Thanatophobia (Manthony)

Chapter 31

Mitchel

     I lock the front door, leaning my back against it as I try to make sense of what had just happened. 

Christian was still sitting on the couch. He looked terrified. I knew I had to say something, but what? What could you possibly to say someone who just had a gun pointed at their head?

For now, my emotions needed to be put set aside. 

I take a few deep breaths, counting to ten and then backward in my head. My therapist would be proud of me.

"Are you okay?" I ask Christian as I walk back into the living room. He doesn't reply.

 We should go to the police. I should take him to the hospital or something. Then again, it didn't seem like I could, or I'd end up dead. 

I carefully approach Christian. He was staring at the blank TV in front of him. 

Tears were falling down his face, but at the same time, his face showed no emotion. He was in shock.

I sit next to him, staring at the TV as well. 

"Are you hurt?" Again, Christian doesn't reply. "Christian," He hums in response. "I know a lot just happened, but I need to know if you're hurt." 

     I had no idea what had happened before I came back home. There was no way of knowing how long Jordan and the other guy were here. "I-I'm not hurt." Christian stutters. 

"Before we move forward, with anything, I need you to tell me the truth. What you did. What Jordan did. What Travis did. Everything." 

"I just did," Christain says. "You told me what you did while a gun was pointed at your head. I'm not stupid. I know Jordan, and I knew Travis." Christian laughs, but it quickly fades. 

"Why are you so calm?" Christian asks. He looked scared of me.

"I just knew something was going on, but I didn't know what. I didn't think it was this, though." 

     Christian leans back into the couch, pulling his legs up to his chest, and resting his chin on his knees. "Did you sleep with her while we've been together?" 

Christian quickly shakes his head. "No. I told her you were the only person I wanted to be with. I told her it was a mistake. It really was." 

"Were you ever together?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answers to my questions, but there was no way I could think about moving forward without knowing exactly what happened. 

"We were never together. I told her we could be, but I never meant it." Christian explains. He wipes his tears away, not saying anything further. 

He abruptly jumps up from the couch, rushing to our guest bathroom. I frown, following him. I peek into the bathroom. Christian was sitting on the floor, his face hovering over the toilet. 

I sit down next to him, pushing his hair out of his face. It had grown about an inch since we had gotten back together. Once Christian is done losing any food he had eaten, he flushes the toilet, scooting away from me. 

"I'm not going to hurt you." I say. "It feels like you're going to explode once you're done pitying me." 

     I close the toilet lid, moving so I was sitting in front of Christian. "A lot has been going on for the both of us. Knowing that you didn't cheat on me with Jordan is a huge reason as to why I'm sitting here. If you had, I would leave you with hesitation."