"I know that it seemed real, but you were imagining things. You heard voices that weren't really there." He says, looking into my eyes.

I can't believe this. "Austin. If I imagined it, then why is it fucking broken?" I ask him. I can feel tears pooling in my eyes. "Did I manifest a broken finger?"

The train is finally about to arrive. I turn around, to look at the train so I don't have to look at Austin.

"I don't know what you did to break your finger. But Harry said it was already blue when you came back from the bathroom."