Dwindle [Motough]

{Chapter 8} Part 2

Beth's POV

I scrolled through my Instagram feed. Thank goodness for data.

A breeze blew across me which propelled my hair in front of my face. I reached my right hand to my face and guided the loose strands behind my left ear.

I was sitting on a chestnut brown bench located in the local park. There were children giggling and adults chatting around me.

I saw a short clip from the dancing with the stars account showing the two times we had done the Vietnamese waltz, side by side, once a few years ago on season 19 and the time Derek and I had done it yesterday in the studio.

I pressed play and observed the differences, and lets just say that there were many. I guess that when I had done it at first. I could empathize with the thought of possibly losing the one you loved, but yesterday, I knew how it felt, because everyday I would wake up and realize that this could be my last day and that I would never be able to touch, kiss or love Derek ever again.

Oh god, what if today is my last day and I left Derek thinking that I didn't love him enough to fight for him?

My eyes began to water. I clamped them shut but a single tear had escaped and began to trickle down my cheek.

"Tissue?" a familiar voice said. I looked up to see Jeremy standing in front of me, offering a tissue.

I seized the tissue and blew my nose. "Thanks," I said.

"You're welcome. Are you okay?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, not really," I replied.

He sat down beside me. "What's wrong?" he asked.

I bit my lip. "I don't want to talk about it, at least, not yet" I replied.

Another icy breeze passed the through me, limbering my body up to the cold. I released a shiver. I gripped onto my flimsy green cardigan, attempting to keep myself warm.

Jeremy toke off his jacket and placed it on my shoulders. I clutched onto the jacket. My nose was surrounded by the smell of him, reminding me of old times.

"How about we go to my house. It'll be warmer in there", Jeremy offered.

"That would be great" I said.

We stood up and began to walk along the path to his apartment.

***

Derek's POV

The door creaked open. I stood up and walked to the doorway. Was it Bethany? I looked intently on the figure entering my residence.

It was my best friend, Mark Ballas.

"Hey, Derek" he said.

"Hey, Mark. What's up?"

"The sky" he joked.

I glared at him.

"What?", He said innocently enough.

I continued to glare at him.

"Okay, I'll tell you, but please, just stop staring at me like that, you're creeping me out".

I contorted my face back to normal. "I'm listening"

"I was just bored so I came here to visit my bro ad my future sister-in-law" he explained.

"Yeah, I wouldn't keep my fingers crossed" I muttered

"How come? Where's Bethany? Is she okay? Did the cancer kill her?",he grabbed my shoulders and shook me erratically,"OMG! IS BETHANY DEAD?"

I pryed his hands off of my shoulders.

"Dude, CALM. DOWN. And to answer you question. No, it's way worse"

He looked at me, extremely worriedly.

I sighed,"she broke up with me".

Mark relaxed his body and let out a sigh. "phew, and here I was looking like an idiot and losing my shit".

Bethany. I looked out the window. She wasn't there.

"Mark, did you see her sitting in the car?", I asked.

He shook his head.

I began to panic. I slipped on my pair of black vans and black coat and exited the house.

I ran out to the car. He was following close behind. Mark was right, no Bethany.

I opened the door on the driver's side. I looked over at the passenger seat where Bethany had been sitting. There on the seat sat her phone.

I picked it up and held it between my fingers. Great, now I had no way of reaching her. I looked around for any other of her belongings. Nothing. Where could she be?

***

Beth's POV

Jeremy was holding two mugs. He passed one of the mugs to me; it held hot chocolate topped with marshmallows. I grabbed the cup and held it, wrapping both of my hands around the exterior. He sat down beside me on the couch. He took a sip of his drink and let out a sigh.

"Remember how we used to sit together and watch I Love Lucy with your mom on the colder days?" He reminisced.

I stared down at my mug. It was a baby blue colour. A strand of hair fell out from behind my ear and I guided it back.

I didn't look up,"Yeah". So much had changed since those simple days when we were both oblivious about the real world.

"So, are you ready to tell me what's wrong now?" he asked.

I looked up at him. His eyes were filled to the brim with hopefulness.

I sighed and then nodded,"yeah, I am".

I toke a sip of my hot chocolate and willed myself to not start crying. I spilled the entire situation, telling him about how I had broke up with Derek and why I had chose to. He listened attentively the entire time.

"I had never seen him cry, and when I did, well, I never wanted to see him cry again, you know?", I finally concluded.

I let out a yawn. I checked the time on the digital clock on Jeremy's coffee table. Wow, time had flew by.

"Perhaps, you should get some rest and you can consider your options some more tomorrow" he suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea" I replied.

"Great" he said. He stood up from the couch and walked into his room.

He came back with a pillow and a blanket. "I hope you don't mind sleeping on the couch. Since this is a temporary house, there isn't an extra bed"

"Yeah, that's fine" I replied. I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing a green cardigan, light blue denim skinny jeans and a white tank top. Let's just call it non-suitable sleep wear.

I toke off the cardigan and the jeans, leaving me in my underwear and tank top. Then, I snuggled along to sleep, fading into unconsciousness.