Scarlet Hearts♡ T.H

67: Real Life

Rachel looked at the phone in her hand as she sat on her bed in her New York apartment. She wanted to look away, oh how she begged for her eyes to stop looking at the picture that sat idly in her hands as her heart shattered bit by bit, but she couldn't move.

She was frozen.

No tears. No cries. No screams or objects being thrown.

Just silence.

She screenshotted the photo, storing it to her camera roll before leaving it open on the bed, getting up and making herself a cup of tea. Her chest hurt, a lot. It felt like she'd been stabbed over and over and over again, and a tight twisting feeling throbbed in her stomach.

The jiggle of keys in the door sent her heart racing, almost like she had done something wrong as she watched the love of her life walk into the apartment that they practically shared even though they'd never actually had the moving in talk. Not that they would now anyway.

"Hey, love." Tom greeted, kissing her forehead as he passed, making a beeline for the bedroom.

She could hear Tom freeze, just like her minutes before, as if the whole world stopped.

He stared at the picture. The horrible, disgusting picture that he'd seen before, knowing exactly how Rachel got it. Ellen had threatened to send it to her if he didn't break up with her, but he didn't think she meant it. His heart broke. He wanted to let out a scream, a cry, anything to release the sudden pain that he felt in his chest.

He turned to her in the doorway, her cold stare with eyes brimming with tears staring at him. He could see she was broken from it. Her eyes seemed empty. They held no anger, no sadness or despair. They were like a void.

"I-" Tom's voice cracked as it filled the silent apartment, their eyes never leaving each other's. He didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do.

"Get out." She whispered, her eyes now staring at the clock on the wall. Watching him go would just hurt more than it already did.

He tried to find words to say something. "Rach, it-"

"I said leave, Tom."

He sighed, a sob building in his chest as he made his way to the door, grabbing his jacket that he'd thrown down earlier.

He opened the door, looking at her one last time.

"I love you."

Part of him was hoping she'd say it back, no matter how hard she tried not to let it show that she loved him too.

The sound of the door shutting let her know she was gone before she shuffled over and locked the chain, collapsing against it.

She crouched on the floor, her head in her hands as she sobbed, the pain in her chest too much for her to handle; such a foreign and unfamiliar feeling in her heart.

Tom stood on the other side of the door, tears on his cheeks as he listened to her cry, his heart breaking even more than it was at the fact that she was upset and there was nothing he could do.