Endless: REWRITTEN

16. Garnet

Natalie

I knew it, I knew it, I fucking knew it. I should've known it all from the start. That underneath this wonderfully magnetic man is a dark and horrible truth. I wanted to do what I do best: confront him, yell at him, argue with him until the wee hours of the morning, and then leave him on the side of the road where I found him. But I had to find out the truth at Cheyenne's birthday party. So I had to do what I also do best.

Pretend like everything's okay. Pretend like this man didn't show me an entirely different side of him this whole time.

The rest of the party resumed like normal. I plaster a smile onto my face, playing along with the games planned for the evening. We order food and watch a movie to finish off the night. I glance at the clock in the dark room blaring eleven P.M. There's no reason for me to leave since Cheyenne has invited all of us to stay the night since we've all been drinking, but being in this apartment is making my skin crawl for multiple reasons.

I will tell you the one comfortable part of the night, though. Almost all of us were dozing off during the movie, but I was still half awake. I heard muttering next to me near the floor and I turn my head to see Cheyenne and Mordecai talking. Through the voices in the background, I could make out what they were saying.

"This is going to be a pain in the ass to clean up in the morning," Cheyenne says quietly, sleepiness evident in her voice. She's resting in Mordecai's arms, the two of them propped up against the couch on the floor.

"I'll help," he replies. "Maybe we can get everyone else to, too."

"No, it's fine," she sighs. "We can send everyone else home in the morning. It's not that big of a mess."

"Okay, babe." She hums contently before snuggling deeper into his arms. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah." I almost chuckle, she sounds so tired. "I love you."

"I love you more."

She yawns. "Not possible."

"So possible."

"Mm-hmm." She doesn't say anything after that. She must've fallen asleep. But the exchange leaves me with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Then I think of something terrible: some girls have all the luck. Maybe my past wounds have caused me to inflict pain unnecessarily on Cheyenne and her relationship. Yeah, Mordecai is still an asshole, but if he treats her right, I don't have anything to say about it. And if he hurts her, I know ways to hurt him, especially since we work in such close quarters now. It's like they say, 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'.

I got my eye on Mordecai. For now. Until he can officially prove himself to me.

We all knock out on the couch, and I'm the first one to wake the next morning. Checking my watch, it's 9 A.M. A perfect time for me to make my escape. I scribble a note for Cheyenne and leave it on the fridge for her, and then I locate my purse and leave the apartment building.

I'm greeting with a sight that I didn't want to confront until...well, ever. Robin is leaning on my car, sipping from a cup of coffee. I stupidly didn't notice he wasn't on the couch with the rest of us, but maybe that's because I spent the whole night ignoring him.

"Coffee for the lady?" he greets, handing me my own cup. I just stare at him, and I'm in complete disbelief how dense I was. He's a spitting image of Mordecai. Of course they're brothers. Of course he wasn't a fucking accessory, but the actual murderer. Of course after leaving an entirely abusive marriage, I jump into a new relationship with a liar, a criminal, a murderer. Of course!