I know, it's been a while since an update. Year 12 has been kicking my ass. But, this weekend I decided that I'd sit my ass down with a lot of junk food and write a damn chapter for one of my stories. And also clear some things up:
This is a non-supernatural story.
No, I will not write lemons, that's just not my thing.
So here's the new chapter, it's kind of short but I hope you guys enjoy.
"I don't like it." Liam told me. "You don't even know this guy and you're moving in with him! I mean, you didn't even think to tell me. Do you know how this makes me feel?" My boyfriend of four years rambled on about my new home. It was my first day living in Derek's apartment and Liam wasn't pleased when he found out that I was going to be living with another guy.
"Liam, it's fine, you have nothing to worry about." I assured him.
"I'm not so sure about that, Chloe." He said coldly, slamming his fist down on the table of the coffee shop we were sitting in.
"Liam, please." The last thing I wanted was for him to make a scene. "Look, there's not much I can do about it now. I have a place to live and I'm happy with it."
"Well I'm not." He spat as he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. Ever since I left college, he wanted to find a place where he and I would move in together. I never told him that I thought it would be a bad idea – he was awful with money and couldn't keep a steady job to pay any rent or mortgage. That would have left me paying the bills, which I wouldn't be able to afford.
I found it amusing, however, that moving in with a complete stranger would be more beneficial for me financially than moving in with my boyfriend of four years. Liam could sigh and huff all he wanted, I signed the documents and I was living in that apartment with Derek.
"Look, I'm really sorry but this is what's best for me." I tried to reason.
"I'm what's best for you, Chloe." He glared.
There was no point in arguing with him, he was set in his ways and very possessive of me. I sighed. "I left a few boxes in the lobby this morning; I should really go and move them to the apartment." I told him as I stood up. I threw a twenty dollar bill down on the table to pay for my share of our lunch and began to walk off. "I'll call you later."
I walked out of the coffee shop, into the heat. It was still summer and stifling hotter than usual. My red shirt felt sticky against my skin after just a minute of walking. Gross.
"Chloe, wait up!" Liam's voice shouted. I turned around to see him weave his way through the crowd. He caught up and offered to walk me back to the apartment building, his voice sounding slightly gentler and sadder. Maybe he felt bad for the way he handled things, but he never said anything about it. No apology, nothing at all.
When we walked into the lobby, Derek was there with one of my boxes in his arms. My boyfriend instantly took a defensive stance when he saw him. I wasn't quite sure whether it was out of intimidation, or the desire to be the intimidator.
"Oh hey, Derek. I thought I said I didn't need help with these." I said.
"That's okay, there's only two more to go." He looked over the box to see Liam in all of his grumpy glory. "Hey, man, if you wouldn't mind helping could you grab the last box?" He asked him as I picked up a box labelled "Clothing".
Liam grumbled a response since he didn't like being told what to do, but picked up the last box and followed Derek and I into the elevator. We reached our floor and awkwardly waddled to the apartment where we set down the boxes at the door.
Derek invited Liam in for coffee but he muttered an excuse to leave – it was a pride thing.
I walked Liam to the door where he spun to face me.
"Chloe, I just can't deal with this. I don't like you living with this dude and I can't trust that you won't cheat on me."
"A-are you kidding?" I choked out. "Liam I would never cheat on you!"
"Well I don't know that. Also, I've been trying to get you to move in with me since you finished college and that never happened."
Usually against Liam, I would back down, but something in what he said made my blood boil. "It's because you don't earn a steady income to actually keep up with a mortgage!" I blurted.
"So it's all about the money, is it Chloe?" He asked accusingly.
"It's about keeping a roof over my head and not getting evicted." I scowled.
"You know what? Don't bother. We're over. I was hoping that you were going to take this relationship more seriously but I guess not."
"Liam, don't be like that." I pleaded, trying to ration with him.
"Too late, Chloe. If you're going to choose a stranger over me then… whatever." He turned away and walked towards the elevator.
I waited until he was around the corner to let a tear fall from my eye. I wiped it away with my arm, deciding that the tears could come later. There was still a lot of unpacking to do and I owed it to Derek to not leave his place a mess for too long while in the process of moving in. While most of the boxes were stored in my room there were a stray few that had taken over the living room that needed to be sorted.
Although the apartment was cluttered, Derek didn't actually own many things. It was a small space with probably too much furniture and way too many books – mostly on science. The boxes strewn all over the floor didn't help the clutter either so I wanted to clear them out and get settled in as soon as possible.
At least by doing that then my mind would be occupied by something other than Liam. Maybe he would realise that he made a mistake, but I doubted it. He had too much pride to come crawling back to me, and I wasn't sure if I wanted that anyway. Our relationship was toxic and I was already at the edge of ending it, but somehow by him doing it, I felt empty and I couldn't understand why. I was free now, right?
By the end of the day only half of the boxes were unpacked and I was still settling into my new room. I hadn't really heard from Derek though, he was in and out of the apartment all day running errands. Somewhere between running around, he had enough time to make a dinner which he left for me. I greedily chowed down the bowl of stir fry along with a cup of tea. Despite the fact that it was only a simple stir fry, Derek could really cook. It was nothing like the food I ate when in college, that's for sure.
After I had eaten dinner, I had a nice relaxing shower and changed into an old pair of shorts and a singlet. I had accidentally left the box which contained my pyjamas back at my parents' house and I wasn't willing to make a special trip to pick it up.
My new room was cosy. It wasn't small, but it was big enough to fit a double bed and a dresser in it. If I was really desperate then I'd be able to squeeze a bookshelf or a desk in there but there wasn't much need for either of those things at the moment. It was comfortable and I liked it.
Sleep was exactly what I needed after today, and the fact that I had the next day off work was just bliss. I wouldn't have to worry about an alarm waking me, or about getting to work on time. I contemplated exploring this new part of town that I wasn't familiar with but decided it would be better with somebody with me – that way I wouldn't get lost. The thought of living somewhere new excited me and although I was eager to explore, all I wanted to do was lay in bed and sleep. After moments of contemplating whether or not to watch a movie, I decided against it and allowed my head to hit the pillow. Not long after I drifted into a deep, comfortable sleep.