TOO GOOD ━ SUGG. ✓

chapter sixteen

"Why don't you tell me who you were talking to last night, Joe?" I asked him slowly, as I took a step towards him.

"You never told me..." he trailed off as he looked at me.

"Told you what?" I asked him confused as I now stood in front of him. He looked up at me, anger clearly visible in his blue eyes.

"I'm just gonna go downstairs," Caspar said from the other side of the room. He dropped his empty bowl in the sink and brushed past me, looking at Joe who stared right back at him. After he disappeared down the stairs Joe looked back at me, a furious expression on his face.

Joe? Are you-" I said as I started to place a hand on his shoulder. He looked at my hand on his shoulder quickly before he simply shrugged it away, almost disgusted.

"Don't touch me," he said quietly as I raised my eyebrows and I felt my heart drop.

"What?"

"You could have told me," he said, disgusted.

"What? Told you what?"

"Don't think that I don't know! I'm not stupid, Alyssa!" Joe said as he shifted from one foot to the other.

"What the hell are you going on about?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you had a boyfriend?"

"What I don't-"

"Don't fucking lie to me Alyssa! His name is Cole, isn't it?" He asked, his voice rising in anger.

"Joe, listen to me, I don't have-" I was interrupted by the pressure of his hand against my cheek. A single tear fell on the ground as I clutched the left side of my cheek in pain. A searing, numbing pain was the only thing that I could feel on my left cheek.

"Don't fucking lie to me!" He screamed loudly as I looked down at his hand which had just slapped me across the face. He looked down at me and suddenly his face became one that was in complete and utter shock. His gaze fluttered from my eyes to his hand.

"Alyssa, I-"

"No, just leave me alone."

"I wasn't thinking straight...I-I was angry and-"

"Joe, just leave me alone." I said as I grabbed my jacket from the table.

"Alyssa please," he protested as he tired to reach for me.

"And to think that last night I kissed you, I'm such a fucking idiot!" I said in disbelief, as I put my hand on the doorknob.

"Alyssa!" Joe said as he tried to pull me towards him.

"I don't want to see you or have anything to do with you, for that matter!" I said as I opened the door.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I cast a backward glance at him, his eyes met mine and the expression on his face made my heart drop. I willed myself to avert my gaze from Joe to in front of me. My vision became blurry as I ran out of the flat.

Even though Christmas was right around the corner, it was surprisingly warm for a typical London morning. As I walked towards the station, a sob suddenly escaped from my lips as I gripped the lamp post beside me and leaned against it. My phone began to ring and I looked at it only to see Joe's name across the screen. I locked my phone and ignored his countless calls as I continued to make my way to the station. It suddenly became quiet and I looked down at my phone to see that while I had missed many calls from Joe, he hadn't called me in a while. I shoved the device in my pocket and kept walking.