You Can Count On Me // Andreas Wellinger

Part 15.1 ~ The Truth

A/N: It's been a while. I made a promise to myself that I'm going to finish the story and I'm not planning on breaking it, no matter how long it will take me to get it done. Enjoy! 💜

Maja slept heavily which wasn't typical of her, but when a loud knocking woke her up, she wished she could have slept just that little bit heavier, enough to be able to ignore it. She pressed the home button on her phone, with one eye closed watching the time pop up on the screen along with a few missed calls she must have slept through. The brunette groaned at the pounding in her head as she sat up and slowly left the bed.

The journey to the door seemed to go on forever. Maja was surprised that when she pulled the door open, Richi was still standing behind it. He glanced up from the floor, giving her a sad smile. "I know this isn't the best time, but may I come in?" He questioned and Maja instantly fixed her posture, sensing something worrying in his tone.

"Is something wrong? Something with your mum? Is that why you didn't join us last night?" She asked. The girl was surprised she had the energy to speak out so many words. She pulled the door open wider, letting Richi inside her apartment.

"My mum is fine, its not why I didn't come over last night though..." Richard sighed, walking further into the living room. He leaned back on the coach, still standing on his feet. "Did you have a good time?" He asked, surprising Maja with the sudden change of subject.

"Yeah, I guess so..." The brunette replied suspiciously, with furrowed eyebrows. She tried to recall the events of last night from when they ended up at the after party. She remembered seeing painkillers on her bedside table so she headed to her room to grab them.

"Stephan got you home fine then?" Richard asked just as Maja took a drink of the water to help her swallow the pills. That's when it hit her. The words she said to Andi were suddenly ringing in her head, making her heart sink to her stomach. She felt the pills coming back up and she rushed to the bathroom. Thankfully she made it in time, emptying her stomach into the toilet.

The girl didn't even notice when Richard came in and held her hair back. He offered her a tissue once she was finished, she took it before asking for a few minutes to herself.

Once the boy left her alone in the bathroom she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She stared right into her own eyes, wondering what made her confess to Andi. Of course it was the alcohol, but she couldn't deny that it was the truth. For a second she wanted to convince herself that he wouldn't remember it, or that they would just be able to laugh it off since she was so drunk, but then sudden courage appeared and she took a deep breath. She didn't want to keep going on like this. She was going to listen to what he had to say and then she would come clean no matter how hard that would be.

When Maja headed out of the bathroom, she found the brunet sitting on the sofa, his leg jumping up and down. She raised an eyebrow, easily noticing his anxiousness.

"Richi," she spoke gently, causing him to glance up at her. His gaze was empty, but his lips curved up into a small smile. "What's wrong?"

"Take a seat angel." She followed his order and cautiously took a seat beside him.

Richard took a deep breath before taking the girls hands into his own. "So, you know I love you. You have everything I look for in a girl.." He began and Maja's heartrate increased drastically. "But when we had competitions in Norway, I met up with an old friend of mine and I don't know how and I really don't know why, the old feelings I had for her kind of came back and I don't won't to lie to you and I don't want to be fake to you when there is someone else on my head." He glanced at the brunette who was now staring at him blankly as if all the words he just spoke were in a different language.

"Look, I'm so sorry," he apologised when he realised the Maja wasn't going to say anything. "I even had the idea of ignoring the feelings and just staying with you... But after what I heard last night, it confirmed my worries. We're just not meant to be." He sighed in relief, it was a great weight off of his shoulders now that he confessed what has been bothering him.

Maja angled her head as his words finally reached her brain. "Wait, what did you hear?" She questioned with a frown.

Richard chuckled to himself, glancing down at their still entwined hands. "Last night at the party, just before I came up to you to tell you I'm heading to the hotel with my parents, I heard Lena say that you're ignoring your strong feelings for Andi and that I'm more of a safe option for you... You didn't deny it so."

"Oh god... Rich-," Maja wanted to explain the situation but she was quickly cut off by Richi.

"It's fine honestly, I actually shipped you two a little myself."

Maja stared blankly at the brunet, her mouth hanging open.

"Wait... Are you just using that as an excuse so you can leave me?" The girl questioned. In response she received a small laugh.

"Oh Maja, come on. Stop acting like you don't want him." Richard breathed out, he kept eye contact with the brunette, a small smile on his lips. "Listen, I'll always be here for you. You can count on me, but we both love other people. As much as I hate to say it, we'll be better off as friends..."

Maja let out a quiet sigh and tears involuntary began to roll down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry," she whispered just before Richi pulled the girl into a warm hug.

"I'm sorry too, but we'll be okay. I promise," he spoke softly, pressing his lips to the top of her head.

***

Richard stayed for around another hour and they made sure the two of them had cleared everything up between them. Although Maja knew breaking this off was the best thing to do, she couldn't help but feel a little upset and disappointed that it didn't work out.

When the girl heard a knock on the door, she assumed it would be Richi, who must have forgotten something. However, to her surprise it was Stephan. She smiled gently.

"Hey, I just wanted to check how you're feeling," Stephan asked with a caring smile as the girl let him inside.

"I've been better, but the hangover is passing."

Stephan nodded. "That's great." He leaned back on the table. "Oh, Andi asked if he could have his jacket back..."

Maja's gaze suddenly snapped up from the floor at the sound of Andi's name. "Yeah,- yeah of course he can," she spoke quickly, she was ready to rush to her bedroom to find it, but Stephan stopped her.

"Hey, calm down you don't have to go get it now..." He laughed a little. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head, making the girl curious as to what he was going to say next. "I'm guessing you don't really want to talk about what you said to Andi last night then.."

The colour left on the girl's face drained completely, leaving her pale. She turned on her heel, facing away from Stephan so that he wouldn't see her face.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm not going to tell Richi, neither will Andi," Stephan assured.

Maja closed her eyes, letting her head hang low. "It doesn't matter anymore... Whatever we had going on between us, it's done now." She shrugged, turning to Stephan with a forced smile.

Stephan raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Wait, what? Are you okay? What happened?" Leyhe flooded her with questions.

Maja took a deep breath before slowly explaining to Stephan everything that had happened.

When she was finished, the words which left Stephan's mouth were not the ones she expected. "You need to tell Andi!"

"What?!" The girl frowned, shaking her head in disagreement. "He doesn't need to know."

Stephan let out a loud sigh and began to massage his temples with the tips of his fingers. "Right that's it. You're both too dumb to figure this out yourselves!"

"What are you talking about?" Maja looked more confused than before, especially when she got pulled towards the door by Stephan.