devil may cry | the weeknd

eleven

Kaia

"So, you're getting back together with him just like that?" Nina asks me, frowning.

I turn to look at her, narrowing my eyes. "It's not happening 'just like that'," I tell her, grabbing my dress and heading to the en suite bathroom. I close the door behind me and start to strip out of my clothes. "It's been two weeks since I left and besides, it's only dinner."

Nina stays quiet at the other end of the door as I slip the dress over my body.

I smooth down my dress and open the bathroom door to find her sitting on the bed, cross-legged.

"Yeah, well, the way you two are with each other, it's not going to just be dinner," Nina says, shaking her head. "He's going to invite you back to the house and you'll end up staying the night."

I bite my lip, thinking to myself. Is that true?

Probably.

"See!" Nina exclaims now. "You're not even saying anything, which means you're going to do exactly what I said!"

I shake my head and a small smile creeps up my lips. I scratch my forehead. "Okay, fine!" I say, defeated. "I probably will end up going home with him. What's the problem with that? Abel said he'd try being a father to this baby."

Nina rolls her eyes and sighs heavily. "Yeah, try," she says slowly. "What if he decides that he doesn't want to be a father again and leaves you to bring up this child by yourself?"

"He won't," I whisper, looking down at my hands.

I don't even believe the words I've just said because I know that Abel truly doesn't want this baby - he just wants me.

Shaking the thought out of my head, I start to put my heels on. My belly rumbles in hunger and I put my hand on it, rubbing. This baby is always hungry, every second of the day.

I turn to look at Nina, who's just squinting at me, not saying a word. I can tell she wants to say something.

"What?" I ask, frowning. I run my fingers through my short, dark hair, waiting for her to answer.

"Is . . ." Nina starts to say. "Are you sure the baby's Abel's?"

Her question throws me completely off guard that I almost start choking. I turn to look at her, horrified. "What?" I  breath. "Why would you say that?"

Nina gets up and walks towards me slowly. "Remember that night you came here crying?" she says in a low voice, as if someone can hear us. "A month ago?"

I chew on the inside of my cheek and nod slowly, tasting the faint hint of blood.

I know what she's talking about. She's referencing the night that I came to her house because I needed to get away from Abel for a couple of hours after he punished me for 'flirting' with Lamar.

After finding out where I was, Abel came and got me and took me home and punished me again - this time for leaving him in the middle of the night without saying a word.

The next night was when I ended up cutting myself after he kept calling me a slut.

"What about it?" I ask Nina now in an annoyed tone.

Nina chews her lip. "Well, you did tell me that you messed up with Abel," she starts to tell me. "And that he was angry at you because you were supposedly flirting with Lamar that night. You said you drunk a lot . . ." She trails off.

"What are you trying to say?" I snap. "That I cheated on Abel with Lamar?"

I can't believe she's insinuating that I might have cheated on Abel! I'd never do that - with his friend as well!

Nina sucks in her breath at the tone of my voice. "I'm sorry that I assumed that -" she starts to say before I cut her off.

"I can't believe you'd actually think that I'd cheat on my boyfriend!" I shout. "I love him too much to do that!"

Nina rubs her temples. "Was Abel with you that whole night?" she questions.

My mouth hangs open in shock at the fact that she actually believes I might have cheated on Abel. "Oh my God!" I exclaim. "Nina! Are seriously being for real right now?"

Nina throws up her hands in defeat. "You can't blame me for assuming, Kaia!" she shouts, trying to defend her words. "You came here in such a state that night. You wouldn't tell me what happened except that Abel was mad at you for flirting with Lamar! And when he came here, he was so mad at you, he wouldn't even speak."

I rub at my temples viciously. I chuckle darkly. "So, just because Abel's mad that means that I cheated on him?" I spit.

"I don't know what else to think!" Nina protests. "You still haven't told me why you were so upset."

Because my boyfriend kept calling me a slut while he punished me with sex, I think bitterly to myself, but of course, I'm not going to tell her that.

It's weird how Nina just jumped from one boat to another and made assumptions about me.

She's been on my side ever since I came to stay with her, but now she's against me.

What kind of sister does that?

I sigh now. "Me and Abel argued, that's all it is," I tell her in a dismissive voice. "Can we just drop it?"

"Okay, okay!" Nina says. "I'm sorry, okay?" She comes over to me and pulls me into a hug.

"It's fiiine," I say, dragging out the last word.

Nina looks at me, smiling. "I hope this works out for you," she tells me. "For the both of you." She puts a hand on my stomach.

"Yeah, I hope so, too," I whisper.

My phone vibrates and I look at it to find a text from Abel.

I'm outside.

"Okay, Abel's here," I announce.

"Have fun," Nina tells me and I smile and grab my purse, leaving the room.

I go downstairs carefully - making sure I don't trip - and out the front door.