It Happened in Vegas

Chapter VIII

Elise launched for him but Dalia grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her back. She wrapped both arms around her body and squeezed.

"Calm down, El. I know how you get when you're angry, I need you to just calm down, we don't need you getting arrested out here. I don't have the bail money to get you out." Dalia begged, adding a little humor to distract Elise. It didn't work. Elise wasn't hearing anything she was saying. All she heard was the sound of her own blood rushing through her ears. Dalia decided on a different approach. She began rocking her in a steady left and right motion while trying to restrain against Elise pushing her away and trying to fight her. This went on for a few seconds until Elise finally gave up and Dalia saw her friend visibly slump her shoulders in defeat. Her hands unfisted and she exhaled trying to keep her tears at bay as well as her anger.

This gave Cyrus and Arson ample time to dress and move far far away from her and each other. Arson sat in a chair by the hall entrance of the room just in case he needed to bolt. Cyrus sat at the foot of the untouched bed where Dalia stood between him and Elise. He knew Dalia wouldn't let him get hurt.

Elise let out a forced and trembling breathe. "I'm good, D. "

Dalia let her out of the embrace, letting one firm hand linger on her elbow, in case she had to intervene again.

Elise let out another breath. "How long, Arson? How long have you and Cyrus been fucking behind my back?" She asked in a forced calm tone.

Arson was silent for a solid 15 seconds, his gaze shifting from Elise to Cyrus. Cyrus just kept his head down in an attempt at staying invisible. "I suggest you answer me. You know how I feel about repeating myself." Elise interrupted the silence and tried to take a step forward but Dalia cleared her throat and she quit her advancement.

"A-about 4 months." he answered. "I don't know why I have been lying to you and I know it's not my first time cheating on you, but Cyrus is different, he isn't like the other guys, he--", Cyrus' eyes snapped up at Arson, surprise and anger on his face. "OTHER GUYS!? " Elise and Cyrus shouted in unison. Dalia snapped a killer look at Cyrus and he shut his mouth and looked away. "Sooo you've just been cheating on me with a bunch of fucking guys?" Elise tried to take a step toward Arson, Dalia pulled her back.

Cyrus took Dalia's distraction as an opportunity to jump into the argument. "You told me I was your first, you fucking lied to me. All that we shared has been a lie." Cyrus shouted, tears forming in his eyes.

"Cyrus, c'mon bro, are you serious? You thought you were gonna be in a committed relationship with a man that already belongs to someone else? He can't commit to Elise, hell, he can't even commit to a fucking job. Has he even spoken about leaving her? No. Because he is less than shit without her and he'd still be stuck sharing a basement with his cousin at his aunt's house if he hadn't have met El. Don't be fucking stupid. That's your problem, that's always been your problem. Ever since we were kids, you were always trying to take some shit that don't belong to you. You want the luxury of having a man but none of the responsibility of having your own." Dalia cut in. Everyone was shocked. Dalia had effectively spewed Cyrus and Arson's truth. The room was silent, all eyes but Dalia's was cast to the ground. She'd wanted to say those words for a long time so she let the room take them in.

Once the silence was enough, she turned to Elise, her tone was low and steady. "You need time to talk to him alone, you both have some things to discuss. Be merciful. Remember, nobody is innocent." She gave Elise a look and she knew exactly what that meant. Visions of Dalia and Elise's time on the road flashed into her mind. I don't even have the right to be angry at him.

After a few moments of silence Elise felt confident enough to have a discussion without violence. "Fine. Will you stay here until I get back?" Elise ask Dalia. "No doubt, I'll be right here when you get back." She answered.

Elise looked over Dalia's shoulder at Cyrus who was still on the bed trying to be invisible. "Ay, pendejo you better be gone as fuck by the time I come back in here. I don't care where you go, just don't be here."
Cyrus looked hurt and broken as Elise left the room.
"Come on, Albert!" She shouted as she left the room. Arson followed behind her at a safe distance and took a glance back at Cyrus. His look was one of apology.

As soon as Dalia was sure that Elise and Arson were down the hallway, she turned to Cyrus, "What the literal fuck, Cy? What came over you?" Dalia asked, looking for a surface to lean on that she was sure wasn't covered in body secretions of some sort. Without finding a confident choice, she just decided to stand up instead.
"There are sooo many jokes I can make but for the sake of staying serious, I am going to avoid them." He answered with a hint of a smile. Dalia grabbed him by his shirt collar. "You think this is funny? Elise is your friend, you little fag! You don't treat your friends like garbage, especially not over a bum ass, unemployed, half steppin' ass, piece of shit like Albert! She trusted you. Three years she trusted you and you hurt her." She let his collar go and pushed him away. He stumbled back and landed on the bed. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, his voice was cracking. "It was an accident." Cyrus cried.

"Don't try and pull that shit, Cyrus." Dalia warned.
"No, really, I had sex with him the first time at Elise's Welcome Back party, y'know, when she got home from the hospital after her knee surgery. He came to the party late, I thought he was just her friend until 2 weeks later. We were all at brunch and she introduced him as her boyfriend. At the time, we were already talking. But I cut it off, I swear. We agreed to just be friends, but that didn't last very long." He pushed the whole confession out. His tears got bigger. "I didn't mean to fall in love with him."

Dalia wanted to stay angry at him for betraying her friend, someone she loved; but she understood being in love with someone that already belonged to someone else. With two deep, steady breaths, she decided to calm down. Cyrus had hurt her best friend, true, but she had to consider the fact that she may be no better than he was.

"I'm not gonna preach at you, Cy. Not this time. It's clear that you knew you were wrong. Just... Try to stay out of Elise's way. I'd hate to see you hurt." Dalia finished. At least now she knows the truth. She doesn't have to worry if it's her anymore or what more she could have done.

"This is new, D. Usually you'd take any opportunity to preach at me. Ever since I first met you and you preached the safety and etiquette of proper tree climbing. I was 9 and you were 13, and you just thought you knew so m--"
" No. Shut up. I'm not angry enough to preach at you because I have no right, but you don't have time to go down memory lane and I don't feel like it. So go to that other room and lock the adjoining door. Make yourself scarce." Dalia recommended, before walking out of the room and into the hallway.