The Constant

Chapter 38

*Warning: somewhat sensitive material in this chapter*

BEA POV

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and swollen and puffy eyes. I wanted nothing but to just stay under my covers, hidden away from the world and from thoughts of last night, but the yelling downstairs caught my attention. 

I hopped out of bed and trotted downstairs to find my parents and Heath. Heath was the voice I realized had been yelling. His face was tense, a scowl etched on, and he was pacing back and forth across the living room. 

"What's going on in here?" I asked. 

All three of their heads darted towards me, and Mom's face showed panic and worry. With no answer from anyone I was getting worried. 

"Heath... What are you doing here?" 

"Well I heard that Dad has started living here again and that sounded insane to me so I had to come up and make sure it wasn't true."

"Heath everything is fine here" Mom spoke up.

I knew Heath was furious at Dad for drinking again for everything that had happened in December but I figured he would be over it by now. Dad was quiet throughout everything, probably trying to not irritate Heath further. 

"Fine! Like it was fine that night a couple of months ago?"

Mom and Dad looked like they had just been slapped at that comment. 

"Heath!" I scolded. "That's not fair and you know it. You don't live here Heath and you never visit and you haven't seen Dad in years, so you can't come and judge".  

"It is very fair Bea when my little sister and my mom are in the house with a man who once laid his hands on them!"

Mom and Dad both were quiet and looked embarrassed. My head was throbbing from last night and now today, it was all too much. 

"Heath you need to relax and stop being so hard on Dad. He's made mistakes but he apologized and is working to fix things and make up for it. You need to give him a chance. And I need a break".

With that I slipped on my shoes and headed out the door, texting Miranda and asking if I could come over for a talk. 

RYKER POV

Knock knock knock. I was startled awake by the sound of knocking at the door. "Housekeeping!" a voice from the other side called. 

"The room is still occupied!" I called back.

A hotel, I was still in the hotel, which meant last night wasn't some horrible nightmare. I groaned and laid back in bed. I couldn't believe what had happened last night. How could something that had started so good have turned so horrible. 

I can't believe she's had sex before. My mind was going a million miles an hour. Part of me was going crazy wondering who the guys were, and another part of me was wondering where I now stood with Bea. 

Last night it seemed like we had broken up but that couldn't be true. It was me and Bea, it couldn't be over. But I wouldn't rest until I saw her. 

----BREAK---- 

RYKER POV

I pulled up to Bea's house an hour after I had first woken up in the hotel. I was nervous because I had no clue how she was going to react, but I had to apologize and make things right. 

I slowly walked up to the front door and gave three tentative knocks to the door. 

Within a minute the door opened slowly and Bea's face appeared behind the door. Her face was bare with shallow rings under her eyes. When she saw it was me her face turned blank and unreadable. She stepped out of the door and shut it behind her, then she crossed her arms and looked at me expectantly. 

She was angry and upset and it hurts that I did that to her, but I was upset too, over finding out that she hadn't told me about those two guys. 

"Bea.. I'm sorry for what happened last night". 

She just blinked at me, telling me she was expecting more from me. 

"Last night got out of hand real fast, and I just wish it hadn't". 

She shook her head at me. "You haven't even apologized for how you reacted or what you said". 

"What I said? I was angry and jealous and hurt that you didn't tell me about things that I had told you about." I explained my frustration and feelings from last night coming flooding back to me. 

"Ryker you humiliated me last night! It is none of your business of what I did before we started dating. This kind of stuff is private and personal to me and I did not owe you any explanation or apology for any of it. But you made me feel dirty and less than and that is not okay with me. I will not let you treat me that way" Her eyes were intense with anger and hurt mixed together. 

I was shocked, I had no idea I had made her feel that way and it hurt that I did that. 

"I'm sorry, I made you upset, it was not my intention" I said, reaching out to grab her hand. To my surprise she snatched her hand away. 

"Well thank you for the apology, but I meant what I said last night. I don't think we're going to work as a couple. You're too valuable to me and I don't want to lose you through arguments like this, so I think we should just be friends. But I'm still upset with you, so I need some space from you, so please just leave me alone."

With that she opened the front door, stepped inside and shut it behind her, taking my heart with her.