flatline • erling haaland

Part 15

- Erling's POV -

I had to leave, I needed to clear my head. Hearing Scarlet say all of those things made me feel a mixture of anger, sadness and confusion.

I thought we were fine, things were going well, and I thought she understood the complexity that came with dating me.

As much as I would've loved to have taken her around the city, as soon as people got wind of me being in town, I knew they would be out there waiting for me to capture my every move and as a result Scarlet would then be in the spotlight and no doubt unnecessarily judged and critiqued by people online.

I didn't want that to happen and I was just trying to protect her.

I liked to keep my personal life private, and anyways, as much as I loved my friends I knew how carried away they could get with gossip. Especially when it was so early in our relationship, I wanted to keep things private for the time being.

I got in my car and sped down to the road to my favourite bakery, knowing I was cutting it fine. I wanted to get something to try and cheer Scarlet up. I just made it in time, and grabbed two slices of Ponche Segoviano, my favourite Spanish cake.

When walking out I noticed some people taking pictures and I knew it would be all over social media the next day but at this point, I didn't care.

I returned to my house and plated up the cake before heading upstairs after I had seen no sign of Scarlet downstairs.

My bedroom door was slightly ajar, the lamp on and as I approached I could hear quiet sniffles coming from the room.

My heart broke when I pulled back the door and discovered Scarlet led on her side underneath the bed sheets, softly crying to herself.

She jumped and was a bit startled when I walked into the room. I put the plate down onto the side and climbed onto the bed.

I went to pull the sheet away from her and she brushed me off, quickly sitting up and wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Hey, why're you crying?" I asked, reaching my hand out to grab hers but she just moved it away.

She scowled at me and then let out a small sarcastic laugh, her eyes glistening from where she had been crying.

"Oh, I don't know. Nothing to do with you just storming out and leaving me alone and scared in a country where I have no idea where I am. Oh and all of that after you having been distraught at me asking if you had maybe told your closest friends anything more than I was some girl you were sleeping with."

I let out a sigh. "Please, just let me explain."

She didn't say anything, just looked up at me, her blue eyes wide and glazed over, her cheeks pink from where she had wiped her tears away and her plump lips parted slightly as she awaited my next move.

"I fucked up and I'm sorry, Scarlet."

She nodded in acknowledgement of what I had just said.

"Maybe we should just end things here." She avoided my gaze as she spoke and my heart ached at her words.

"What?" My voice croaked as I spoke. I cleared my throat and continued. "Why would you say that?" I furrowed my brows.

"I just don't think we're on the same page." She looked up at me. "And I really don't want to end up getting my heart broken."

"Scar, you know I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Do I? Because your words were pretty hurtful earlier and you just walked out."