Heart Key (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 36: Don't Stop Believing

Song: Don't Stop Believing

By: Journey

"Honey? Can I come in?" I sit on my bed, still staring at the TV blankly, trying to dull the pain. It's Saturday now and the ache is still there. Aunt Grace is walking in now, looking at me in concern as she comes to sit on the edge of my bed. I hadn't really told anyone what had happened, or slept much either. 

"Hey, honey. Are you okay? Have you caught a cold from all that partying last night?" She asks me softly as she reaches up to feel my forehead. I slowly shake my head, gently pushing her hand away as I tear my eyes from the screen to meet hers. 

I quickly, and with as little detail as possible, explain everything I had heard, staring at the covers on my bed the entire time. She listens the entire time, not taking her eyes off of me and not saying a word even when the tears start to fall and it gets harder to speak. 

I fall silent at the end and the quietness of the room engulfs us for a moment as Aunt Grace pauses to collect her thoughts. After a few minutes of this, with my tears still coming, Aunt Grace reaches out to pull me into a tight hug as I let out a pained sob into her shoulder. 

"It's okay sweetie. Everything will be okay I promise." She murmurs softly, trying to comfort me as I fight to control the tears. After a few moments I am able to compose myself enough in order to pull away and wipe away my tears, successfully tucking my emotions back inside. 

I offer her a small smile as I sink down on the bed, attempting to fake tiredness as I turn away from her. "I think you should talk to Chloe. I know it'd hurt too bad to talk to Blake, but Chloe wouldn't lie to you. She'll explain and make sense of all this. She's your best friend, she'd never hurt you." Aunt Grace says softly, trying to talk reason into me.

I feel pain at the thought of seeing her right now, but I know that my pain couldn't get any worse so I slowly nod. "You're right." I murmur and she smiles reassuringly. "I'll call her." She tells me as she stands to leave. I nod, rolling over to watch her leave before shutting off my TV and mentally preparing my brain for the conversation with Chloe.

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"Hey." I nearly jump at the sound of her voice as my head snaps around to see Chloe standing in my doorway nervously. I blink at her slowly, watching as she takes hesitant steps closer before coming to sit on the edge of my bed.

"Hey." I answer, not quite trusting my voice as I glance away from her, fidgeting with my hands as I look back to the TV. We sit in silence for a few moments until Chloe finally breaks the silence. "I'm really sorry Marcy." 

I look at her when she says this, slowly tilting my head before letting out a small sigh. "For what? Letting me believe that a guy could actually love me for me for once in my life. That I had something that would last? What are you sorry for Chloe?! What?!" I'm screaming at the end of it while Chloe only winces in response. 

"I just wanted you to be happy." She murmurs after a moment and I slowly shake my head, fury slowly filling me up until it's all I can see. "Do I look happy to you?! You set up my entire relationship! How am I supposed to trust that any of it was real?!" I ask her, practically begging for a better explanation of some kind.

We're both tearing up at this point as we stare at one another, my accusations hitting her hard like I'd intended them to. She opens and closes her mouth, attempting to speak as I wait impatiently, my anger only growing towards her and Blake both. 

"Please, just let me explain what happened, then you're free to hate me forever." It's her turn to beg now and I let out a small huff before motioning for her to go ahead. A small, relieved smile slips on her face before quickly being replaced by a look of apprehension as she starts her story.

"I wasn't planning on telling him at first, I really wasn't, but then, after he messaged me about how you two met again and how he wanted to know a little more about you, I just couldn't stop myself. I ended up telling him as much as I could about you..... even about the key. I never told him about your family though, that's a personal thing and I figured you would when you were ready.

I told him to take things slow with you, but after the whole thing about you confessing that you're leaving this summer, the whole situation practically left my hands. He took action on his own and sped things up between you two faster than I could have ever imagined." She pauses for a moment, glancing up from her hands to look at me before looking back down and continuing. 

"Of course I was excited when he asked you out and got you to stay, that's all I've ever wanted for you. A reason to be happy in the place you've lived your entire life. I knew your friends and family couldn't help enough, and Blake seemed like he really made you happy. I do believe he loves you and I know I couldn't have made him do that no matter what I've done. I couldn't have made him notice you either. None of this is his fault, Marcy. Please, if you want to blame someone, then blame me. Blake makes you too happy for me to ruin that for you."

She's looking at me straight in the eyes as she says this while her hand reaches out to take mine. I search her face for any sign of lies, but find none. "Why didn't you two tell me this two months ago?" I ask softly and she lets out a sigh as she shakes her head and shrugs. 

"We didn't think it was that important how the relationship started, we wanted to focus on where it was going. We never thought you'd figure us out like that. We always thought it'd be a funny story for later on. I guess we should have thought about how it looks if someone doesn't know the entire truth behind all of it."

Relief seems to take over my limbs and mind at finally knowing the truth as I reach over to pull her into a hug. I let out a tearful laugh as she hugs me back tightly. "Thank you." I murmur and she pulls back to give me a wide smile. 

"You shouldn't be thanking me! You need to go clear things up with Blake! Get going child!" She exclaims and I feel my eyes widen as I reach out for my new phone to dial his number while also walking over to throw some clothes on. I get his voicemail and immediately hang up before throwing my hair in a bun and walking back out to see Chloe still sitting on my bed. 

"He's not answering, I'm going to run over to the ice cream parlor to see if Grandma Cream knows where he is." I tell her quickly and she nods as I take off out of my house and down the street without another word.

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I make it to the ice cream parlor only to find it closed. That's weird, this place is always opened at this time. I think as I turn to look around, hoping Grandma Cream will somehow appear among the small spurts of people coming from the bus station. 

I let out a small sigh before starting my walk back to the house, continuing to call Blake over and over in my attempts to get a hold of him. I do this until my phone's close to dead and I can see my house and finally get lucky when Grandma Cream's voice answers from the other side of the line.

"Hello?" Her voice sounds tired and sad and I have to think for a second before I'm able to distinguish it as hers. "Grandma Cream? It's Marcy. Have you seen Blake, I need to talk to him and he hasn't been answering my calls." I tell her quickly as I stop walking right in front of the gate to my house. 

I can hear her suck in a sharp breath as she goes quiet and the static on the phone buzzes in my ear. I wait for her answer, checking my phone every few seconds to make sure I hadn't lost her. I nearly jump in surprise when her voice comes back on. 

"Marcy, honey. Blake was in a wreck on his bike. He's in the hospital."