Breakaway | d.h

Chapter Twelve

"One day I want to be a famous painter,"

"That's kind of stupid,"

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Plus it's not like you're going to go out and buy all that crap anyways. It's impractical,"

"Too late,"

I closed my eyes tightly against Dan's soft cotton shirt. We shouldn't have come here.

"I thought we were going home?" Lance asked, the tone of his voice cautious, as to not scare me off.

I tried to ignore him best I could, focusing on Dan's chest rise and fall with every breath.

"She wants to stay with me," I heard him say.

"So? I'm her real boyfriend," He stabbed at Dan's confidence as I stayed silent.

"Do real boyfriend's always forget their girlfriends name?" Dan replied confidently as I pulled away from his embrace.

I looked up at Lance for a moment and tried to remember all the good times we had together. If giving him one more shot meant keeping his fists out of Dan's face, I would do it.

"I have my flaws, doesn't everybody?" Lance asked softly as he looked back into my eyes.

As much as I wanted to I couldn't bring myself to look away. I hated Lance with all my heart, but I couldn't let him hurt Dan any longer, I needed to break up with him.

"One more night," I spat, my voice uneasy.

Dan tilted his head to look at me.
"You're going back?" He asked somewhat bitterly.

I sighed and turned to him. "I need to do this. I'll call you if I need help. I just want to give him one last chance."

He took a deep breath before nodding. "Alright," he said, his voice empty of emotion.

Somewhere inside me told me that he didn't actually understand what I meant, but I knew that he would answer instantly if I called.

"Thank you," I mouthed as I hugged him tightly before exiting the building once more with Lance.

Maybe I was crazy.

~

We didn't really do much that day as Lance had to work, so I had the place to myself. Which wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I sat on the grey bedsheets that covered the bed as I glanced over at the clock.

8:17 PM

Lance should be home now. It had felt like forever since I actually was impatient about his tardiness. I admired the fresh scent that filled the bed.

It had probably been freshly cleaned and replaced, probably because something happened on it that I didn't want to know about. I heard a car pull into the driveway, the engine dying out shortly after.

He was home.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway as I waited patiently for his presence. I looked up at him as he opened the bedroom door.

"How was work?" I asked gently, a forgiving smile on my face.

He ignored my question as he joined me on the bed, wedging a pillow between his back and the wall. Lance was never one for just leaning on the wall as he had an overly sensitive back, due to a car crash back in high school.

"Lance?" I spoke cautiously after his lack of response.

He took a deep breath and looked over at me with tired eyes, "It was okay."

I nodded and gnawed at the inside of my cheek lightly. I wasn't really sure how to answer him. Small talk wasn't exactly a strong point in our relationship as with Dan and I.

"Want to watch the stars with me?" I asked carefully, trying not to bring Dan to my mind, although it was nearly impossible not to.

He looked over at the window then back at me slowly. "Not exactly, it's dark and I'm tired," He groaned.

I should have figured that he wouldn't want to do anything that Dan and I did. They were polar opposites, after all.

"Why do you like Dan so much?" He asked, his voice dragging out as his lack of sleep caught up with him.

I sighed lightly and thought of the chocolate haired boy that made me feel like all the stars aligned when we were together.

"He's simple," I told him hesitantly.

His lack of response told me that he was waiting for me to explain, "He just- he makes me feel like I'm worth something more than just some cheap sex."

I frowned as my eyes threatened tears. I missed Dan and the security he brought me, but Lance was my boyfriend. I'd be damned if I let this broken relationship go on any longer.

He shook his head in denial, "That's not true."

I looked at the window and nodded.

"I've never once wanted to have sex with you Lance. All I am to you is drunk sex. I don't love you anymore, so why am I here?" I stated bravely and pulled myself to my feet.

He joined me quickly, grabbing my hand roughly, "Why don't you love me anymore?"

My eyes began to flood my cheeks. I loved him once, but I couldn't love who he had become.

"Leave me alone," I sighed, my voice quivering as tears spilled from my eyes.

He pulled me close to him before throwing me back against the bedroom wall.

"Answer my fucking question," He demanded and held my wrists against the wall tightly.

"Because you're mean to me," I told him as my voice grew scared. Tears stinging my eyes as I closed them tightly.

He dropped my arms and backed away from me slightly as two red marks appeared on my wrists. I bit my lip at the pain, and ran out of the room.

Immediately I found the phone downstairs and called Dan.

"Help me," I cried into the phone as my breath caught in my throat.

"What do you mean?" A confused voice replied on the other end.

"I mean come help me," I frowned as I heard footsteps from behind me.

I turned to find myself standing face to face with Lance.

"I'll be there soon. Just hold on," Dan promised.

"Too late," I mumbled as the line went dead.