Infliction

14

I'm shocked. NO, that's a lie, No word can explain how I'm feeling right now. I wanted to have this conversation with her, true, but I didn't realise what she went through. And I blamed her for everything.

I rush and follow her into her room. She turns sharply, causing me to back away slighty. "Wait, so you mean-"

"I've said all I had to outside," she says, her voice trembling. I use the opportunity and take a step closer to her, resting my hands on her shoulders.

"You should have told me, Leigh-Ann." My heart is aching thinking of the terrible things she had to face alone while I was busy trying to move on from the cheating.

"How could I have when you immediately called us off and shut me out at every chance you got?"

I run a hand over my hair and stare into her eyes, a million thoughts running through my mind. "My friendship with them ended over a year ago."

"I know. I'm also aware of the time they spent in the hospital. Didn't take much thought as to why or how they ended up there," she says, smiling a little.

"And I'm not sorry about that," I lean in and place a soft kiss on her forehead before I pull back. "I'm sorry I was a butthole," I say, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her in, rested my chin on her head.

She pulls away after a while and gives me a genuine smile. The kind that used to make me weak. "I'd never hold a grudge against you, you know that," she pushes my chest lightly before putting her hand around my neck and slowly pulled my as she leaned in.

She kissed my lips softly and I immediately returned the kiss. It's the least I could do after all. As I pull her body against mine and deepen the kiss, we hear her living room door open and we quickly let go of each other. No one should see us like this.

"Tess?" I say when a face comes into view. A thick lump formed in my throat.

Tess' POV

I wanted to surprise Kyle so I didn't call ahead of time to tell him I was coming to his mom's place. When I arrived at the house, which still has the ability to fascinate me all the same, the house help told me Miranda wasn't home but Kyle was.

She directed me to the backyard and opened the door for me to enter another smaller version of the main house. I follow her lead and she stopped in front of the living room, gesturing for me to carry on from here.

I open the door and look around, instantly spotting Kyle and some dirty blonde standing close to each other. My protective instincts immediately shoot up. I don't have a reason to be jealous, do I? She could be a family friend or relative after all.

"Tess?" he asks, sounding a bit different. I just stare at her hand on his arm and he seems to not notice. Neither one of them made a move. Why the hell is her hand on his arm? With her perfectly manicured nails and soft-looking hand. No, wait, why the hell am I protective of him?

I walk up to them and make a point to stand directly in front of her, never breaking eye contact. Man, her contour is on point and I love her eyebrows. Stop admiring her. Seems like she's one not to give up when challenged as she stares back at me with a certain look I can't decipher.

She's very beautiful, I'll give her that. Not a trace of acne or blemishes on her facial skin, unless the makeup covers it. She also looks like a total snob.

"You just missed my mom," he teases, trying to cut the tension.

"It's half four," I remind him without looking his way. She finally lets go of him and folds her arms against her chest.

"Won't you introduce us?" she smirks.

"Oh, right. Tess this is Leigh-Ann. Leigh-Ann, this is girl," he says proudly, making me blush.

I offer her my hand to shake. She looks at it, a look of discontent crossing her face before she accepts mine. She holds my hand in a firm grip and smirks. "I'm the experienced one."

I pull my hand back and stare at her face, that smirk coming back. My palm is stinging with desire to hit her face. "I beg your pardon?"

She just shrugs and twirls a blond strap of hair around her index finger. "You're his girlfriend, which is fine," she says, and I would have smiled had she not continued. "It's just, he might need of a wife and who else is better than me?"

My eyebrows shoot up and I glance at Kyle who looks painfully guilty. I won't lie and say it doesn't hurt because it does, but I've learned to deal with bigger pain. Trust me when I say this is just a bug bite.

I'm not willing to lose him for the second time.

"Guess I'll leave you two alone. See you later Kyle," she whispers the last part as she leaves a kiss on his cheek and walks out. I make sure she's out of sight before I turn to Kyle for answers.

"She's the ex? Seriously?!" He just shrugs and I let my shoulders fall. "How do you expect me to compete with her?"

"Why would you do that?" He asks, closing the door she doesn't overhear.

"Did you see her? She's like a model and I'm just the back page of a fairytale." I slouch on the bed and facepalm.

"I'll admit she's pretty," he says but wipes his smile the moment I send him a death glare. "But I'm sure she's thinking the same way about you." I'm not really listening to what he's saying because I'm thinking of Leigh-Ann. I mean, no homo, but she's stunning.

"So, I'm your girl, huh?" I tease, nudging his shoulder. His face heats up and he looks down, my hair covering falling over to cover his face in the process.

"I'm sorry, I was going to ask," he admitted.

I place a soft kiss on his lips. I can feel him forming a smile against my lips. "I don't mind."

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A/N Finals are over!! Yay! I hope you enjoyed this update. Your memory is probably fussed. I'll admit I didn't take time to reread the previous chapters, I just took my draft book and started on this chapter sooooo....

Till next time, Uendjii-Gina