The Bet

The Aftermath

Ana sat curled on the couch with her left foot propped up on the table. Once Scott had driven away from the mess of the party, Ana told him to take her to the ER. The stem of the shattered wine glass had pierced her foot deep enough that required five stiches to closeup. But that pain wasn't nearly as painful as the pain she felt from Chris's betrayal.

Was all of it fake? If it was fake, why did he carry it on for so long?

Even when Jacob hinted about the bet Chris never said anything. What angered Ana the most was the fact that they saw her as an object to trade instead of a human. And Chris had every chance to tell Ana about it. Did he just plan on keeping a secret forever? Did he ever feel guilty about making the bet in the first place?

Ana's downward spiral was interrupted by Scott handing her a steaming cup of coffee.

"How are you feeling?" Scott asked as he sat beside her. His arm curled over her shoulder.

"Like I'm living a nightmare." Ana whispered. She glanced towards Scott. "You really didn't know?"

"Of course, I didn't sweetie." He grabbed her mug and placed it on the coffee table then took both her hands in his. "I knew he used to do that shit with Jacob when they were younger, but I thought they stopped that shit a long time ago. If I had known, I would have told you right away."

Ana sighed, "All this time has just been a lie." She squeezed her eyes shut trying to stop the tears before they fell.

Scott wrapped her in his arms. "I don't think it was all a lie though." He pulled back to look her in the eyes. "What Chris did was fucked up and I won't make excuses for him. He's a forty-year-old man who should have known better than to do something that fucking childish." Scott ran a hand down his face before continuing. "But I've witnessed how he is with you. And I can tell you that he never once opened himself like that with his past girlfriends. Hell, he wasn't even like that with Jessica, and they were together for years. But how he was with you...that's love."

Ana rolled her eyes as she removed herself out of Scott's embrace. "It's not love if he only pursued me because of a goddamn bet he made! He forced the connection. He went into everything with ill intent." She stood up and instantly regretted it as the pain shot through her foot. Clenching her eyes shut she screamed in frustration.

"Why is this happening?" Ana sobbed.

The tears she had tried to hold back finally broke free. "Why did he have to do this?" She fell back on the couch and cried. She cried until there was nothing left but the ache in her chest. Scott wrapped her in his arms again as he gently stroked her hair out of her face.

"He asked me to marry him, Scott." She whispered.

Scott paused as that admittance settled over him.

"When?" His voice rasped.

Ana cleared her throat, "When we were in Texas. I had taken him to Enchanted Rock. We sat on the edge admiring the view and then he asked me." She wiped away a lone tear, "And I said yes."

Scott groaned as tears of his own fell. "I'm so sorry, Ana."

This time it was Ana wrapping Scott into an embrace. "I'm sorry too."
They stayed like that for a while. Just holding on to each other. Ana was grateful that Scott was there for her. She was thankful for his friendship and regardless of what came next for Chris and her, one thing was for certain, she would never let her friendship with Scott go. Afterall, they were friends first.

Rapid knocking on the door interrupted their embrace followed by Chris's voice pleading from outside.

"Please open the door, Ana."