lies lies lies || book three

chapter twenty two

He got a new truck. It was a nice sleek slate color but it was still an F-150, of course, he would be able to afford a new one. A wave of guilt washed over her as she peeked around the truck while the nurse handed him her contact card if he ended up having any complications or questions.

"Do you want any food or a shake?" he asked Laney as he proceeded to drive.

She shook her head in response as he nodded, "Let me know if you need to use the restroom. It's going to be a long drive back".

Resting her chin on the window, she looked out at Downtown Nashville and the buildings. She was ashamed of herself. After wrecking his truck, she had to rely on him to take care of her and to aid her in recovery. Embarrassment. She wished life was as simple as when she first moved here. Her only concern was how work was going and being able to pay rent, but everyone grew up.

She could feel his stare burn into the back of her head whenever he glanced over. Eventually, she turned her body to look forward before closing her eyes to sleep. As her eyes fluttered shut she entered her fantasy dreamland to escape reality, she could have sworn she felt his hand touch hers briefly before pulling away.

When she woke up, they had arrived at the house. Her mouth was dry and she was parched, grabbing his Yeti cup without asking, she chugged some water. The frost covering the driveway made the walk look challenging.

"Don't move. It looks slippery," he ordered before stepping out of the car.

As he stepped out and made his way around the hood, she saw him completely eat shit making her laugh. She could hear him curse under his breath as he wiped the snow off of his sweater before she put her poker face back on as he approached the passenger door. Opening the door, he looked at her with concern and spoke, "I just ate shit. I'm afraid your wheelchair is going to slide on the driveway. Can you walk? Well. Fuck. I don't know," he ran his hand through his hair before going to the door behind hers and attempting to open the wheelchair.

Peeking out the passenger door, she saw the stairs to the house. It didn't look that far. "I was going to lift you but I don't want you to get injured if I fall," he said while taking the wheelchair out of the car. His eyes crinkled in concentration as he tried to unlock the chair, muttering curse words to the wheelchair. Putting her left foot on the ground first, she patted the area around. She could do this. Gently putting her other foot down, she stood up straight. Taking a look at Morgan, she saw his back facing her due to trying to now slam the wheelchair open making her want to laugh at the sight, but she was mentally drained.

Tapping her feet on the ground beneath her to ensure she wouldn't slip, she began to walk one step at a time towards the house. I can do this. Her foot almost lost its stepping as she slipped, but she braced the rail for support. Long ass staircase. The sound of her bracelet hitting the metal seemed to grab Morgan's attention as he dropped the wheelchair and shut both of the doors, speedwalking to Laney, "You are going to give me a fucking heart attack," he muttered as he approached her, "You don't need to hold my hand but link our arms for support".

She followed his instructions and linked her arm to his as he proceeded up the stairs, "I should have gotten the driveway heated" he noted.

Step by step, the two made it to the front door which he unlocked and opened for Laney to let her go in first. Stepping inside, she was hit by a wave of emotions. There was an eerie silence echoing in the house, who knew that silence could be so loud?

Morgan had turned around to grab the wheelchair from the snow and lock the truck as she made her way to the studio room. Creaking the door open, she peeked in and saw dust collecting on the canvases. There was a thin layer of dust coating the floors and the doorknob too. He hadn't even stepped foot in here. Not wanting him to know, she shut the door and made her way towards the guest room. She didn't even want to peek into the bedroom.

As she walked through the house, she was impressed by the condition it was in. Despite looking like a trainwreck, he had withheld the cleanliness of the house in her absence. The floors were mopped, and the bathroom smelt like bleach when she walked by, the ceiling lights were even dusted. Stepping into the guest room, she took a moment to observe the state of the room. It was already ready for any guest who wanted to stay, and it looked freshly cleaned. Realization hit her like a truck: He cleaned every part of the house but her studio.

Why was he avoiding it? Did it pain him too much to go inside of it?

She heard the front door shut and lock as he proceeded to their bedroom making her internally panic. Looking around, she quickly shuffled her way into the bed. Laying down, she exhaled deeply waiting for him to open the door. And he did.

He peeked in and stood inside, "Do you need anything?".

She shook her head.

"Ok well, you know where I'll be. I'll make you pancakes in the morning or whatever you or the baby are craving. I can even make French toast" he explained.

She just nodded.

"Alright goodnight," he sighed knowing he wouldn't get her to talk as he walked out. As he shut the door he added a quick, "I love you".

She didn't mean to be on mute. She just didn't know what to really say. She couldn't act as if everything was back to normal. That would leave him under the impression that she was taking him back immediately. But she knew she would have to speak to him eventually. It didn't help that her mind was so fried by the exhaustion she had been going through.

Even though she was on bed rest, she knew she would be dying of thirst when she woke up. Tiptoeing towards the kitchen, she peered around the corners to see if he was out, but the light was on in their bedroom. Quietly grabbing a glass from the cabinet, she filled it up with water trying not to make noise. She didn't want to see him. She was feeling a mix of emotions: confusion, humiliation, embarrassment, sadness, and pain.

As she made her way to tiptoe back to the guest room, a shiny piece of tinsel caught her eye on the floor peeking out from behind the counter wall. Walking around the counter, she glanced to see the nursery decorations she had gotten for the baby. He must have got the mail and unboxed these.

Bending down, she found herself slightly hunched in pain as she grabbed the tinsel and Amazon box it came in before making a dash for the guest bedroom. Her stomach was slightly irritated from her sudden motions but she was going to suck it up. As she discreetly shut the guest bedroom door, she turned the lamp on to get a better look at the box.

A few tinsel, the thing that went above the crib but with Christmas ornaments, the space-themed one, a small tabletop tree, and some reindeer figures as well as an elf on the shelf. She smiled at herself for picking such good items for the nursery, she couldn't wait for the baby to come out. In a matter of days or weeks, this child was bound to come out.

Creaking the guest bedroom door ajar slightly, she found herself on a late-night adventure to the nursery. Opening the door, she did her best to stay silent as she entered the room to look around.

There were planets on the wallpaper, the crib was assembled with the dangly thing above, and there was a rocking chair and a bookshelf in the corner, and a pink pony in the other corner. Next to the crib, there was a baby diaper changing station with a trash can and a pink blanket saying "Baby Wallen".

Taking the box in her hand, she took the red and green tinsel and laid it on the bookshelf. The reindeer figures went right on top of the bookshelf as well as the Christmas tabletop tree. Part of her wanted to call Morgan to show her the new decoration that she had placed but she retreated to the guest room instead.

Laying in bed while her head spun with thoughts of getting back together with him and leaving him, she shut her eyes to drown them out.

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last update for the day/night! thank y'all for reading along so far :)