Because You're Mine (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfic) #Wattys2016 #pfcc2k16

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Worst Best Friend

The weight of the things that remain unspoken...

*****

"New York? How long for?" Ally has been interrogating me since I stormed into the apartment, rushing over to my closet and throwing random clothes on my red suitcase. All she got from me was a few monosyllables and more than one fulminating glare of misplaced rage.

I stare at the messy pile of clothes resting inside the case and I am trying to rearrange my thoughts, so I can forget that disgusting scene I witnessed earlier in order to figure out what else I might need for this trip.

After a while I realize how impossible that is and I just zip the suitcase closed thinking that whatever I forget I can always buy there, or borrow from my mother. I texted her as soon as I hung up with Caleb to let her know that I was coming. She knew something was up but she seemed happy to hear the news anyway.

Ally is still there, quiet but lurking at a safe distance, waiting for me to talk. So I just look at her for a moment and I answer her latest question.

"A week... Maybe more" I say as I wipe the tear that just slipped away against my will.

I have been crying since I saw them kissing but I made sure I was done before I walked into my house, knowing that I wouldn't be able to explain myself to my roommate or my father. Luckily for me, the latter was nowhere to be found so I was only being stalked by the former.

"What's going on?" she asks taking a hesitant step inside my bedroom. Her voice tries to be soothing and she acts like she's dealing with a wounded animal caught in a barbed wired fence that will try to run if she gets too close too soon, hurting itself even further. "Is this about Mr. Hendriks leaving England?"

I had completely forgotten about that until she brought it up and it only manages to fuel the fire burning within me. Everything seems to be going straight to hell; the life I thought I was building for myself in this city is slowly crumbling down around me, brick by brick.

"No, Ally. It's just a job thing" I respond rolling my eyes in a fruitless attempt to minimize what Joseph's departure really means to me. "Kind of last minute, but... What can you do?"

I don't know if she buys my whole carefree act and to be honest, I don't really care, but she just turns around and walks away from my bedroom. I keep quiet for a few seconds before I hear her doing something in the kitchen and feel a tiny smile creeping up my lips at the thought that she might be getting ready to bake something delicious.

I look around my room and closet one more time and as I prepare my carry-on luggage for the plane I write a text message to Caleb asking him to send me the details of the flight as soon as he gets them.

I see the notification from five missed calls flashing on the screen but I just throw the phone over my shoulder and onto the bed.

Of course he is calling me; he must be desperate to explain himself to me but I don't want or need to hear anything coming out of his mouth.

That dreadful sequence plays back in my mind once more and this time, it makes me crouch into a ball. With my back against the mattress, knees bended against my chest and arms wrapped around them, I hide my face between my legs as I try to keep myself in one piece.

Her perfume... That was the worst thing. That stupid scent I've been missing for weeks, there it was, flowing from her skin and hair. The very first thing I noticed about him was her. She was all over him when we met.

There she was, pointing out once again at the thing I was trying to forget. The one single thing that I know won't let me see passed this or listen to any of his explanations; because I feel cheated not only by him but also by my own senses. And I can't help but asking myself if all of this was a lie or a sick and twisted illusion that my brain and heart played on me.