ciarán frowned, "why not? can't i just talk to you?"
salem shook her head quickly, "i'm sorry, ciarán, but now is not the right time."
a look of concern made itself present on ciarán's face, "is something wrong? you can tell me what it is."
"please just go. i want to talk, i really do, but i can't right now." salem looked at him with pleading eyes.
ciarán shook his head, "i'm not going until you tell me what's wrong."
"stop being so damn stubborn!" salem whisper-shouted.
"who the hell is it?" a voice called from inside the apartment.
ciarán raised an eyebrow, "is that who i think—"
without a warning, ciarán pushed the door all the way open, causing salem to fall onto the floor.
she hit the ground with a thud, and she watched as the scene unfolded before her.
the two boys hadn't even noticed her, since they were too busy staring daggers at each other. "what the fuck?!" the two said in unison.
ciarán broke eye contact first, diverting his attention to offer salem a hand. she took it gratefully, and he pulled her off of the floor.
"the hell is he doing here?" ciarán asked through clenched teeth, not even bothering to ask if she was okay.
ryan crossed his arms, rolling his eyes. then, he smirked, sizing ciarán up. "your 'girlfriend' invited me over."
salem's jaw dropped. she turned toward ciarán, which only made her heart clench. she could see the hurt in his eyes, and that finally gave her the courage to speak. "don't listen to him. he asked to come over so we could talk. that's it."
ciarán's eyes darted from ryan and then back to salem. "talk about what?" he asked faintly.
ryan took a step forward, putting his arm around salem. "when we're gonna get back together."
salem looked at ryan in disbelief, pushing his arm off of her. "take your shit and get out, ryan." salem hissed, storming off into her room to get the bag of ryan's clothes.
when she came back, the door was wide open; ciarán was gone.
she quickly shoved the bag into ryan's arms, and she sprinted out into the apartment corridor. she saw him walking toward the elevator, and she called out for him. "ciarán!"
she ran toward him and grabbed his arm, causing him to turn around slowly. "what?" he spoke in the same cold tone salem dreaded oh-so much.
her stomach twisted at the thought of him being so upset with her. "don't believe ryan, he's lying; i swear on my life." she looked at him, hoping he'd say something, but he had a blank expression on his face. she continued, "why'd you decide to come over?"
he shook his head, turning toward the elevator. "forget about it."
"ciarán, please." salem's voice broke, slightly squeezing ciarán's arm. "let me explain."
ciarán sighed, growing impatient. "fine; let's start off with why the fuck your ex was at your place."
"he asked to come over and i thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to set things straight with him."
"set things straight with him? what the hell is that supposed to mean?" ciarán scoffed. "why didn't you tell me?"
salem had a bewildered expression on her face. "you weren't talking to me! how was i supposed to know you were going to come over uninvited today?!"
ciarán opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't seem to form an answer. finally, he decided to tell her why he came over unexpectedly. "i saw what you tweeted last night and realized i should make things right between us again; but i guess you were too busy sorting things out with your ex."
the elevator doors suddenly opened, revealing tavia and matt, which ciarán and salem did not expect.
"aww, look at the two lovebirds making up." matt said, causing ciarán to roll his eyes.
"i'm leaving." he said as he entered the elevator, pressing the ground floor.
as soon as the elevator doors closed, matt asked: "what's up with him?"
salem shrugged. "how was y'all's date?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
tavia, taking the hint, responded quickly. "good, like always. we went skating and then went to the dog pound. i saw a corgi and took a picture for you."
tavia linked arms with salem, while her other hand was occupied holding matt's.
matt leaned forward, so he was able to see salem. "you tryin' to steal my girl, chambers?"
"i already have her wrapped around my finger." she teased, sticking her tongue out at him.
with that, the three of them walked back to the apartment. somehow, salem didn't even feel like a third wheel.
salem walked into the apartment first, while tavia said her farewell to her boyfriend.
"alright, so, what exactly happened?" tavia asked, sitting down on the couch.
salem bit her lip, not wanting to tell the truth. there was no point in lying anyway; the truth would slip out eventually. "ryan came over, and i thought we were just gonna talk—"
"hold up, why was ryan here?!" tavia interrupted.
"he asked to come over and i thought it would be the perfect opportunity to officially, you know, cut things off with him and give him his clothes back." she answered sheepishly.
tavia's eyebrows furrowed. "and you didn't tell me?!"
"i knew you were gonna try and intervene, and i was not gonna let you skip out on your date with matt. i can handle my own problems, tav." salem said solemnly.
tavia sighed, "i know you can, but at least tell me. when did ciarán come over?"
"i was arguing with ryan about ciarán, and then out of nowhere, this bitch arrives!" salem was still in shock about ciarán's sudden appearance.
"wait, so he just randomly decided to come over?" tavia cocked her head in confusion.
"yeah! i was not expecting him to show up just like that."
"judging by how he looked, it seems like y'all still aren't on good terms."
salem shook her head slowly. she regretted letting ryan come over today. she wanted to talk to ciarán so badly, and when she finally had the opportunity, she couldn't.
it was selfish of her to want ciarán to forgive her so easily, considering he didn't owe her anything. he could walk right out of her life if he truly wanted to.
but she knew ciarán. even though she hadn't known him for very long, he wouldn't leave her just like that.
ciarán was stubborn, but salem was up for the challenge.
a/n:
ik i'm late but ciarán's new ear piercing and tattoo ... i have feelings for one (1) small, irish man !!!
