I'm Not The Only One (Scomiche)

21: Aftermath

"The darkness is surrounding you."

Life Support by Sam Smith

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I stood frozen in place, watching my nightmare unfold right before my eyes. Everything around me faded into the background and my vision saw nothing else but the two men sharing that small round table. I could hear my heartbeat drumming loudly in my ears. My mouth was hanging slightly open, and I wasn't sure if it was because I wanted to call Scott's attention but physically couldn't or because it was my body's way of trying to breathe. I don't know how long I stood there but it definitely felt like a lifetime, with everything happening in slow motion.

They were seated across from each other but huddled close together and were talking. They appeared to be too deep in the conversation because they didn't even notice that I had been staring at them.

"Bitch, what's taking you so long?" Lia asked loudly as she approached me from behind.

I attempted to say something, anything, but nothing came out.

More footsteps followed Lia's. "Can we go?" I recognized Brookes' voice.

"What's going on here?" It was Caty.

They crowded me and it made it only harder to breathe. They must have sensed something was wrong because I continued to stare and say nothing.

"Is that... Scott?" someone asked.

"Oh my god," another gasped.

"That fucking son a bitch!"

I guess our little commotion finally burst the little bubble Scott and Alex were currently enjoying because Scott finally turned around. His eyes locked with mine and I saw how his face transformed from shocked to worried to scared. He stood up abruptly and walked over to us, leaving an equally shocked Alex behind.

"Mitch," he called out to me while walking.

Brookes tugged on my arm. "Mitch, let's go."

Scott made it about three feet away from me when Lia stepped forward to stop him. Scott towered over her five foot frame but she remained unmoving, effectively stopping the blonde. "Don't you dare," she hissed.

It seemed like he didn't know whether to push forward and ignore her or stay in place so once again he searched for my eyes. "Mitch, it's not what you think it is. Please let me explain -"

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Brookes cut him off. "That's the line of every cheater ever!"

He ignored her and continued to try to talk to me. "Can we talk? Please, Mitch," he begged.

He inched forward but Lia stopped him with her hand. "Take one more step and I fucking swear I'll hit you in the nuts so hard. You don't want an even bigger scene in here."

"I just want to talk to him," he reasoned with her.

All the while I remained unmoving, unspeaking. My eyes darted to the back of the cafe where Alex was. He was still in his seat, watching the whole scene. I wanted to run to him and punch his face but I knew I had to deal with Scott first.

"Mitch, come on, let's go," Brookes insisted.

"Mitch," Scott pleaded.

"Mitch, stay there," Lia instructed.

"Is there something wrong?" The cafe's guard approached and asked.

"No. We were just leaving," Brookes replied. She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me away so hard that I almost tripped on my feet.

"Don't follow us," I heard Lia warn Scott.

We were all nearing the door when Caty spoke up. "Wait."

"What?"

She spun around and walked back to Scott, who was still looking at us. Without saying a word she removed the cup's lid and threw coffee all over him.

We all gasped in unison as we watched Scott get drenched in ice cold creamy brown liquid. Caty came running back to us and we all scurried away from the cafe.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Are you crazy?"

"Oh my god you didn't really just do that!"

Brookes was quick to hail a cab. Once we were all inside and we sped away, Lia spoke up. "Why are we in a cab again? My house is just down the block."

"I panicked because of what Caty did! I figured we needed like a getaway car or something," Brookes answered.

"Holy shit did I really just do that?" Caty asked aloud as she sunk into her seat.

"Uh, girl, you did! What the fuck came over you?!"

"I... I don't know. I'm hungover, I haven't had coffee, then I saw him and Alex and I saw... Mitch," she explained.

At the mention of my name, they all turned their heads to me. I think they waited for me to say something, but I still had nothing to say.

"Babe..." Brookes reached for my hand.

"I... I need to... breathe. I need to get... Get out. I need to get out!" I yelled. I grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. The cab came to an abrupt halt and I practically stumbled as I hurriedly made my way out of the cab.

I heard the driver curse at us and then the girls screaming my name. I continued sprinting down the street with no specific direction in mind. The tears were finally starting to come and they blurred my vision significantly. My heartbeat was still drumming loudly in my ears and my chest was tight. It felt like my whole body was shaking, especially my knees.

Then my stomach revolted, and I tasted the vile liquid before it came spewing out of my mouth and onto the pavement.

"Mitch..."

A hand gently caressed my back as I continued to empty the contents of my stomach. Then I saw a palm outstretched to me, offering me tissue. I grabbed it and wiped my mouth rather forcefully.

"Babe, come on. Let's go back to my apartment, okay?" Lia spoke gently as her arm snaked around my waist.

I nodded, not knowing what else to do.

When we reached Lia's apartment, I sat down on the couch and accepted the water that was promptly offered to me. I could hear them saying my name, asking what I needed, asking if I was okay.

Then I finally felt the weight of everything that just happened. It came crashing down on me like a cold wave. "He... he lied... to me. Scott... lied... He... and Alex..." The gates holding back my tears opened and I began to sob. They all came near me and hugged me but the gesture only made me feel suffocated. I gasped for breath, my chest heaving and my shoulders shaking violently as more tears streamed down my cheeks. I wanted to tell them to go away but I was also afraid that without their arms around me I would fall apart even more.

Shortly after my hands and arms felt numb, my chest ached even more, and my vision started to dim until there was nothing but darkness.