The next day.
I wake up to three missed calls and four texts from Brad, as well as a text from my mom, worried she cooked something that made me sick. I ignore Brad's texts and quickly reply to mom, letting her know I'm feeling better and put my phone back on the nightstand before turning around to face Jay, sleeping next to me. I lie there, looking at him, thinking about everything that happened yesterday. I still can't believe it's real. I hoped when I woke up that it'd all have been just a dream, but the missed calls and texts from Brad quickly made me realize it isn't.
"Morning beautiful", Jay says as he opens his eyes, placing a hand on my waist and pulling me closer to him. "How are you feeling today?"
"Just great", I say with a very sarcastic tone.
"Still don't want to tell me what happened with Brad?"
"It's not worth it", I answer, hoping he wouldn't insist. "Are you ready for another Christmas lunch?" I ask to change the topic.
"Fuck no. How about we tell my parents we're both sick and can't make it today?", he says before placing a kiss on my lips. "We could stay in bed all day", he adds before kissing me again. I smile through our kiss, liking the idea of skipping lunch with his family to stay in bed. But unfortunately, his mom already doesn't like me much, and I know that not showing up today would not help to get her to like me.
"I like the sound of that", I say, kissing him back. "But I don't think your mom will", I add as I detach myself from him. "And you know, I'm really trying to make her like me, so please go get ready before we're late and she finds another excuse to hate me more"
"She doesn't hate you", he answers, emphasizing the word 'hate'.
"Really?", I answer, questioning his lie. "Then why does she keep comparing me to your ex? It's like I'll never be good enough for you"
"Who cares what my mom thinks. I love you, and that's all that matters", he says before kissing me again, and my heart stops beating for a second. Did he just say I love you?
"Wait, can you say that one more time?" I say, still in shock. Only took him ten months to finally say it.
"Who cares what she thinks babe, seriously"
"No, the other part", I say, waiting for him to say it again to prove I'm not imagining things. He smiles, and puts his hand on the side of my head, softly caressing my cheek with his thumb.
"I love you, Emma Rose Jones"
He finally said it. After all this time, and the doubts I started to have about his feelings for me. But why don't I feel happier then? I thought I'd be ecstatic when he'd finally say it because those words mean the world to me but I'm not.
"I love you too", I quickly answer before kissing him.
The day goes by slower than I hoped, having to stand Jay's mom's attitude toward me. That woman clearly doesn't like me and isn't afraid to show it. Plus, I can't stop thinking about Brad, and Ashley and everything that went down yesterday. He tried to call me a bunch of times during the day but I let him go to voicemail again. I'm not ready to talk to him. Because in total honesty, I still haven't figured out what I'm gonna do, and I intend on ignoring the problem for as long as possible.
-
The following day.
Jay just left for practice, leaving me alone with my thoughts, which I'm very unhappy about. Being alone at home means having to face the reality of what's happening and the fact that ignoring my problems isn't going to make them actually go away. Sooner or later, I'll have to make a decision; losing Brad or losing Jay. I'm so mad at Brad for telling Ashley about that very personal secret of mine and getting me here in the first place that my hurting heart is leaning more towards losing Brad. All of this is his fault after all. It's his fault for telling her about it and for choosing to date such a bitch. How can he not see her for who she really is? Because what kind of sane person threatens another like that and forces them to choose between the two most important people in their life? She's a real psycho. I can feel my head spinning out of control thinking about it and decide to go for a run to stop the train of thoughts forming in my head. I quickly change and leave in the direction of the park closest to my place. The cold December air gives me chills the moment I put a foot outside and I quickly start running to warm up. I run and run, thought-free, focused on my breathing until my legs can no longer support me. An hour and a half later, out of breath and with shaking legs, I decide to go back home for a quick shower before doing some other kind of activity that won't involve thinking about my life. So far, I'm doing a pretty good job at not thinking about Brad or Ashley. Well, that's until I arrive home to find Brad sitting on my doorsteps. I immediately freeze at the sight of him and would have turned around if he had not seen me. Fuck, there's no escaping this time. And despite how hurt I am, all I can feel right now is anger.
"What are you doing here", I say as I walk towards my front door, already pissed just by seeing him.
"You won't return my calls", he answers, standing up from the stair. "What's going on?"
I look at him and all the anger and despise I have been trying to ignore for the past two days come rushing back to me.
"So you thought that coming here and ambushing me would be a good idea?", I say as I walk past him to reach my door.
"Wait, what? Ambushing you? You've been ghosting me for two days, I just want to know why"
"I don't want to talk to you right now"
"What the fuck did I do?", he asks, getting pissed too. He clearly has no clue what he did. But how could he? How could he know his girlfriend is blackmailing me? How could he know his perfect girlfriend is actually the biggest bitch.
"Go home Brad, I really don't want to see you right now", I answer as I open the door. Brad quickly puts his hand on the door and closes it before I can make my way in. "What the hell?" I exclaim, turning around to face him. Today's not the day to piss me off.
"We're not done here", he says, blocking the entryway. "I won't leave until you tell me what I did. What happened at your parents'?"
I can feel my blood boiling. I want to scream at his face for what he did to me, for what he doesn't even know is happening.
"You better let me in right now", I say, trying to push him away from the door, but he won't budge.
"I won't move until you tell me what the fuck I did. I seriously have no idea what's going on here"
"Of course you don't"
"Then tell me!" he yells, losing patience.
"Should I say it directly to Ashley?!", I finally snap. "Because it seems like whatever I tell you, you go tell her!"
"What the fuck?" Brad says, looking completely lost. "Where is this coming from?"
"Oh please, don't pretend like you don't know. I can't believe you told her all that stuff. You make a really shitty best friend", I answer as Brad looks at me completely stunned.
"I have no fucking clue what you're talking about"
"Get out of my way", I say, looking to get as far away from this conversation as possible.
"Jesus, why are you being such a bitch? Just tell me what the fuck I did already!"
Oh no, he did not just say that.
"I'm being a bitch? Oh, you better be kidding me, you fucking dick!", I scream at him. "Why did you go tell Ashley all the stuff I told you about me and Jay? Did you think it was funny? Did you two have a good laugh?" I say, feeling tears coming up my eyes. "Why did you have to do that? It was fucking personal", I add as Brad looks at me, speechless. "I told you that stuff when I was feeling low, when I needed advice from my best friend, the one person I thought I could open up to with full trust. And what do you do? You go tell her. What kind of best friend does that?"
"Shit...", Brad says, probably realizing what he did.
"Yeah shit", I say as I finally manage to open my door. "But you know what hurts the most? Not the fact that your psycho girlfriend is blackmailing me and about to destroy my relationship with Jay, but the fact that you, out of everyone, would do something like that. I trusted you B. I opened up my heart to you like I always do because you're my best friend. But it seems like everything I tell you is a joke to you", I add before I quickly enter my apartment, taking advantage of the fact that Brad is too stunned to move and before closing the door behind me, I add:
"Were my best friend. That term doesn't apply to you anymore"
As soon as my door is locked behind me, I let myself fall to the floor, and break down in tears. I realize at this moment that I have lost both my boyfriend and my best friend. I know Ashley will tell Jay. And it's my fault for letting that happen. If I managed to keep calm and not snap at Brad, he wouldn't have known about Ashley's blackmail. And it's my fault for telling Brad about such a personal thing in the first place. A tiny part of me still hopes Ashley won't go through with her threats and that she won't tell Jay. But what are the chances of that? The girl hates me more than anything in the world.
YOU ARE READING
FRIENDS - BWS
Fanfiction"Don't even try to deny it", she spat at me. "I see the way you look at Brad, the way you talk to him as if you two are the only ones in the room. You're constantly around him, craving his attention. It's pathetic". "Wow, I'm pathetic? Yet I'm not t...
