Nobis ✴︎ Pavel Chekov

Chapter Fifteen - Wake-up Call

         

Pavel gets another call in the middle of the night and he just ignores it. He knows it's his mother again but he still hasn't figured out how to work around the Irina thing. He thinks asking Emory probably is the best option but it means telling her a few things. He asks her over and they just watch movies and eat and talk. They've been watching through a series together and he has no idea what they'll do when it's over. They have a break from a while and he has the perfect chance to ask but he doesn't and he's not entirely sure why. Emory knows something's up though and she asks him.

He starts explaining his situation and Emory just listens quietly. He hopes she won't ask what actually did happen but she does as soon as he's finished his explanation.

"I don't like talking about it. Not yet, anyway. I'd tell my mother if I could but I don't think I can handle the questions."

"It was a really bad breakup, wasn't it?"

Pavel nods.

"Have you talked to her since? Seen her since?"

He mutters 'no' and feels himself tensing up a little. Even not directly talking about her he feels uneasy.

"It's probably a good thing we aren't actually dating. Your roommate was right, if you can't talk about her yet then you're definitely not ready for another relationship."

Pavel nods again, biting the inside of his lip. "I don't know why I get like this, to be honest. I just can't admit to myself that what happened is true."

Emory looks at Pavel and swallows. "Did she... Did she cheat on you?"

Pavel tenses up even more and he's looking towards the floor uncomfortably. He's biting the inside of his lips harder than before but he nods, just a tiny bit.

Emory comes over to him and places a hand gently on his back. He loosens up slowly and she hugs him gently, something which he really needs. He holds her back gently and finds himself in her arms for quite a while.

"I'm not surprised you wanted to drink so much after that," she says light-heartedly. He gives her a gentle smile and she brushes some of the curls from his eyes. "It's going to be fine, Pavel. You're going to be fine."

Two days later, Pavel finds that he is, in fact, not fine. He gets a message from Irina asking why he didn't tell his mother they broke up and he finds himself a freaking out a little. He has four missed calls from his mother and he just switches his phone off instead. He doesn't want to deal with his mother's interrogation or Irina and he has a shower and procrastinates instead. Emory shows up at his door and he's confused but she tells him he hasn't been answering his phone and she was worried. He tells her what happened and she can see he's a little distressed.

"Do you want me to talk to your mother?" Emory offers, thinking that it might just be easier than him stressing over it.

"She doesn't speak English," Pavel mutters, gripping his phone in one of his hands but not looking at it.

"Your ex was Russian?"

Pavel nods. He met Irina in Russia and he feels like it was one of the reasons his parents like her so much.

His phone rings this time but it's Irina. Pavel puts the phone down but Emory tells him he should pick it up. He shakes his head but Emory gives him a look. He doesn't want to but he feels like Emory knows what she's doing. He looks at the phone nervously and puts it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Pavel? Oh, hey. Your mother keeps calling me. Didn't you tell her about us? She probably should know."

"Yeah, I guess but I haven't gotten around to it yet."

"You might want to do that." Her tone sounds subtly condescending and he doesn't like it but he tells himself he won't have to talk to her for long. "Are you okay, you sound sick or something?"

"I'm fine," he mutters through gritted teeth. "I just have other things to do."

She scoffs and mutters 'yeah sure' quietly and it just makes Pavel angry. "You have fun with your 'other things' Pavel. Tell your mum what happened too. Bye."

Pavel hangs up without saying anything else and he drops his phone on the floor, burying his face into a pillow on the couch and groaning into it. He feels like throwing something but he doesn't. Emory places her hand gently on his back and he tries to let it calm him down a little. It doesn't work super well.

"She's so infuriating," he says, pulling his face up. "I just... She doesn't even care. After everything, she doesn't even care."

"Pavel?"

"Yeah?" He says weakly, looking up at her.

"You did it, you spoke to her. You don't have to anymore. Plus, even if she doesn't care... I do."

Pavel manages a weak smile and thanks her. He tells himself she is all he needs.