I don't own any rights to Hollywood Heights storyline or characters; this is the fantasy world I created.

Keeping Secrets Chapter 16

Thin Line Between Love and Hate

Eddie is standing there soaking wet anger radiating off his body. I made the mistake of looking at the divorce papers still sitting on the coffee table where I left them. He must have anticipated my move because before I could even take a step, Eddie jumped over the couch and snatched the papers off the coffee table. My eyes follow him as he walks around the coffee table and over to the fire holding the divorce papers in his hand. He's looking at the fire burning low in the fireplace. "DAMNIT LOREN ANSWER ME!" he yells at me turning his head to look at me. I stand there speechless, he has never been this mad at me yet I still can't answer him. I take a step towards him, he doesn't react. I take another step towards him; he turns his head back to the fire. "Don't come near me Loren." I freeze in my tracks, take a deep breath wait a minute, then take a step towards him. His whole body is shaking, his clothes are soaking wet.

"Eddie you really need to get out of those clothes before you get sick," I whisper taking the last step and I'm standing behind him. I reach out and take the divorce papers from his hand and place them on the mantle in front of him then I grab his jacket and slowly pull it off him. I grab the hem of his shirt and slowly roll it up; he raises his arms I pull his t-shirt over his head. I run my hands down his back and around his waist until I wrap my arms around him from behind and unbuckle his belt, unbutton and unzip his pants. He kicks off his wet shoes as my fingers hook inside of the waist of his jean and pull them down. He steps out of them, "Go take a hot shower Eddie, I'll make us some tea and I'll answer all your questions," I tell him. He turns in my arms; my eyes focus on his chest, I can't look him in his eyes, it will knock me over. His fingers lift my chin forcing me to look up at him.

"How long have you regretted marrying me?" he whispers.

I close my eyes, "the minute we walked out the chapel," I answer. The air in the room goes completely still. I hear the rain falling hard on the roof of the cabin; I hear the logs crackling in the fireplace. What I don't hear is Eddie breathing. I open my eyes and look up at him. I can't even begin to describe the depth of pain I see in his eyes. Eddie takes a step back, away from me. His movement breaks my heart even more. I look at him and the rage in his eyes makes me take a step back. Eddie turns on his heels and walks over to the closet and pulls out a bag. He unzips the bag and walks over to the cabin's fuse box, suddenly the lights come on. He picks up the bag and walks into the bathroom slamming the door. I walk into the kitchen and make us some tea, preparing myself to answer his questions.

I stand in the shower and let hot water run down my head and body. She's regretted marrying me from the beginning. I don't get it. It was her idea to get married right away in the first place. I told her to take all the time she needed, I wanted her to have the wedding she'd always dreamed of. I've always put Loren's needs first because she was the love of my life. Funny how I now think of my love for her in the past tense. I thought I knew Loren. She gave me her body, I was her first. Did she regret everything we ever shared? What isn't she telling me? The water starts to turn cold; I turn it off and step out the shower. After I dry off I grab a pair of sweats and a muscle t-shirt from the bag pop and Tyler stashed when they came up here to take the fuses out the fuse box. I wanted the atmosphere to be romantic so that Loren and I could talk and work things out. Instead I find out that the woman I married five years ago regrets becoming my wife. I thought she was nothing like Chloe. I must admit, she's a much better actress than Chloe ever was. I walk out the bathroom to see that Loren turned off the lights in the cabin and put more logs on the fire. A cup of hot tea sitting on the coffee table waiting for me and Loren sitting on the couch with her feet tucked under her sipping tea from her cup. She turns and looks at me; I can tell she has been crying but I'm too numb to care. Her tears no longer have any effect on me. Ignore the cup of tea sitting on the coffee table and go into the kitchen to search the cabinets for some hard liquor. I find a small bottle of whiskey and I make myself a cup of tea with whiskey. I'm not sure if you can really say there's tea in my cup because there's more whiskey than tea. I take my cup and sit on the other end of the couch staring at the fire. "Eddie, I love you. I'm in love with you and I'm so sorry for hurting you. I never thought that I would have to tell you this." Her voice is barely louder than a whisper. "Yes I regret marrying you in Las Vegas but not for the reasons you think." I turn and look at her my eyes are dead and cold.

"How could you possibly know what I'm thinking?" I ask her.

She sits her tea cup on the coffee table and scoot closer to me, her t-shirt rising up to her waist. "I know you're thinking I'm just like Chloe. That I've lied and manipulated my way into your life. But that's far from the truth," she rests her hand on my knee. I remove her hand.

"Please enlighten me," I say not looking at her.

"The night Chloe came to the police station to recant her story, she and I were waiting for the detective to come back to take her statement, I thanked her for coming down and telling the truth. Chloe told me that she's only there so that you know how much she loves you and that no matter what she will always be a part of your life. In your eyes, I will always be nothing more than the rebound chick. She said it was just a matter of time before you realized that I'm not who you want to be with and will regret even being in a relationship with me because you still love her. Chloe also said that the physical attraction you two share will never go away. She told me that you would never marry me." She pause, I turn my head and look at her, cocking my head to the side waiting for her to continue. "I was fed up with Chloe and her games of manipulation so I told her that you were completely over her; you told me you love me before you got arrested. You risked your freedom to see me and that proves that I wasn't the rebound chick. She laughed in my face and that made me angry. So I bet her that you would ask me to marry you because you want to spend the rest of your life with me."

"You made a bet with Chloe that I would marry you?" I ask through my teeth, "how very confident of you." She closes her eyes as tears begin to roll down her cheeks. "Your tears no longer affect me Loren." I say to her. She takes a deep breath and dries her eyes. "So how much was my marriage proposal worth?"

"We didn't bet money Eddie, it was more like a challenge. I told her I could get you to marry me, because she was completely out of your system. She said if you marry me she could get you to cheat on me and eventually leave me for her. That is why I wanted to keep our marriage a secret. I love you so much Eddie and I didn't want you tempted by Chloe. Even though she was in prison, I knew she would find a way to get to you. I was confident in your love for me." The whiskey is starting to go to my head. I lay my head back on the couch and close my eyes. Chloe was up to her old trick of lies and manipulation to get me back into her life and my wife was in on it the whole time. "I was so happy when you proposed, not because of the challenge but because I loved you and wanted to commit myself to you for the rest of my life, but I regret marrying you in Las Vegas because it was for the wrong reasons. I married you in Las Vegas to win the challenge; by the time I realized that what I was doing to you was unfair we were already legally married."

"Why the divorce?" I ask my eyes are still close and my head is still resting on the back of the couch. I felt her move then before I knew it, she is straddling my lap, both hands cupping my face. I still won't open my eyes.

"At first I wanted a divorce because I thought Chloe lived up to the challenge and got you to cheat on me. Then after I went to Fresno, I wanted a divorce so we could start over again. I want to marry you again and commit myself to you again for the right reasons under the right circumstances," she cries. I open my eyes and look at her. "Chloe didn't know we were married when she reached out to you, so her cry for help was real. I was the foolish one who continued with the challenge while Chloe was literally trying to survive in prison."

I know she can see the anger and pain I feel for her in my eyes. I want her to hurt just as much as she's hurt me, "what makes you think I'd ever want to marry you again?" I ask her lifting her up off my lap and going into the kitchen to fix me another cup of whiskey tea.

~jm~