Heal Me (Wattys 2017)

Chapter 16: Heartbreak

"What the flying fuck just happened?" I ask no one in particular.

"Well fuck, I want two guys fighting over me." Paige whines. I like Paige but I don't know how anyone would want two guys fighting for you at the same time. Especially when one is your boyfriend and the other is suppose to be your best friend. It sucks big time.

"No, you don't." I hurry out of them room ignoring a protesting AJ. I'm scared that what Neville said to Dean will hit Dean hard and make him rethink being in a relationship with me. It's heartbreaking to even think about.

As I walk through the corridors my mind is running a thousand miles a minute. I just need to find Dean an assure him that he is good enough for me. Maybe too good for me.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" I spot Neville right outside catering. His hair is still wet from whatever is put in it and he's still sweaty from his segment.

"Winnie I can explain!" He quickly spits out.

"I'm listening." I say after a few seconds.

"Stephanie noticed how much we hung out around here and figured out I had a slight crush on you. I mean, who couldn't have a crush on you? You're stunning to the eye. So she pulled me aside once the word that you and Dean were a thing got out. She told me to be the jealous best friend that finally broke. The jealous best friend that couldn't hide his feelings anymore seeing you with someone else. Stephanie told me it would be a great storyline and that I didn't have a choice. I didn't want to do it but I didn't want to deal with the consequences if I tried to tell her no. I'm really sorry Winnie." I couldn't help but pull Neville into hug once he was done explaining the situation. I'm livid with Stephanie but Neville didn't have a choice so I don't have the right to be mad at him. 

"I guess I can't be mad at you since it was Stephanie that made you do all that."

"I would never do that to you for real. I want you to know that."

"I do know that Neville. You're my best friend after all." Someone clears there throat to the side of us and I turn to see Dean.

"Winnie, can we talk?" He doesn't make eye contact with me and the look on his face has me worried.

"Yeah. I'll see you later Neville." Neville nods and walks into catering. Dean grabs my hand and leads us into an unused office.

"What's going on?" I ask once he locks the door and faces me.

"I don't know if this is working out anymore." My heart drops at the words that just left his mouth.

"Dean, if this is about what Neville said then think again because that was an act. Neville told me Stephanie made him do that for a storyline. He didn't mean any of it!" My voice is shaking pretty badly but I don't care. I can't let Dean do this to me. Not now.

"I'm bad news for you Winnie. You don't know what I've done in my past and I don't want you to know or see any of it. I'm doing this to protect you."

"If you wanted to protect me you wouldn't be hurting me like this. My father is out to kill me and you are worried about me finding out your past? You know my past so what makes yours so bad? You're not being protective you're being selfish!" He clenches his hands into a fist then unclenches them and repeats the process several times.

"You're making this a lot harder than it has to be Winnie." His voice is stern and deep. Tears start streaming down my face. I'm not going to be able to change his mind.

"I want you to know that when I'm found dead in a hotel room somewhere that it was your fault because you weren't there to protect me when my father found me." My voice is barely above a whisper. I know I'll regret my choice of words later but right now I don't.

I unlock the door and slam it shut on my way out. My heart shatters into a million pieces as I walk down the corridor. I try to hold in the tears until I get into the locker room.

"Winnie?" I turn to my right and see Neville sitting on the floor tying his shoe. He stops once he sees my face. I let the tears fall as I go into his arms and completely break down, "Winnie what happened?" He demands.

"He broke up with me Neville. He broke up with me." I whisper in between sobs. I'm glad we are in a corridor that's barely used. I don't want anyone to see me like this.

"He's going to regret his decision. He's crazy for breaking up with you." We sit there for who knows how long. The only reason we move from our spot is because the staff makes us.

On the way to the hotel the car is filled with silence. I've stopped crying for a while now. I've realized that I have more important things to worry about than spend the next week crying over a guy that doesn't care anymore. Hell who knows if he ever cared at all. Our relationship could have been a game to him.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Neville asks once we reach the hotel.

"No. I'll be fine." I give him a reassuring smile but he doesn't return it. I can tell he's worried about me just by the look on his face.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I'm a big girl now. You don't have to protect me like you did when we were kids." I let out a laugh remembering those times.

"Why are you crying?" Neville came up and pulled me into his arms. He pulled pieces of mulch out of my hair rubbing my back.

"Kevin called me mean names then pushed me down. He made my knee bleed." I pointed to my scraped knee. Neville got up and walked away. I watched to see where he was going. Maybe he's getting me a band-aid.

He came back a couple minutes later with a band-aid and I black eye.

"Neville! What happened?" He put the band-aid on my wound then looked up at me.

"I had a talk with Kevin. Least to say he won't ever come near you again." He gave me a small smile and helped me up.

"I was seven! I didn't want anyone hurting you!" Neville exclaimed as I finished telling the story. We reached my hotel room and I unlocked the door.

"Night Neville."

"Goodnight Winnie."
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Hey guys! Please don't hate me for what happened in this chapter. Everything will get better soon. That's your hint. This story is doing so much better than I thought it was going to do. I mean it is around 300 votes away from 1k votes and it's not even at 20k reads yet. That's insane! I hope you guys like the chapter. Feel free to comment your thoughts but don't forget to vote!