The Nightmare Of Life

Chapter-12: Truth and Decision

The next morning, I slowly wake up and slowly walk to the living room, not caring that I didn't put on my Pj's last night and / or how I look right now. I know Serena and I weren't dating for that long but I felt a connection with her and all because of one bitch all of that is over and I am helpless to stop it... I go to the kitchen and grab a water out of the fridge... I look over at the couch and see Natasha, Zyra and Emerald are all gone... That's interesting because they weren't in the rooms either.. I pull my phone out of my pocket and notice that one its on silent and two its 11:30am and three I have two missed messages.. They're both from Natasha. "hey Jake... Ali told me about last night... I'm so sorry..." I sigh before I read her second message "I took the kids to the pool... Ali is in her room... she is super hungover..." I sit at the dinning room table and pull up Serena's messages. For a moment I just look at my phone and wonder if its worth messaging her... "Serena... please message me when you get the chance..." I wait a few minutes then send her another message "Serena please... I would never do anything like that to you" I sigh and toss my phone on the table and put my face in my hands... My heart aches. The one question that keeps pondering in my mind is why would Tiffany do something like that... I know that she can be a bit reckless when she's drunk but to just flat out kiss me for seemingly no reason and what gets me the most about that is she looked guilty... God I can't think straight, all that I can think about is Serena and how we were just sleeping together yesterday and now she won't even reply to any of my texts... I look down and sigh... After a long while I force myself up and drag my body into the bedroom. I grab a new pair of jeans and a shirt, socks and underwear and walk to the bathroom trying to clear my mind at least for now. After a quick shower and shave I walk out of the bathroom throwing my clothes into the hamper near the bedroom door. I walk back out to the dinning room where Alicia in her pajamas sitting with her arms crossed and her head buried in them... I sit next to her. "the baby's first hangover" I laugh trying to push down the bad feelings I have.. She groans. "You need a burger trust me it helps" I say in a low tone. She looks up her hair a mess. "No" she responds before shoving her head back into her arms. I am just about to respond when my phone dings, quickly I grab my phone and open the messages. "Jake... Just leave me alone!" I sigh and shove my phone in my pocket. Alicia looks up. "Everything okay?" I look at her and she seems to read my mind because she slowly pushes herself up and holds out her arms for a hug. I let out a long weary sigh before getting up and pulling her into a hug. She feels so warm as she holds me tight and snuggling her head into my chest. After a long and I mean very long hug we break apart. "Thank you Ali... I really needed that" she gives me a subtle nod before dragging herself to her room. Halfway she stops and faces me. "I think I want that burger..." she smiles. "can you hold off for at least a couple hours... I'm going to Serena's and see if I can reason with her in person" I respond. For a moment her face falls but I think that's because of the hangover... She doesn't respond for a few seconds. Suddenly she snaps out of the trance and gives me a small smile "go, I need to take a shower and freshen up anyway..." with that she drags her body to the bedroom.. After a deep breath I run and grab my car keys and throw on my slippers and dash out the front door. Once I get inside my car I start it up and pull out the parking lot. The drive over to Serena's is longer then normal because of all these thoughts that this relationship could very well be over before it got started. Will she forgive me? Will she slam the door in my face? I have a ton of questions and very little time because before I know it I am pulling into her driveway. Once I shut off the car I take a deep breath trying to get ready for the negative reaction I'm about to receive. I get out of the car and walk up to her door. I give the door a gentle knock and wait... After a few moments the door swings open revealing Serena in her grey sweats and a grey sweatshirt with her hair brushed. Her face falls when she sees me... I can't read her eyes, can't tell if she is more hurt and or angry. "Jake... you made a mistake coming here I don't want to talk." she goes to shut the door but I stop it with my arm and give her a pleading look. "Serena please... Just give me 5 minutes and I promise ill leave you alone." For a moment she hesitates bun then she sighs and something shifts in her mood as she holds open the door. I give her a thankful nod before walking inside. She softly closes the door behind her and guides me over to the couch. We both sit and look at one another. The moment is tense as all the feelings of betrayal and hurt arises in her aura. She sits back and leans her head against her fist giving me her full attention. I take a deep breath and gaze into her eyes. "Serena... you need to believe me. I don't know what happened last night, I was getting drinks at the bar and she walked up to me. I didn't think anything of it because I do think of Tiffany as a friend... We had a brief conversation about how one another was doing and out of nowhere she just kissed me seemingly right when you showed up... shit..." I pause and sigh. "Serena I think I've been set up... I would never and I mean never hurt you or cheat on you... You have to believe me..." Once I finish she just looks at me expression numb... She sits up and lets out a weary sigh... "I..." she pauses and looks away from me almost like she is trying to compose herself... Finally after a while she looks at me with her face still expressionless. "Thank you... I need some time to think. But I think tonight you, me, and Tiff need to all meet at the bar and get the whole story because my mom used to always tell me that there are three sides to every story. Your side, her side and the truth and tonight I will find out the truth... but until then Jake I'm sorry I can't see you right now... because all I see is you kissing her and it wont get out of my head..." she pushes herself up and motions me to the door and holds it open for me. "May I get a hug" I ash in a low sheepless voice. She pulls me into a quick hug before shutting the door. On the drive home I try to reflect on what just happened. I still don't know if we are over, what if tonight Tiffany tells a bullshit story and serena believes her, there is so much that rides on tonight. I am so deep in my thoughts that before I know it I am home. I walk up to the apartment and walk inside to Alicia asleep on the couch in jeans and a black top. She looks at me and sits up. "Jake! how did it go is everything okay?" she asks as she walks up to me her hair put up in a ponytail. "well... she wants to have meeting at the bar tonight to get Tiffany's side of the story. so I guess ill know tonight" her face falls at my words. "come here" she says holding out her arms. We share a hug holding one another tight. "so how about that burger now" I say as we let go. Her eyes light up. "I have a better idea... I was doing some research and I found a park that reminds me of our park back in Arizona, I was thinking we can check it out together." She looks up at me with a sweet smile. "Okay lets do it... I could use a distraction" she jumps up and down in excitement and grabs her shoes. I laugh and follow her out the front door and as we are walking to my car Emerald and the girls happen to be walking up to us all wrapped in towels "where are you two off to?" Natasha asks in a sweet tone of voice. "ah Alicia wants to show me a park here in town" Natasha smiles at my response "nice well we are going to get food and then go back to the pool. Join us when you get back?" I smile at them," of course, and Em, are you having fun? " Emerald looks up at me with a wide smile "yes! now hurry up, " she laughs. I share a quick hug with Emerald before getting in the car and starting it up. "So where am I going?" she smiles and presses start on google maps. We both put on our seatbelts and off we go. "so how far is this place?" she looks at me with a sheepish smile creasing her lips. She bites her lip and shows me her phone. My eyes go wide as the time is 33 minutes. I laugh at her as we enter the highway. "are you planning on doing anything to this car?" she asks in a soft voice. "I thought about it yes." she looks at me with a smile. "okay what is the first thing you are going to do?" I look at her and smile "probably put an exhaust on it then I am going to convert it to a manual so when I pass the car down to Emerald she will know how to drive a manual, oh and maybe halo headlights and taillights and I am going to tint the windows " she puts her hand up stopping me in my tracks. "Slow down tiger I said the first thing not the whole game plan" she laughs. I laugh along with her as I follow the GPS and get off at the exit it tells me. We holt at a red light juts off the highway. "we really haven't had a chance to talk about this but how's Emerald?" I look at her and smile. "She's always been a stubborn kid I believe she is okay... she has broken down on me a couple of times... not that long ago we had a heart to heart. She's just fine. I'm just happy she gets to live her life and be a normal kid" The light turns green as Alicia gives me a bright smile the sun lighting up her eyes. "Good. She deserves to be happy and so do you Jake." I don't respond and keep my eyes on the road. A few minutes go by the car still silent until Alicia's eyes light up. "There! Jake look!" her excitement illuminates the car as I pull over to the side of the road and shut off the car. I look around at the beautiful park in front of us. She quickly opens the door and jumps out of the car. I laugh to myself and follow after her. The park is beautiful with a river flowing. Its not massive but its just the right size for us to make new memories. She sees a bench and runs over to it in excitement. "Jake come sit" I smile and sit next to her. The bench sits right in front of the river with well trimmed grass in between the view is beautiful. "isn't this amazing Jake, just think about all the amazing memories we are going to have here" her excitement radiates on her face as this is the biggest smile I have seen on her facer since we moved here, seeing her this happy warms my heart and makes me feel good even if I am going through all of this drama in my life. She suddenly turns her head and gazes into my eyes. "I love you Jake..." she catches me off guard for a moment and before I have a chance to respond her phone rings and she pulls it out but quickly declines the call and shoves her phone back in her pocket but I did manage to see who was calling her and my heart suddenly drops. "Why is Tiffany calling you? When did you become friends?" she looks at me nervously. "I... we became friends a couple days ago." she looks away not answering the first part of my question. Suddenly a memory of last night flashes in my mind and that's the look Tiffany gave Alicia... its almost as if she was upset... I try to compose my thoughts and look at Alicia. "Ali. Is there something you want to tell me?" she looks away clearly hiding something and for a moment she's silent. "Jake. I." She can't seem to get the words out but I remain silent. "Last night was a setup..." I look at her wide eyed with confusion in my head, but slowly the pieces all come together, the way Alicia asked me to go to the bar with her, all of a sudden Tiffany was flirting with me, and the biggest piece of them all was the way Tiffany looked at Alicia last night. My heart drops to my stomach as Alicia turns and faces me. "I was the one that set you up last night... Tiffany kissing you was my plan. The hope was to..." she pauses and looks away ashamed "the hope was to break you and Serena up" I push myself up and turn my back towards her for a moment. I feel anger rise inside of me. Trying to control it as it boils. I keep trying to fight myself but this time anger wins as I face her "why the fuck would you do that to me?!" I yell, she looks up at me startled as this is the first time I have ever really yelled at her. She doesn't respond and looks away shutting herself down which seems to anger me more "No! You don't get to shut yourself down. Answer my fucking question!" I yell this time louder then before as this is the most pissed off I have ever been in my whole life. I am seeing red as she continues not to respond. "Alicia!" Suddenly she jumps up and looks at me with tears in her eyes "Because I am in love with you!" I look at he taken aback as the anger that's inside of me simmers a little. She wipes her eyes in frustration "you wanna know why Natasha and me have been fighting so much its because of this, because of how I fucking feel about you... She wanted me to tell you and I couldn't... but seeing you with Serena fucking hurt but you were so happy but I wasn't and I know this sounds so selfish but I wanted you to break up so I can have you all to myself... that's when I got in contact with Tiffany and we came up with this plan... I was going to comfort you and help you get through this and hope while doing that you'll fall in love with me again..." she stops and wipes her face again. I am left speechless battling all of these emotions. Finally I look at her "We're going home" with that I turn and walk away from her. I hear her nose sniffling behind me. We get to my car and she is a complete mess, tears streaming down her face, her makeup a mess running all over her face. I let out a long weary sigh and walk towards her but as I reach for her car door she cowers away from me. "Please don't hit me" she cries. That line rips my heart out of my chest as I am really pissed at her but I could never ever hit her I open the car door for her and for a moment she doesn't do anything. I get the hint and back away from the car door. She slowly gets in the car and shuts the door herself. I take the time and compose myself before getting in the drivers seat. The moment I sit down she looks up "please don't hate me" she cries. This is the worst I have ever seen her its like she is heartbroken and what makes this worse is the fact that she's the one in the wrong here. I start the car and put on my seatbelt and as calm as I can be without looking at her "I don't hate you... I would never hate you... but I don't like you right now" Without another word I put the car in drive and slowly drive away from the park while she puts her head in her arms. The whole drive home the inside of the car is silent as we haven't said a word to one another. Once we get home I park the car and shut it off. She hasn't looked up the whole drive. After a long car drive being in my thoughts I have calmed down a little. I get out of the car and walk over to her side and open the door. I know that she did me wrong but seeing her like this hurts me... I regret the way I yelled at her because the way she cowered away from me... I would never hit her... "Come on Alicia lets go inside" She doesn't look at me and crawls out of the car and begins walking to our home without a word. I shut and lock the car then follow her. She gets in the apartment and immediately runs into her room and shuts the door. I throw the keys on the counter and go into my room slamming the door behind me. Sitting on the bed I try to process my thoughts as the past couple days of events has hit me like a mac truck, first the kiss, then the look on Serena's face, then the bombshell that was just dropped on me and to top it all off Alicia is in love with me. Why did she breaks things off with me then? Why did she keep this from me all this time? What do I do now? How did everything get so fucked up. Moving here was supposed to be a new beginning for everyone and right now its just like we were living in Arizona. I lay back on the bed and look at the ceiling trying to come up with some sort of conclusion with this fucked up situation. After a long while my bedroom door suddenly flies open to Natasha rushing into the room shutting the door behind her. Slowly I sit up to her giving me a apologetic look. "May I?" she asks gesturing to sit next to me. I scoot over and she takes a seat next to me shoulders touching. I look at her as the tension in the room intensifies. "she set me up Nat..." she looks at me brow raised. We lock eyes "I yelled at her... the worst I have ever done to her and Nat she cowered away from me. Like..." I pause and take a deep breath "I am really pissed at her but the look in her eyes, I would never hit her Nat you know that" For a moment Natasha doesn't respond and puts a gentle hand on my shoulder. ''Its not your fault Jake. She told me everything last night, What she did to you was wrong. The truth is Jake I just wanted her to tell you how she felt about you weeks ago but I guess she had different plans. You have every right to be pissed off." she pauses and squeezes' my shoulder "Alicia is in such a vulnerable state to the point where if things gets intense she shuts herself down and cowers. She has done it to me too... Her ex really fucked her up. I'm not trying to make excuses for her just want you to know that if she cowers it has nothing to do with you." she pauses as we break eye contact for a moment "I don't know what to do." Natasha pushes herself up and its then that I realize she's still in her bathing suit. "whatever your heart desires. I'm going to go comfort Ali" with that she leaves and that's when I see Emerald and Zyra peeking around the corner. I force a smile "come in girls" They rush into the room and Emerald pulls me into a sudden hug. I hold her back confused "I love you big bro" she says as she grips me tight while Zyra stands there smiling. "I love you too kiddo" after a few moment she breaks the hug and they run out of the room leaving me confused. I grab my phone and dial Serena. she picks up instantly "Jake..." she says in a monotoned voice. "Serena... I was set up..." there is a long pause then suddenly she hangs up. I sigh as she messages me "meet at the bar tonight. We are going to get to the bottom of this" All I reply with is "Okay" then toss my phone onto the bed. The rest of the day flies by as I locked myself into the room and tried to take a nap to ease my mind but all that I did was think. Its 8pm and finally I leave my room to Alicia's door still closed, Natasha's door closed and Zyra and Emerald on the couch watching a movies on the ps5. "bro? are you okay?" Emerald asks in a sweet tone. The thing with my sister and me is no matter how hard we hide our feelings the other one always seems to know. I guess that would explain the hug earlier. I really don't want to put all my adult drama onto a kid. "yes kiddo I'm fine... I'm going out for a few hours will you and Zyra be okay?" She looks at me clearly not sold on my words but she puts a smile on her face "no we're good bro be careful please" I give her a nod and grab my keys. "don't stay up all night" I laugh as I leave. The whole drive to the bar is nothing but silence as the replay of last night and today just keep repeating. I've never been so confused in my life. I pull up to the bar and see Serena's car already here. I park next to her and take a deep breath before finally getting the courage and get out of the car. As I walk into the bar surprisingly tonight its not as packed. I see Serena and Tiffany talking at the bar. They both look up as I approach. The moment is tense as nobody is saying a word. "we should probably go to a booth" Serena says and without letting anyone respond she walks away. Tiffany and I share a look before following after her. We all sit at the booth together and nobody says a word. "So..." Tiffany says in an awkward tone. I cant read the room but Serena puts a hand on her forehead like she is annoyed. "Just tell him what you told me Tiff" Serena responds in a cleared and freshly annoyed tone. Tiffany looks at me with guilt in her eyes. "Look Jake I know I haven't been the best towards you and I know that my friends are real assholes. You probably wont believe me but Alicia set everything up and I just did her plan... and as to the why well on my end it was because I missed Serena... Ever since she started dating you we never hang out anymore its either she's working or she's with you and I didn't like that... but after I did what I did" she pauses and looks away clearly ashamed "I fucked up Jake and I am so sorry... I know you probably view me as a bad person but I'm not and I will prove to you that I can be a valuable friend if you let me" I digest her words and at first don't say anything. They both look at me expecting a response. "I knew it was Alicia, she told me... I was just curious why you did it but now that I know... I forgive you Tiffany and id like you as my friend" Tiffany smiles. "Thank you Jake" she pauses and looks at Serena "I hope we can fix what I broke" with that Tiffany stands up. "goodnight guys" she says just before leaving. Serena and I don't talk for a moment until finally for what feels like the first time tonight we look each other in the eyes. "are we good now?" Serena doesn't smile or show any emotion she just looks at me and says "why did Alicia do it?" I don't hesitate and just tell her everything that I know and everything that Alicia told me and I watch as I progress through the story Serena's face falling. I tell Serena that I want to be with her despite how Alicia feels about me. "I just want to be with you Serena. Can I have you back?" for a long moment she doesn't say a word. The room tense until finally she looks up at me with a uncertain look in her eyes. "No... the truth is Jake I think you should be with Alicia." I loom at her dumbfounded but before I can get another word out she continues "I see the way you look at her Jake. After all this is the girl you were in love with before you met me and stuff like that never really goes away. And the fact that she did all of this because she loves you proves a point and as fucked up as it may be you should forgive her..." she pauses and doesn't take her eyes off me "Look Jake you are a sweet guy and you have opened my eyes over the past three months. I am a better person because of you." she stands up and puts a gentles hand on my shoulder "now go be with the person you were meant to be with" without another word she leaves and I am now alone in my thoughts. What if she's right, or she could be wrong. I shoot out of the booth and walk out the front door to her car already gone. In my thoughts I get in my car and drive home. I am now sitting in my car at my homes parking lot. The whole drive home I just thought about everything and have come up with a determination. I quickly get out of the car and dash up to the apartment, when I walk inside I see Zyra and Emerald passed out on the couch. I smile to myself as I walk over to Alicia's door. I give it a gentle knock. "its open" Alicia says quietly. Slowly I enter the room and watch her face fall as she stands up and I close the door behind me. "Jake I" I put my hand up "its my turn" she doesn't say a word and sits down on the bed giving me her full attention. I take a deep breath and look at her "I was in love with you and you shot me down and I understood why and you come around a few months later and drop come up with this scheme to end my relationship, instead of just coming to me and telling me... I went to mend things with Serena and you know what she told me, she said that you and I should be together because she thinks that you and me are supposed to be together..." I pause and Alicia pushes herself up and stands directly in front of me. "Jake I never wanted to hurt you" for a moment I don't respond as we inch closer to one another "but on the way home I was thinking maybe she's right" she looks at me wide eyed as we lean in for a soft sweet kiss. We hold the kiss for a moment until finally pulling apart. We gaze into one another's eyes. Without thinking we pull each other into another passionate kiss this time I push her onto the bed and begin to kiss down her cheek to her neck, she moans softly as I trace my lips down to her breasts. "wait, is this what you really want?" she asks. I look at her "yes" I respond confident in my answer. I go back to kissing her chest. She sits up and slowly takes off her top as I do mine, I proceed to push her back on the bed and kiss her neck soft and slow as I trace down to her breasts again but I don't stop there, slowly to her soft moans I trace my lips down and unbutton her pants and slowly pull them off of her and trace my lips back up to hers as we share another passionate kiss, as we are kissing she undoes my pants and slowly pulls them off. We hold the kiss as she pulls down my boxers. We finally break the kiss and gaze into one another's "is this a mistake?" she asks in a sheepish tone. I don't think for a second "No" I respond before pulling her into another passionate kiss, she moans as I slowly take off her panties. I stop and let her take off her bra before going back. We kiss deeply as my you know what gets hard. She moans when I find the hole. Kissing her passionately I gently grab her neck and slowly go with the motion as she moans softly. I break the kiss and slowly kiss her cheek, she pushes her my hand tighter on her neck and forces me into another passionate kiss as we sway to the movement, her moans soft as I let go of her neck and kiss her deeper...