enemies (with benefits) » l.r.h || completed

twenty seven

Vanessa

"Hello?" I unwillingly answered my phone early the next morning. I took a good look around in the room I was in and took note that I was definitely not home and don't recall how I got here.

"Vanessa? It's Luke."

Shit.

"Oh, uhm, hey. What's up?" I quickly got up and ran to the bathroom, tripping over the pair of oants on the floor. Oh wait, those are my pants.

"Well, we kind of planned to meet up and do some early Christmas shopping," a rush of wind blew in my ear from his end, making it hard to understand him. "I stopped by your house and your car wasn't there." Fuck fuck fuck.

"Yeah, I stayed at Jessie's last night," I picked up my pants and quickly pulled them on, frantically looking for a brush or comb or something.

"Uh, yeah, yeah. Of course," with the way he sounded, I knew he was fiddling with his lip ring. That's what he does when he doesn't believe anything I'm saying.

"Where are you now? I'll meet up with you," I started raking my fingers through my horrifically knotted hair and glanced in the mirror. "uh, give me twenty minutes so I can shower."

"Vanessa, where are you?"

"I told you," my heart started pounding against my chest. Luke's stupid, but he's not an idiot. "I'm at Jessie's."

"Then why did I just see Jessie go into the coffee shop without you?" My heart stopped.

"I slept in and she decided to leave without me," not even I would believe that.

"Stop bullshitting around and just tell me where you are, Vanessa," his voice raised and I felt it necessary to just give in.

"Uhm," I glanced around the corner at Michael, his red hair poking out in different directions from the blanket. "uhm, I'm with Michael." It came out as a whisper, and Luke's end grew eerily silent. Not even the outside made a sound.

"I'm at that bookstore you like. I'll meet you here," and the line went dead. My phone slipped out of my hand and crashed to the floor. My entire body was shaking. I fiddled with the shower knob, turning it all the way to scolding hot, and yanked off my pants. I carefully stepped into the shower, holding onto the wall for support, and stood under the water.

It felt like fire hitting my skin. I was practicing burning since that's what I'll be doing in Hell. This needed to end. Michael and I can be friends, but I couldn't keep doing this to Luke. Yeah, Luke can be a prick, but he doesn't deserve this. He doesn't deserve being hurt like this. He deserved a billion times better than me. I deserved a billion times worse than him. Hell,Ii didn't deserve anyone if this is how I treat Luke, the guy that is considered the scum of all scum. At least he never cheated on anyone. He just slept around.

I jumped out of my thoughts when a hand fell on my shoulder. I gasped and hid my body with the shower curtain. "It's just me." Michael smiled, his tired voice still lingering. "Why're you up so early?" He tried to step in but I blocked him, a confused look taking place on his face.

"Luke called," I unintentionally whispered. Michael's eyebrows furrowed and his head cocked. "I can't keep doing this to him." His gaze fell to the floor, his brows still knit together. "I'm sorry, Mikey."

"I don't understand, though," he looked back up at me. "last night you sounded like you didn't want him in your life anymore." I shook my head, hiding more behind the curtain.

"I love him, Michael. Yeah, he can be a pain in the ass, but it's because he loves me too," he chewed on his lip as my phone rang. He hesitated before turning around and picking it up, glancing at the screen. "is it him?"