PERFECT PIECES {18+}

♡Taylor♡

I was a fucking idiot. I had let Brooke get in my head, let her make me believe things about Pierce that I shouldn't have. He had done everything to prove he was in this with me wholeheartedly- even let me have Niko too and I had thrown that back in his face. But he thought I had cheated on him and that sat strange in my heart, that he could believe I would do that to him after everything. I had believed it about him though. It was just a mess and so was my head.

I curled into my blankets, staring at the door to my bedroom, not seeing anything but Pierce's face in that kitchen pantry at that stupid party. He had thought I was messaging another guy, using him but I would never do that to him and I had no idea how to convince him it was true. Especially when Brooke and Sofia had gone to so much trouble to make it believable.

I huffed and turned in my blankets, staring up at the ceiling. How the hell had they gotten those messages on our phones? It was infuriating not knowing and that stupid little voice in my head that liked to overthink and doubt anything good that happened was whispering things that made me think I was falling for another trick. But what if it wasn't a trick? What if our happy ever after was right there? Behind the web that Brooke and Sofia had spun to catch us in?

I had to know either way and I doubted I was going to be able to get much sleep until I did.

The last two weeks had been what I imagined hell to be like. I had never been on their radar but after being with Pierce I was and without him on my side- or anyone for that matter- I was an easy target. They made sure I was as humiliated as possible and most of the time, it was stupid petty pranks that I could ignore- which seemed to piss them off more- but today had been too much. They could fuck with my school life, they could get me detention, spread rumors, I didn't give a fuck. But then they had gotten me a warning at work and I had broken. I hate that they got those tears out of me, that they got to see them but it had been too much.

All night, Sofia and Brooke had been ordering, sending the meals back, saying I got their orders wrong, then they complained to the manager about my conduct-which had been fucking fantastic considering I had wanted to break every plate they sent back over their damn heads. But that hadn't mattered because my manager turned to Pierce, and asked him to verify it after I denied it. He had sided with them. I now had that official warning on my record. Straight out of the running for this month's bonuses. Straight out of the running for any promotions. And Pierce could have changed it all, Niko could have said something. But they didn't and it cut deep.

I loved them, both of them and I had thought they loved me, that Pierce had understood what my job meant to me and kept it out of this but he hadn't. Angry, frustrated tears fell from my eyes and I quickly swiped them away.

"Guys are assholes," I whispered to myself then curled back into my blankets, crunching my eyes shut, trying to get rid of the hurt and memories. I had no idea where to go from here. I wanted Pierce back, but I wanted the one that wouldn't do that to me, the one he had been before, not the broken, hurt one he thought I had turned him into. And I wanted Niko not to be in danger every time he came to see me. Every kiss turned into a weapon that Sofia could use to get him to do what she wanted. It was so fucking messy and I was so damn tired.

More tears fell and I sniffled, wiping them away. I had to sort my shit out, I had to pull myself together, get some sleep, and try not to think about the fact that Niko was risking everything to go and expose Brooke and Sofia to Pierce in those moments. I had no idea if he was going to accept it but I had to hope, even if that was terrifying. If Pierce rejected the idea, truly had no doubts that I would do that to him then I was going to have to accept it and I wasn't ready for that. Knowing that he had never betrayed me the way I thought he had, changed the way my heart took the hurt it held. Before it had stung and ached, deep and bone-chilling. It had made me sick to think about, my stomach turned every time I saw him smiling and touching Brooke like I had meant nothing, like what we had meant nothing but now? It was a desperate ache that made me want to go to him, make him see that we didn't do this to each other, that we could still get it all back. Maybe it was naive and maybe I was going to hurt way more afterward but I had to take the chance. If Niko could risk everything for us then we had to do the same for him.