Betrayed By You

Ch.17 - How Could He Betray Me

  Duval wasn't just my best friend, he was my only friend. Week after week went by. We all ate in silence. We didn't have family game night. Duval didn't speak with me. Whenever he saw me in the hallway and I smiled at him he'd look around and then almost make a dash for his room.

After the third week I followed him into his room and locked the door behind me. "Alright, what's gotten into you?"

"I don't know what you mean." He said, looking at his wall.

I walked over and hugged him from behind. "You do know what I mean. You've been avoiding me for three weeks! If you don't want this relationship then tell me. I-i-if there's someone else or if you don't feel like you have the time, or if it's me or whatever's going on."

"It's personal." He mumbled.

"If it's personal you should be able to share things with your girlfriend. Or if not your girlfriend at least your best friend."

"It's stuff about my past that I don't know if you'd be able to handle. And it's not just about me. There are others involved and I don't know how they'll take it."

I stayed silent for a few minutes, turning around and curling up with my back to him. "It's about Devlin, isn't it? Ever since he's been here it's been more and more awkward and I came home to you two sitting down at opposite ends of the room, but the tension... You could physically feel the tension. Like reach out and grab a handful of it."

"My brother and I... Have a different view on certain things."

"Duval, I want to trust you with things, but I need some sort of reassurance here."

"What if I can't figure out how to give that to you?"

"Then I don't know. It feels like ever since Devlin's been here I can't trust you because you might turn on me. Like you're going to side with him and I'm going to get hurt or something, but part of me knows you'd never hurt me like that. Part of me thinks you'd never betray me, but suddenly you're gone all the time and I'm alone or with Devlin and you don't even look at me. You jump if Devlin says anything, but if I actually need you you're nowhere to be found. It hurts. It wasn't just my boyfriend abandoning me all of a sudden, but my best friend, too. I feel betrayed for some reason."

"I don't want you to go, but it might be better for your safety if you leave here. Go back to your place for a while. Don't see me for a while."

I got up and walked out of his room, taking one more look at him because I didn't know if it was going to be the last look I had at him. One of his hands was under a pillow and he was starting to curl up. It was already hurting him, too, but he was the one who made the choice. He was pushing me away, even if it was 'for my safety'. I had plenty of clothes and things at my place so I just grabbed my keys and left.