Loves Me Not

*REVISED* Chapter Twenty-five

I scribble my name on the goodbye note I left on top of Ellie's phone before I haul my bag over my shoulder and duck out of her bedroom. I quietly shut the door behind me to make sure that I don't wake Ellie, although I could probably scream Yankee Doodle into her ear at the top of my lungs and she wouldn't even roll over.

I feel absolutely ridiculous as I try to sneak out of the house, but that doesn't stop me from hugging the shadows of the walls as I creep down the stairs that will deposit me closest to the front door. I contemplate cutting through the house and exiting through the double doors that lead to the backyard, but I roll my eyes as I tiptoe down the hallway that leads to the foyer, knowing that Archer is already waiting for me outside.

I audibly breathe a sigh of relief when I see the ornate, black oak double doors come into view across the darkened foyer. I try to convince myself that I'm not sneaking around in an attempt to avoid Jeremiah, but as I gently place my hand on the bronze embellished handle I hear a voice call out from behind me.

"With the way you're tiptoeing around you'd think you were hiding from someone."

I spin around in surprise, barely stopping the scared yelp that tries to dance its way out of my throat. My eyes dart around the dark area as I try to locate the voice, my gaze finally landing on Jeremiah once he clicks on the lamp in the informal sitting area to the right of the foyer.

I try to mask the frantic beating of my heart by sassily cocking my hip out and resting a trembling hand on it. "And with the way you're hiding in the dark you'd think that you were the villain in a horror movie."

I wait for Jeremiah's witty retort but it never comes. After a few moments of silence, I turn back to the door, my heart finally calming. "Night, Jer."

"You can't leave yet." My fingers are curled around the handle with my thumb resting on the cold lever. "I don't want to leave things like this."

"I don't really think there's anything we can do about that." My thumb pushes down on the latch as I start to pull the door open. I look over my shoulder as the cold air sweeps in. "Goodnight."

He sighs in frustration as he massages the bridge of his nose, trying to gather his thoughts. "What the hell happened to us?"

"Funny," I take the first step out the door with a dry laugh, "I wanted to ask you the same thing."

He jumps up from his seat and starts moving toward me, determined to finish this conversation before I can escape. "Nothing has changed."

"Bullshit!" Bile rises in my throat from the unabated fury that leaps around my shivering torso. "Everything has changed."

"How often are you going to lord that night over me, huh?" His nostrils flare with fury as he shifts from side to side in the cold. "I get it, you're pissed I took your virginity. I said I was sorry. Can we move on?"

"You think I'm pissed you took my virginity?" My mouth gapes open in shock. "Jer, I gave it to you! I'd been plotting on you for years before I finally got you between the sheets.

"I'm pissed you left me." I wrap my arms around myself to shield some of the cold blowing in through the open door. "And you've been running from me ever since. What the hell did I do to deserve this?"

His entire face sinks, although the emotion tugging at his features is undeterminable. It almost looks like...guilt.

"Listen, I—" He stops midsentence, trying to figure out how to continue. "You didn't—" He takes a deep breath before launching in again. "See, back in August—"

I hold up a hand, stopping him in his tracks. "Just spit it out. Don't try and coddle my feelings."

He nods again before he gestures to the sitting area he was just occupying. "Maybe we should sit down for this?"