"Did you have a good day?" asked Cheryl as she got home from her late X Factor meeting.
When Cheryl and Kimberley met downstairs that morning, it was the most awkward it had ever been between them. They made small talk with each other, even though both their heads were swimming with thoughts of the night before and what had happened.
Cheryl had no idea what was going on between them. Everything was so perfect up until Cheryl noticed Kimberley was being a bit distant. It had been going on for quite some time.
Kimberley was feeling guilty as hell. She could see what she was doing to Cheryl but felt too ashamed to tell her what was wrong. She felt awful because she knew Cheryl thought it had something to do with Justin even though it wasn't, but she didn't want to say anything because she knew Cheryl would ask more questions.
"Yeah it was okay thanks" she replied, passing Cheryl her dinner. Kimberley sat down and bounced Scott on her knee.
"Get up to much?" the younger girl asked. Kimberley winced at her words but prayed Cheryl didn't see. She figured her prayers weren't answered as Cheryl's eyes burned through her own.
"We just went to the park" she said, looking anywhere but at Cheryl. They both sat in silence while Cheryl finished her dinner.
"Thanks" she said before taking her plate out. She took herself up to bed without another word. She put pyjamas on as she got into the bed she shared with Kimberley.
It was at least half hour before Kimberley joined her in the bedroom. Cheryl was wide awake, her mind buzzing still wondering where she had gone wrong, but she pretended to be asleep.
She opened her eyes slightly as she watched Kimberley get dressed into her own pyjamas. Kimberley kept glancing at Cheryl to make sure she was still asleep as she pulled her shirt over her head in the dark and put her pyjama top on.
Once dressed, she carefully got into the bed next to Cheryl. She hesitated before putting her hand on Cheryl's hip. Her bottom lip quivered when she felt Cheryl was wearing her pyjamas, it was the first time she'd worn anything to bed in months. She knew it was her own fault.
The next morning, Kimberley woke up to an empty bed. This wasn't unusual as Cheryl sometimes took a trip to the shops to buy what they needed or just stayed downstairs cooking breakfast for the both of them.
Kimberley saw that Scott wasn't in his cot so Cheryl must have taken him with her. She walked down the stairs and straight into the kitchen, the Geordie wasn't there so she figured she was still out at the shops.
As the was walking into the living room, she noticed a newspaper on the table. She put her hand over her mouth as she saw the image of herself and Justin sitting close and laughing on the bench in the park without a care in the world, Justin was holding Scott.
'Kimberley: "I need Justin in my life"'
She felt physically sick when she read the headline. She couldn't remember saying that. She opened the paper to find more pictures of the three of them inside and scanned the article. She read that it was told by a close source.
She took a few deep breaths as anger ran through her body. She looked at the picture of Cheryl they had on the page, it was a picture of her leaving the X Factor meeting looking upset.
Kimberley started to sob as hers and Cheryl's relationship had hit a bad point and the papers were talking rubbish and making it a whole lot worse. Kimberley grabbed her mobile from her bag and saw she had a few missed calls from her family but nothing from Cheryl.
She typed out a text to her. She held her belly, still feeling sick. She needed to fix this.
Come home. Please. xx
She hit send and waited patiently for a reply that never came. There was a knock at the door and she ran to it, opening it and feeling relieved to see Cheryl on the other side. She looked miserable and like she had been crying. Then she noticed something else.
"Where's Scott?" the older woman asked quietly.
"With his dad" replied Cheryl, not being able to say his name.
"Cheryl, listen.." Kimberley began to explain but Cheryl stopped her.
"So is that it, is it?" she asked, closing the front door and walking further into the living room. "You're off playing happy families with your ex" she stated, her voice rising slightly.
"No, please wi..." started Kimberley, only to be interrupted again.
"Well I guess it makes sense. He is the dad. You're the mum. I'm just no one, your girlfriend who you can barely even look in the eye anymore. Happy fucking families!" she shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. Kimberley felt like she'd been slapped hard around the face. How could Cheryl think that?
She knew all this was her fault but never did she think Cheryl would be hurt that she wasn't blood related to the little boy she was bringing up, who she delayed her career for. She'd always told Cheryl she would be another mother to Scott. It hurt her deeply to say she was nothing to him when Kimberley knew that little boy would think the world of her every single day as he grew up.
"Cheryl!" she shouted angrily, her heart breaking, trying to get her attention so she would listen to her but yet again, she had no luck.
"Is that why you wont have sex with us? Because you're too busy trying to get back with him? Have you fu..." the Geordie shouted before being cut off, her accent thicker than usual.
"This has nothing to do with Justin!" she shouted back, finally making herself heard. "I wont have sex with you because I can barely even look myself in the mirror!" she continued, her voice breaking.
