What You Don't Know (Sequel to "Secret Love")(Hunter Hayes/James Marsden)

Stay

I miss Hethany.

God Bless and Happy Reading!

The taxi ride back to her hotel was too short for her to gather her emotions. It was half past midnight when she finally made it up the stairs to her room, and was still trying to fit all of her feelings into her pocket when she heard an unexpected rap on her door.

She thought about not answering it. She seriously consider laying down and never getting back up. Yet, she trudged to the door and pulled it open, hoping that company, however brief, would scare away the pain.

Send the ring back in the mail, he had said. He may as well have cut her with it.

"You look awful."

She glanced up. "Thanks, Trent."

She shuffled off and fell into bed, faintly hearing Trent come into the room and remove his jacket. He was not wearing his disguise tonight, and she was glad. She was going to want to get done what needed doing as quickly as possible, and having his massive disguise in her way would make the process both longer and less pleasant for her.

Trenton climbed in bed beside her, pulling her automatically into his arms. They sat there in silence for a few moments as he stroked her hair. The quiet was comforting. Bethany closed her eyes and tried to imagine that Hunter's fingers were separating the tangles in her hair. It did not work. She knew he was gone. Those were Trent's fingers, and Hunter's would never be there again.

"Are you upset about what I said to you yesterday?" her companion finally stirred, and his words reminded her of the ones he had nearly screamed at her only days before.

I love you!

The same words Hunter would never say to her again.

"No."

"Then what's wrong?"

She sighed. Telling him the truth would serve no purpose, yet she wanted someone to know. She wanted someone to hold her and tell her she was better off without him, that she was strong and beautiful and that Hunter Hayes was never the right man for her anyhow.

She wanted him to lie to her. Who was a better liar than Trenton McDermott?

Still, she said nothing, and the silence pressured them for so long that he eventually continued himself.

"I know where you went, Bethany," he shifted her so he could search her tired face.

She stiffened, looking at him with confusion. "How do you know that?"

"Rory told me. He said he saw you leaving and heard you tell the cab driver where to go."

Bethany shrugged. "So? Where did he say I went?"

Trent hugged her close, reassuring her that he was not angry, before he asked gently, "Why did you go see him?"

Bethany squirmed in Trenton's arms, a jumble of words tumbling from her mouth. "I went to break things off with him again. He's been texting and calling me non-stop, and I felt that he needed to hear it was over again, face to face. Hopefully he got the message this time."

She surprised herself with how easily the lie came to her. Trenton, well acquainted with the ins and outs of perfect dishonesty, picked up on the part of her lie she had not considered.

"If you broke things off with him, why do you look like you've been the one crying all night?"

She sighed. Another lie came swiftly. This was the knot in the rope, the blade on the guillotine. She had to say the words; it was the only way to convince Trenton that she was his and was never going to leave. She had made an enemy of the only man she really loved for this reason: this was the only way to gain Trenton's trust and put an end to this.

If she said them, there would be no going back, but there was nothing for her to go back to anyhow.

"He said some cruel things to me," she began, voice wobbling. "Just horrible, horrible things. He knew they would upset me, but he showed no remorse. He just couldn't deal with the fact that I'm...with someone else now."

She gave Trenton a meaningful look, and his eyes lit with surprise, which quickly disappeared when he closed them to kiss her fiercely.

"I am so happy, Beth," Trenton said, pulling back from the kiss and smiling broadly. She managed a shy smile in return, though it cracked under the surface.

"Me, too, Trenton." She kissed him again, sweetly and with the kind of tenderness one reserves for a loved one. "Me, too."

He stayed curled up by her side for several more minutes before he finally offered to leave.

"I should probably go, Beth. We have to work in the morning." He got up and began to move off to the side of the bed. She flew off the headboard and slammed into his chest, kissing him desperately. If she put this off until later, she may never be low enough to consider it again. Right now, she needed Trenton to be here, because he was warm and tender and he loved her. She needed that right now.

She had to do this. It was the reason Hunter had said those things, and even though he would not be there when her mission was over, she was still determined to finish. If she stopped now, what would have been the point in the first place?

It was equal parts obligation and loneliness that gave her the courage to slip her hand beneath Trenton's navy shirt. She kissed his neck, pressing herself even closer to him.

"Don't leave. You don't have to leave. Stay."

His eyes searched her face earnestly.

"Are you sure?"

She smiled softly, curling her other hand in his hair.

"Stay," she repeated.

As she had known he would, he kissed her deeply. He would stay. She would complete her mission. She would be allowed to go home, but she would go home empty handed.