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Chapter Twenty-Two

I'm not sure what I had expected to be different. But, as I lay in bed on Saturday morning, staring at the ceiling, everything felt exactly the same.

What if Noah hadn't meant any of what he'd said? He didn't exactly have a solid track record when it came to being dependable, after all. What if he'd only been going along with the idea of giving things a go to keep me happy? What if the heightened emotion of Ben's funeral had caused him to feel sorry for me?

As the doubts started to grow stronger in my mind, I decided to stop dwelling, get up, and get on with my day. Slouching into the kitchen in my pyjama shorts and a baggy T-shirt, Charlotte was already up and making porridge.

"Want some?" she called gently over her shoulder.

"No thanks, I'm good," I replied. "I just need a coffee."

"Pot's already on," she responded, keeping her full attention on stirring the pan on the stove.

As I poured myself a mug and took a seat at the kitchen table, the atmosphere was unusually quiet. And awkward. In the six months we'd been living together, there had never been an awkward moment between us. But for some reason now it felt weird. Really weird.

I bent one leg up onto the wooden chair and hugged it as I rested my chin on my knee. "You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, fine, you?" She replied without turning her head.

"Mm-hmm."

As Charlotte carried on stirring in silence, I racked my brain for what I could have done to annoy or upset her. What had happened at the funeral the day before wasn't my fault. She'd seemed pretty embarrassed by the whole thing, but it wasn't like I had tried to cause a scene or make her leave with me. I hadn't even seen her after the funeral, so it wasn't like I could have done anything then. I'd just assumed she'd gone back to Alex's, so I'd had a bath and an early night.

"Char," I began, "Have I done something wrong?"

"No, nothing."

"Then... why do I feel like we're not friends right now?"

Turning the gas heat off and placing the wooden spoon down on the counter, she turned to face me slowly. Her eyes were red raw and her face was almost grey.

As I struggled to find the words quick enough to ask what had happened, she let out a huge sigh.

"It's me and Alex," she whispered, her voice already starting to crack.

"Oh Char, what's happened?" I replied. But, no sooner had the question left my lips than she began sobbing.

I moved across the room to wrap my good arm around her, while she soaked my shoulder with her tears. Whatever he had done to make her this upset, it must have been bad.

What is it with these new boys creating drama with everyone they meet? I thought to myself. I didn't know a lot about the other two members of The Ambition yet, but I would have bet my last pound that they'd been leaving a trail of destruction and broken hearts all across London, too.

Charlotte's gentle murmuring against my shoulder pulled me back from my train of thought, but I had barely heard what she said.

"I cheated on him, Abs," she repeated, louder this time and in no way uncertain.

"Charlotte, why?" I gasped. "I thought you really liked him? He definitely seems super keen on you, what the hell happened?"

Her choked sobs grew louder as she struggled to catch a breath.

"Hey, come on," I soothed, stroking her hair with one hand. "Tell me the full story and then we can figure out how to fix things."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, digging her fingers in hard as she kept her arms wrapped around my waist.