CHAPTER 9 #2
Much to Tristan’ dismay, Abigail was the one who came to the front door.
Her eyes grew big as saucers when she saw him, and the already nagging feeling of dread deep within his gut only intensified when she discreetly pushed herself through the front door and closed it quietly behind her, not allowing him to get even an inch near entering the home.
“What in the fuck is going on?” Tristan asked, flaring his arms out at his side in desperation.
“I think you should go back home,” Abigail whispered tensely.
“Yeah, I’m not fucking doing that,” Tristan said sternly with a headshake.
“Where is my girlfriend and what the fuck is going on with her? Is this really just about last night? Because I wanted her to come to the party with me, Abigail, and I swear I wasn’t doing anything shady with Veronica, and I don’t understand why-”
“Would you keep your voice down?!” She hissed.
“If you don’t start talking, I’m really sorry but, I’m just gonna have to push past you and go inside to get to her.”
“Listen, she’s fine, she just needs time to process everything, okay?”
“Process what?!” He threw his hands up in frustration before crossing them defiantly over his chest. “Something else is going on here. I know Tessa and this is a bit out of scope for her.”
There was a very heavy silence between them as the rain began to pick up and the breeze in the air whooshed between them. Abigail chewed on her lower lip anxiously before sighing and running her hands through her red curls.
“She’s gonna kill me if I tell you this,” she whispered, her eyes glued to the floor.
“Tell me what?” Tristan asked, his heart rate accelerating rapidly.
Abigail didn’t answer him right away, but the moment her eyes finally lifted from the ground to meet his, he felt his heart stop.
“Something happened last night didn’t it? With Jake?”
Abigail shifted from one foot to the other before cursing under her breath.
“Abigail I’m about to actually freak out right now,” he said sternly, holding his hands out in front of her as a warning sign that he was about to lose control.
“Relax it’s not what you’re thinking,” she whispered, rolling her eyes.
“Not what I’m thinking? Then what is it? Did she hook up with him or not?”
“No,” Abigail spat out aggressively. “But he tried to hook up with her.”
Her words came out in such a rushed whisper he wasn’t positive he heard her correctly.
“I’m sorry, run that back to me,” he said, his eyebrows raising.
He immediately felt his body respond as if he were a war hero preparing for battle.
His heart was pumping so quickly he could hear it in his ears, his fists were clenched and more than ready to collide with the face of the douchebag baseball player, and he felt a few droplets of sweat beginning to form around his hairline.
“He drove her back here, but he wasn’t so quick to let her out of his car. Thank God I was home and noticed the weird car out front or I don’t know what would have happened.”
“I need you to tell me everything and I need you to tell me now,” His voice was loud and authoritative, and she jumped slightly at the sound of it, but was also grateful that her best friend had somebody who clearly had such strong feelings about her wellbeing to react like this.
“She said he was talking shit about you the whole way home and how she deserved better. And then she tried to immediately get out of the car, and he locked her in and tried to kiss her, but she obviously pushed him away and that pissed him off. And then she said that he grabbed her, um, between the legs and told her to relax and that you’d never have to know.
And that’s when I came outside and started absolutely freaking out.
And I spooked him enough that he literally pushed her out of the car and drove away. ”
Abigail took a deep breath before continuing, unable to look into Tristan’s eyes. She could feel the energy radiating from him and wasn't sure she would be able to handle the intensity of his eyes.
“She was pretty shaken up and I stayed up with her all night. And it’s kind of just lingered over into today.”
“Why the fuck wouldn’t she tell me this?” He asked, tears threatening to spill over. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“That right there is why she doesn’t want to tell you,” Abigail replied, pointing a finger at him.
“Fuck no, she’s my girlfriend. I love her,” he said emphatically, causing Abigail to gasp slightly at his unexpected admission of love for her best friend, “And what a fucking asshole I am, getting drunk at a party instead of protecting her. I should have made her stay with me. Why the fuck did I let her get in his goddamn car?!”
Tristan is now pacing the grass in front of the house, not noticing the rain falling heavier every second.
“Tristan, we all make mistakes. You can’t protect her every second of the day. But you can possibly fix this. She didn’t want me to tell you any of this, but she’s also been talking about you all day so... I know that she has been missing you. I just think she's scared to tell you what happened.”
Tristan stopped pacing and shook his head, not understanding why she wouldn’t confide in him about something like this.
“I’m going to go inside and see her now,” Tristan said flatly.
“Wait let me at least tell her that you’re here and-”
“I’m sorry Abigail.” He gave her an apologetic look before using his force to push her out of the way of the door and forcing his way through, walking straight to the back of the house where he knows her room is.
“Tristan!” He hears Abigail’s desperate whisper from behind and he stops to look at her.
“Don’t go in there all aggro, okay? Just, like, be calm,” she said, making a smoothing motion with her hands to tell him to approach her lightly.
He nods his head in understanding before placing his hand on the doorknob to her room and taking a deep steady breath before pushing the door open.
His eyes find her immediately. She is sitting on her bed, her legs crossed, in a pair of pink sweat pants and a white tank top.
Her hair is curly and bunched on her head and she has a notebook open on her lap that she is feverishly scribbling into.
Her eyes lift when she hears her door open, and she is stunned to see Tristan’s impossibly tall frame ducking through the doorway into her bedroom.
He immediately notices the redness of her eyes and his heart pangs at the knowledge that she’s likely been crying all day.
“Hey baby,” he says gently, moving as slowly as possible, as if she’s a scared animal that he’s trying not to spook.
“Hi,” she responds in a small whisper.
“Whatcha doin’?” He asks with a smile, his eyes tracking down to the notebook in her lap.
“Just writing stuff,” she whispers before quickly closing it and tossing it into the bed. There is a short but very heavy silence between them before she speaks up again. “I’m sorry I haven’t been answering your calls.”
He slowly takes a seat on the edge of her bed, using every ounce of self-control he has not to reach for her and pull her into his lap.
Her skin looks warm and soft under the amber shade of her table lamp, and he can smell her vanilla scented shampoo from where he is sitting, causing him to imagine burying his face into her soft curls and whispering the I Love You that is sitting on the edge of his tongue.
“It’s alright. But I was worried about you, and I just needed to see you, Tess.”
She nodded sadly, avoiding eye contact with him for a second before taking a deep breath and reaching her hand out for his.
“I’m not mad anymore. Sorry I got so weird last night.”
“Tessa,” his voice is low and a mixture of sorrow and longing, “You don’t need to apologize to me, okay? I’m the one who needs to be sorry. I got too drunk and prioritized my friends over you and that was really shitty of me and...well...Abigail told me what happened Tessa...with Jake...”
Tessa’s face immediately flushes red and she dips her head low, holding her hands over her face in embarrassment.
“Hey, Tess, stop it,” he immediately moves towards her on the bed and grabs her tiny wrists in his hands, pulling her hands away from her face, only to see tears gathering in the corners of her eyes and his muscles suddenly feel like they’re on fire.
“I’m gonna fucking kill him for this, I swear to God-”
“No!” Her head shoots up and she maintains a confident eye contact with him, “You can’t retaliate.
You know he’s a jerk who would immediately report you and then you’d be off the team.
And you’ve worked so hard this semester to get your grades up you can’t do something stupid like this to fuck it up. ”
“Me do something stupid?” He asks with a chuckle. “That prick put his hands on my girl and I’m the one who fucked up? You got it wrong baby – he's the one who fucked up.”
“Tristan. Promise me you won’t do anything. Promise me.”
“I can’t fucking do that, Tessa,” he responds with a casual shrug, as if it's a simple issue with no repercussions.
“I’m already so stressed about all of this, please don’t make me worried sick about you too,” she says desperately, moving her body even closer to his and placing her hands on both sides of his neck.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but now that you know will you just focus on me, please?
I really need you,” she whispered, dropping her forehead to his.
“And if you want to help me and make me feel better, you’ll stay with me and not waste your time on him.
Please? Would you just hold me and kiss me. ”