Sprinkling Fling ✓

33.

My ears must be deceiving me.

Ice baby.

Chase didn't just call me ice baby. He can't. It's not him, there literally is no way. Yet I'm sure I heard it correctly. When we're in the shower his voice is the only thing I focus on.

It has been him, all this time.

I've been played.

Ice baby.

I feel the tears spring to my eyes. How... how could he?

"W-what did you just call me?" I choke out.

My throat feels tight. It's a struggle to get the words out.

I already know it is him, I'm not stupid. He called me ice baby, only my boyfriend calls me that, and he has no way of knowing. I just need to hear him confirm it.

Whenever Del called me ice baby, the blood in my veins went warm, but this time my blood turned to ice.

Ice baby.

He stays silent for a while, which tells me he knows he fucked up. With my hand covering my mouth, I am waiting for his reply.

"What? I didn't call you anything, my nightingale."

He lies.

The fact that he is trying to get out of this hurts even more. The lying reminds me of Tamara, I thought I knew better after her, but I guess Del took a few lessons out of her book and played me too.

They both love manipulation.

Chase has been manipulating me all this time. He is the reason I gave Del a chance in the first place. Only to find out they're the same fucking person.

"Cut it out. I heard you say it. Please be honest with me." I'm losing my patience—I feel defeated and need answers.

I'm trembling on my feet. I hold onto the shower door, the imprint of my hand now leaving a mark.

Although it hasn't quite caught up with me yet, tears stream down my face. The betrayal is evident—it's all too clear.

It never once crossed my mind that it could be Del. But now that I think of it, the possibility was always there—he fucking lives on the same floor. If only I had ever made the connection that his dorm is on the exact opposite side of mine. But the way the hallways are designed on this floor never made me realize that could even be possible. It takes so long to walk to his apartment from mine.

Stupid architecture. Stupid Kiya.

"Kiya, darling. Please, just hear me out, okay."

I'm too stunned to speak, just hearing him call my name. Chase's voice suddenly morphs into Del's voice. Suddenly the guy behind the wall has a face. Chase has a face—the face of my boyfriend.

"I didn't mean for this to happen like this. I was going to tell you soon. Please believe me."

I shrink, my knees give in, and I sit on the shower floor. I hug my knees to my body and hide my face in my legs. My body softly shakes as I wait for him to explain, yet I don't think I'll believe anything he says.

"I've wanted to tell you for so long, especially when we became so close. I swear it was so hard not to tell you, I promise, ice baby, I promise."

He had so many opportunities to tell me. He should've told me last week when we were in the car starting a fight about this. That was the perfect time to tell me, yet he didn't.

I sit on the floor, watching the water go down the drain.

I feel empty. All our special moments in the shower have faded. Chase used to be my safety net, but I felt it slip away just now. I feel exposed. I'm too vulnerable in this position.