Imogen:22
Eli:24
[Not FTM]Adam:24

The Cheater, The Beauty, and The Mad Man

Elijah Goldsworthy, the man with the green eyes that could lure any women towards him, sat impatiently in the dark in his living room-tapping his foot furiously. His eyes glanced at the clock occasionally, it nearing 2 A.M. His wife was never one to come home late, but for the last month, it's been the other way around.

Imogen Goldsworthy, for the past month, would come home in a daze- without acknowledging her husband's presence when she stumbled into their home. At first, Eli thought perhaps, maybe, her job was keeping her back to finish off some work but it didn't seem legit. For one, he already knew her job ended at 9, and second, one would not simple come into their home giggling silently at two in the morning-unless drunk; Imogen wasn't one to drink.

Eli tried to keep his temper for as long as he could, taking more of his pills than he should to calm his nerves. But it wasn't until he noticed her doing odd things. She wore turtle necks more often, along with long sleeved shirts instead of the spaghetti strap shirts she usually wore. And occasionally, Imogen refused to answer phone calls when Eli was around. It took him days before he realized Imogen would disappear sometime in the middle of the night as he would sleep. Eli soon became aggravated with her actions.

He demanded to know. His argument with the turtle necks weren't very valid considering they were nearing winter so he let it slide once again. She would say the phone calls were from random strangers who just had the wrong phone number. But it seemed to frequent to Eli. As for disappearing at night, taking a stroll around town for some fresh air was her answer. But after a few weeks, Imogen went back to her old self. Started wearing less clothing around her neck and arms, left her phone out in the open, and Eli woke up at night to find his wife sound asleep- although, she would still disappear some nights. Eli was still hesitant though.

And he was right to be hesitant, because taking a stroll at two in the morning didn't seem right to him anymore. He mentally scolded himself for even believing that it was the actual reason she would disappear. He pushed his hands through his hair, yanking occasionally to keep himself from exploding. Tears threated to fall but he held them in, determined to keep strong. Imogen was slipping away from Eli's grasp and he didn't like it, not one bit. It scared him. He loved his wife dearly and would do absolutely anything for her, but nothing seemed to please her anymore. She was gone most of the days, leaving him alone in the house to roam around with loneliness.

Eli argued with himself. Was it him? Or was it her? He raked his brain for answer; he wanted to know what was wrong so he could make her happy to be with him again.

As Eli was in the mist of his thoughts, a glowing Imogen walked through the door. She quietly closed the door shut. In her hands, held her heels, tip toeing to their bedroom.

Eli's eyes shot up, watching Imogen walk past him as if he were a ghost. This brought anger circulating in him once again.

"Where have you been?" He roared. It wasn't his intention to yell at her but he couldn't control himself. Imogen squealed out of fright.

"You scared me, Eli." She placed her hand over her heart, taking deep breaths.

"Answer the question." Eli was already on his feet without him noticing, walking closer to Imogen. The darkness in his eyes frightened Imogen more, making her back up as he came closer.

Eli felt his hands shake; balled them to keep them from being visible. He has had many of his own ideas of what could be up with Imogen; many he wished weren't true but close possibilities. One being too extreme for him, it would literally break his heart.

She crooked her head to the side, letting out a small, nervous laugh as she slowly placed her heels behind her back. "I just went for another walk."

Eli rolled his eyes. "For 3-hours?"

"Y-Yes." He chuckled darkly.

"That excuse doesn't seem reasonable anymore. I don't even know why I believed you." His voice rose, bringing out the angered Eli within him. The scary one.

Imogen fidgeted. "Well…it's true!" The lie was palpable against her words and Eli had to keep himself from barking a laugh.

"Oh, really? So you went for a 3-hour walk in the middle of the night, very believable." Imogen gulped nervously.

"Eli, you're scaring me." Eli took a step closer towards, making her back up into the counter.

"Then tell me what you've been up to." He snarled at her, not being able to control whatever it was the made him become so dark.

Imogen straightened her back, "I did! Stop worrying." She turned on her heel but was caught off guard when pressure was applied on her arm. Imogen yelped.

"Do you think I'm blind?! The way you come in late at night isn't the way you should look like if it's just a 'walk'." Imogen squirmed under his grip.

"How do I look like then?" Imogen said.

"You giggle, and you have this smile on your face…and this…look in your eyes…" A look Eli was all too familiar with in their early years of dating and marriage. Eli took in a shaky breath before asking the question he dreaded asking for weeks.

"Are you…Are you cheating on me?" There was a moment of silence; it including Imogen's widened eyes and Eli's deadly, yet desperate, glare. Imogen regained her posture, straightening back up in confidence.

She shook her head furiously, "Of course not, Eli. I would never." Her tone was so soft, so reassuring that Eli almost fell for it. There was a glint in her eyes. Without asking her permission, Eli shoved his hand into her jean pocket-taking out her phone; holding it at a high distant.

"ELI! Give it back!" Just as Eli flipped open the phone, it vibrated. Imogen shrieked and jumped as high as she could to get it back but failed miserably.

'Had fun tonight ;) Can't wait to do it again.'

Eli's eyes bulged. His heart shattered. Imogen stopped fighting, knowing Eli had already seen it, and looked down, ashamed.

He brought the phone back down-taking shaky breaths; refusing to let the tears fall. He turned on his heel, his back against Imogen. The only noise that could be heard was the shattering of the phone crashing against the wall.

(~~~)

3 Months Later:

"You know, you really shouldn't do that." Adam said, leaning against his bathroom door frame while watching Eli take his sixth pill of the day.

"They help…" Eli set the cylinder object back on the sink, turning his head towards the window. Adam shook his head slightly.

"Eli, it's not healthy. You're only supposed to take two a day." Eli shrugged, not really caring about what it could actually do to his body. It helped mend the pain in him- all that mattered to him at the moment. He shoved past Adam, walked into his room, and slammed the door shut. His hand played with the ends of his hair, which had grown just an inch above his shoulders. One click of a button and his room was booming with loud music, vibrating every inch of the room. He fell back on his bed, trying oh so very hard to escape the world.

For what seemed like the millionth time of the day, his mind wandered back to Imogen. What is she doing? How is she coping with the divorce? Eli mentally slapped himself. If Imogen cheated on him, why would she be sad about the divorce? After the night Eli found out about her cheating on him, they had a heated argument-involving other things being broken and Imogen walking out their home. It took days, possibly weeks, for Eli to quite crying and calm down enough to convert Imogen about it. Eli brought up the divorce idea, making Imogen plead for him not to do it. That she would do anything to stay with him.

He found it bit pathetic.

"Anything? Tell me what else you've kept from me."

Imogen looked down, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"What else!?" Eli yelled. Imogen's big brown eyes met with a pair of broken green eyes. She took a deep breath.

"I'm pregnant."

It wasn't his; he already knew that because they have not been sexually intimate with each other for months. That was all it took for Eli to finally walk out. The next month consisted on getting a lawyer, assigning a date for court-which was excruciating for Eli-and moving out once the divorce was official. Adam welcomed Eli into his home-with Jordan's, his wife, permission-and was currently staying in one of their spare rooms, which he now lived in for three month.

He rolled onto his side and plopped face down. With the loud music, Eli wasn't able to hear the loud pounding on his door. Nor did he hear the door break down.

It wasn't until his music was shut off when he looked up and glared at Adam.

"What's your problem?" Eli yelled.

"What's my problem?" Adam points to himself. "I don't have a problem! You're the one who has been sulking in this room. I know the divorce has been hard on you but it's been three months, man. You have to get yourself together."

Eli lets his head fall back again. "It's not that easy."

Adam sits on the edge of the bed. "I know it's not, but you can't just lock yourself in a room for days and sulk in sadness. It's not healthy."

Eli only gave a shrug. Adam sighed and looked around the room. Empty cans of soda, plates of unfinished and finished lunch, and wrappers after wrappers lie around the room.

"Look…Jordan and I rented out an apartment for you an-"

"So now you're kicking me out?"

Adam presses his lips together, "No. We've tried helping you, Eli. But obviously it's not working. We just thought that some alone time and therapy-"

"Thearpy! Seriously?" Eli snarled at Adam.

"I don't like to see you like this, Eli! What else am I supposed to do?"

"Try to understand what I'm going through!"

"I have! For 3 months." Adam's voice softens. "You're not getting any better." He hated to see his best friend like this. He liked to see the sarcastic, funny, outgoing guy who got excited over a book or his own writing, not the one who locks himself away in depression and doesn't even try to pick up a pencil anymore.

"Please. Just give it a chance." Adam begs. There's a 5 minute silence as Eli searches his thoughts. He didn't want any help, that's the first thing that came to mind but when he looked into Adam's eyes, he could see the pain and worry in them. In truth, Adam and Jordan did what they could to help him. They would sit with him for hours if he wanted to talk and they tried everything in the book plus more to bring his spirits up but nothing worked. Eli always ended up locking himself in his room.

Eli looked around the room, for once noticing the trash around the room. His mind wandered back to his high school years, Julia's death, the hoarding. It resembled much like how his room used to be, just not as messy.

His eyes met with Adam's and he sighed. "Fine." He hated the idea though, having to go to a therapist again annoyed him but he didn't like to see his loved ones in pain.

Adam lets out a sigh of relief, glad he won't have to be fighting with him anymore. Before Adam could exit the room he turned back around to Eli. "We're doing this because we love you. Just remember that."

Eli winced a bit, the word Love being something him and Imogen exchanged multiple times. But if Imogen loved him, then she wouldn't have cheated on him, right? A new wave sadness pumped through him; his eyes welled up with tears. He made the vow at church, he made the vow to her every day to love her but Imogen didn't keep to it. Maybe she did mean it at once, but grew out of it. Maybe it was time to change for the better. Somehow, Imogen was able to move on, but Eli knew that for him, he never will be able to.

Maybe what Jordan and Adam say are right. If Eli slowly accepts what happened, he'll be able to regain most of himself again. It didn't seem logical to him though, so as the days went by, he carelessly gathered his belongings, dreading each and every day more and more. When the day came to move into the apartment, it took everything in Eli to get up that morning and actually function. He wasn't allowed to stay in his room all day or sleep until 2 in the afternoon, Adam wouldn't accept it anymore. 9 o'clock sharp was the time he was woken up at and Adam planned to keep him waking up at that time until it became something Eli could do on his own. Before moving day, Adam forced Eli out of his room every day, and since Eli no longer had a door it was easier for Adam to drag him out, but also easier for Eli to crawl back in.

He planned to continue these routines until Eli would be able to function on his own but until then, Adam would be over more times to make sure he's eating and functioning right.

"That's the last box." Adam said, before placing a box labeled Books on the floor. Eli emotionlessly walked past him without a 'Thank You' and took a seat on his living room floor, stroking the white carpet with his fingers.

"White was Imogen's favorite color…besides purple, of course." Eli said for the first time in hours. Adam flinched, knowing he made a mistake with the carpet color.

"I didn't know. We can change the carpet color or just replace it with wood." Eli shook his head though, still stroking it.

"It's fine."

Adam was hesitant. He smacked him mentally for not remembering that Imogen's favorite color was white. Of course, the apartment already had the white carpet but if he had known, he would have looked for a different one that was also close to his home. Now every time he walks into his living room, the white carpet would be there to remind him of Imogen.

He looked down at his watch and sighed. "Eli, I promised Jordan dinner tonight. I'll be back later tonight. Will you be okay until then?"

Eli shrugged.

"I'll see you later, Eli."

(~~~)

After the dinner, Adam rushed home, bide Jordan good-night, and gave her a loving kiss before rushing back to Eli's apartment. A 10 minute drive from his home. When he reached his apartment, Adam shuffled through his pockets to find the spare key he kept for himself.

When he pushed through the door, the apartment was dark; the only light was the moonlight coming through the window that acted as a wall in the living room. Eli lay limp on the floor-curled up in a ball- his back facing the front door.

"Eli?" Adam whispered. Not sure if Eli was awake or not. As he neared, Eli's soft breathing confirmed him asleep. Adam dug through some boxes before bringing out a black blanket and laying it over his body.

"You've been through a lot, buddy." He whispered. He examined Eli closer.

Puffy eyes, rosy nose, and dry tears stained his cheeks.

Ugh, yes. Another story. But this won't be long. Most likely around 4 to 5 chapters. Or a bit more. Or a bit less. Don't know for sure yet.

Should I continue?

Reviews?