Not Another Reason

Chapter Twenty-One: Soft

"Are you gonna ask him about the Polaroid?" Evelyn asks as she sat on Clay's bed next to him, watching Justin peacefully sleep. Eve had decided to stay the night at Clay's, borrowing clothes from him and sleeping on the floor, despite Clay's arguments to sleep in his bed instead and he'd take the floor, so she could be closer to Justin that slept on the couch.

"I don't trust him any more than I did yesterday." Clay responds, truthfully.

 "Do you not trust me?" Eve asks, now facing her attention towards Clay.

Clay sighs, taking a deep breathe. If it was a couple of months prior, he might've said yes, given the fact that she would come to him for venting and deep conversations, and including their hookup. But Clay didn't know for sure what side Eve was on. She seemed to be playing both, just like her boyfriend Zach had been doing as well. She seemed torn, between keeping her friendship with the two guys that she's always cared for and trusted, and doing what's right.

"You don't have to say it if you don't want to.." Eve cuts his thoughts off, taking his silence as her answer. "It's just.. you say you don't know about the polaroid's, and you say you don't know anything about the threats." "And I don't, Clay." She lies, knowing full well about the threats and her involvement, along with the polaroid's and the disgusting events that went on in them.

"And why should I believe you?" Clay asks.

Evelyn sighs, shaking her head as Clay scoffed and looked away from her and back at Justin, knowing full well he really didn't have any reason to believe her, let alone trust her. She didn't understand the soft spot Clay had for her, nor why no matter what she did, Clay still tried to see her as some angel or good girl. Truth was, she had done a lot of disgusting, manipulative and terrible things to people, mainly at the hands of Bryce and Monty's commands. And although she regretted it, she can't take back her part. The only thing she could do was try and stop Bryce and Montgomery before things get worse, and more people get hurt. 

"What the fuck are you looking at?" Eve could hear Justin's faint voice from the couch, glancing over at him and seeing him giving Clay a dirty look, making her snicker. She gets up, walking over to him and crouching down in front of his face to get a good look at the sick boy.

"How are you feeling?" She asks, but only receiving a groan in response as he shivers. She feels his forehead, taking notice in how hot it was before glancing back at Clay. "It's chills. He has a fever." She tells him, Clay staring at her incredulously seeing that she still was so caring and careful when it came to certain things, a major example: Justin Foley.

"Well. Get him a blanket." She demands, running her hand lightly through his hair to comfort him, something Justin couldn't help but absolutely love.

Clay rolls his eyes, before grabbing a blanket on his bed, stretching it out, and throwing it on top of the ill boy.

"Maybe a shower would help." Clay suggests. "I'm not that bad." Justin argues back, making Clay and Eve give each other a knowing look that he indeed does smell that bad. "You smell like dead feet. Just shower, please."

"Oh. I'm hungry." Justin groans. "How can you be hungry? You threw everything up." Clay argues, now Eve jumping in. "Duh, maybe that's why he's hungry."

Clay sighs, shaking his head. "Take a shower." 

Justin looks at Evelyn, expecting her to help defend him further, but she shrugs, agreeing with Clay. "Let's go, Foley. Let me help you to the bathroom."

Clay comes into the bathroom in a rush, with a plate of food in his hands. Justin continued to take his shower, and Eve sat on the toilet, ignoring Clay's sudden entrance, as her focus was on her phone, going back and forth between texting Zach, and letting Chloe know she had to run the practice alone that morning, feeling under the weather and not being able to make it, she easily and with no guilt, lies. Clay puts the plate down on the top of the toilet behind her before turning to the curtain and suddenly ripping it open.