Chapter Ten: Tell Me

Hours had past since Gabby had opened her eyes to light of sun, she still stayed motionless on the couch. She could hear her phone beep for the thousandth time that morning. Gabby made no effort to remove herself from the comfort of her couch to see who had been trying to contact her. Her heart was completely broken and today she just wanted to be alone. Gabby stared at the ceiling as she laid down, her mind not allowing her to think of anything else other Matt. Her chest ached as she remembered every touch, every smile, and every word. The love that she had felt in those moments with him was now replaced with hurt and anger. Just the thought of his betrayal made tears form in her eyes and a sick feeling take hold of her body again. She tried her best to push down the feeling, but through out the night it would win the battle and Gabby would have to rush to the bathroom.

Matt held the phone to his ear again as he waited for Gabby's voice fill the silence. He knew that she wouldn't answer just like all the other times he tried calling her, but he couldn't give up. By the third ring, Gabby voicemail message came on; he already missed the sound of her voice.

"Baby," he said after the beep. "Please talk to me, even if it's to tell me you hate me. Please," desperation filled his voice with the last word he left before he hung up the phone. He closed his eyes as he set the phone next to him on floor and ran his hands through his hair. For the first time since Gabby left him, Matt looked around the apartment, what am I going to do without her? He thought to himself. Everything here reminded him of her and what they shared together. "This wasn't how it suppose to go," Matt said out loud to himself as he closed his eyes.

A knock on the door pulled Gabby out of her thoughts. She really didn't want to see anyone right now, so she thought if she lay still then the person might go away.

"Gabriela Dawson, open this door right now," Shay's voice shouted from the other side of the door.

She knew that Shay would keep knocking and yelling if she did not do what she said. She slowly pulled herself from her pity pile and made her way to the front door. Without saying a word Gabby unlocked the door and opened it to reveal Shay holding two cups of coffee and a bag of bagels from Gabby's favorite bakery.

Gabby didn't say a word, instead she broke down in tears, Shay immediately pulled her friend into a hug. "It's going to be okay," Shay stated as she felt Gabby breathing become rigid. "I know it hurts like hell now, but I promise it's going to be okay."

Once Gabby could compose herself, she stepped back and began to apologize to Shay for being such a mess.

"Gabby, I'm your best friend you don't need to apologize," Shay stated as she stepped into Gabby's apartment. She made her way to the dinner table and set the coffees and the bagels down. She looked around the apartment and noticed the box of empty tissue lying next to the couch. Shay then looked over at Gabby, who was still in her clothes from last night and had dark circles under her eyes.

"How about you go take a shower, why I clean this up and then we can eat."

"Thank Shay, but…"

"If you're going to tell me you're okay, we both know you are lying," Shay replied as she quickly cut her off.

Gabby knew there was no use in arguing with her about this, so she simply nodded her head and went directly into the bathroom. Once the door was shut, Gabby took in her own appearance. Everything had changed, even the way she looked, she couldn't help but notice her own sadness through her eyes and the pain was displayed with one look. This is what it would look like without him in her life. She quickly turned away and turned on the water. Her clothes instantly felt heavy as she quickly peeled them off of her body, she couldn't help but think how heavy everything now felt. She stepped into the shower and within seconds she forgot how to breathe as she panic, new tears began to flow past her brown eyes.

Breathe, Just breathe, she kept telling herself over and over again as she bend over and placed her head in her hands. Within a minute her body was able to relax and her breathing slowed, but the tears continued to fall.

Shay began cleaning Gabby's apartment when she heard a knock from the front door. She quickly made her way over to the door and wasn't surprised to find Matt Casey standing on the other side of the open door.

"What are you doing here?" Shay asked.

"I need to talk to her," Matt said with a pleading expression on his face.

"Go home Casey."

"I can't," he said. "Because that house is not a home without Gabby."

Shay folded her arms as she kept her eyes on him, "Well I guess you should have thought about that before you cheated on her."

"I'm so sorry, I…" Matt began to say.

"I believe you are, but I have to tell you that I have never seen Gabby like this and that is because of you."

"I know and if I could take all the pain away I would, but I can't. I just need to talk to her."

"When she is ready to talk to you she will, but for now leave her alone. She needs time to sort out her feelings away from you." Without another word Shay closed the door hoping that Matt would follow her advice and give Gabby the time she needed and deserved.

Matt stood in the hallway for a minute longer as he let Shay's words settle. He knew what she was saying was right, but he still needed to talk to her. He slowly walked back out to his truck and drove back to his house.

As soon as he got home he made his way into the kitchen and took out a beer from the refrigerator, when he closed the door he noticed the note with Gabby's writing on it, a reminder for him to pick up some dish soap. He took a drink of his beer as his eyes stayed glued to the note and guilt and regret filled him completely.

"Feel better?" Shay asked a clean and dressed Gabby.

Gabby just smiled as she took her seat at the table. She really wasn't hungry but knew that if she didn't eat anything then Shay would bitch at her for not taking care of herself. She took the blueberry bagel out of the bag; she could feel Shay's eyes on her the whole time.

"What?" Gabby asked.

"I have to tell you something," Shay stated as she began to fidget.

"I can take it," Gabby replied as she spread the cream cheese on the sliced bagel.

Shay took in a deep breath, "While you were in the shower Casey stopped by."

Gabby didn't say anything; she just stopped her movements and stared at the table.

"I told him to give you time," Shay added as she watched Gabby's expression.

"Thank you," Gabby said quietly has she was trying to get the sickening feeling under control again.

"Well I thought that might by you time until tomorrow," Shay said without realizing the words.

It hit Gabby like a ton of bricks; tomorrow she would be working a full shift with him. Any control Gabby had over her body gave out, she rushed to the bathroom.

Author's note: I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone that as commented/reviewed this story, I'm so glad that so many of you like it! I know that updates have been kind of slow and part of the reason is making sure that the story is done the right way (I really want to try my best keeping the characters "in character"). Anyways, I hope you like this update and as always tell me what you think!