Just A Boy With Tattoos

Confronting Erik

"That's got to be the cheesiest fucking thing I've heard in my life!" the words were very slurred and my heart sank further, Erik was the worst when he was drunk. Jozlyn looked at me with wide eyes.

"I swear I had no idea he was here." she whispered frantically to me. Zo was glaring over my shoulder at him.

"Just because you have no sense of romance doesn't mean you can shit all over someone else's proposal, asshole." she spat at him, her eyes lit up in anger. I stood frozen in fear, this would be the first time I've seen him since he put me in the hospital months ago. My heart was racing in my ears and I felt like I might throw up any second. This was such a familiar feeling though, every time Erik flew into one of his rages or came home wasted like he was now. I took a deep breath before finally turning around to face him. It took a moment for his blurry eyes to actually focus on me, but once he finally realized who I was he seemed almost surprised to see me.

"What the fuck are you doing here, cunt?" he sneered at me, his voice full of venom, his glacial blue eyes now clear and lit with anger.

"I should be asking you that. This is MY best friend's party after all." I said, my own voice shaking slightly. I felt Zo and Jozlyn each take one of my hands and squeezed tightly. Realizing that he was outnumbered at the moment, Erik changed his tone.

"I overheard Brian talking about it to some of the other housemates, I figured I just missed my invitation." his voice was still cold, but not as hostile as it had been a moment ago.

"No, you just weren't fucking invited." Jozlyn said, matching his cold tone with her own, adding in an icy glare with it. "I think it would be best if you left now." He focused his gaze back on me and suddenly his eyes looked soft and pleading.

"I just wanted to talk with you one last time, I hate the way things ended with us." his voice even had changed, it sounded slick like oil, but it had a way of drawing me in and like every other time, I wanted to give him what he wanted. I hesitated before nodding slightly.

"We probably should talk about what happened." I said in a small voice. I started to walk towards the back door, but Zo pulled me back.

"Are you fucking crazy? You just got him out of your life, are you really just gonna let him waltz back in like this?" she whispered angrily. I rolled my eyes at her.

"I'm not doing that, we're just going outside to talk for a minute and I'll be right back." I brushed her off before following Erik out to the back patio where it was less crowded. Jozlyn's father was a landscape artist and an avid gardener so their backyard was more like a maze of different trees and shrubs lining the winding pathways. We made small talk, how we were and what we were up to these days as we slowly wandered through the thick foliage. He was stumbling slightly, but his words were still mostly clear.

"So, I know I wasn't always the greatest with math, but by my guess you should still be fairly pregnant by now." He said suddenly, almost like he was accusing me of something, but I just ignored his attitude as we made our way further and further away from the house.

"I lost it." I said flatly, not willing to give him any details. Reliving that whole experience was the last thing I wanted. I turned and looked him in the eye, something I would never have been able to do the year before. "Look, there isn't really much to talk about. You put me in the hospital and nearly killed me. You killed our baby. That's just the end of it, Erik. I'm not sure what part of the last six months makes you think we have anything together anymore." I wasn't sure exactly where my bravery was coming from, but I truly wanted to be done with this asshole for good. I spun around to head back towards the party when his hand locked around my wrist, yanking me back hard enough to give me whiplash.