FicWad

A BEAUTIFUL LIE

CHAPTER SEVEN

“See what you've done? Every time you do something, you make her cry!” Shannon told Jared as he grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and went to the widow's walk. He saw Skyla dart back by him and he listened to her as she yelled at Jared.

“Leave!” he heard her yell.

“No! I want to know the truth. Did you tell him yes, that you love him?” Jared yelled back.

“You know what? I did tell him I loved him because I do love him more than I love you!” Skyla shouted. “Now leave!”

“I'll be more than glad to.” Jared walked over to the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Shannon walked over to the stairs and walked down. He saw Skyla sitting on the couch crying and walked over to give her the ice pack he still had. Skyla jumped and looked up at him.

“For your eye,” he told her.

“Thanks,” she said, taking it. She laid it on her eye and instantly felt better; she looked over at Shannon and told him, “We're going to have to get you upstairs.”

“Oh, I'm alright. But you need to rest,” Shannon told her. He scooped her up and carried her upstairs to his room, accidentally hitting her head on the way up, and laid her down.

“Ow!” Skyla yelled, rubbing her head.

“Sorry. I'll be on the couch, sleeping this shit off.” Shannon headed out the door and waited out of Skyla's eyesight.

“Wait! Shannon, come back!” she called. When he walked in, she was curled up on her right side and had the ice pack over her eye, but sat up when he came back in. She had changed into one of his ragged t-shirts and a pair of his pajama pants. “Stay in here. Please?” she begged.

Shannon couldn't tell her no. He crawled in beside her and faced her. “I might be hungover in the morning,” he told her quietly.

“I know.”

“I run a risk of puking when I'm hungover.”

“I know. Hey, Shannon?”

“Hmm?” Shannon ran his fingers through her hair. There was only six inches between them.

“What do you think Jared is going to do to me?” she whispered to him.

Shannon pulled her in close for a hug. “I don't know. But he won't hit you again.” He moved her ice pack and ran a finger over her swollen eye, then down her face where her tears had stained a line. “That much I'm sure of.”

“Thanks.” Skyla cuddled up to him and fell quiet. “I'm cold.”

“Me too,” he told her. Skyla looked at him, and he didn't look cold. Instead he looked deep in thought, and that bothered her.

“I'm going to go get some clothes,” Skyla told him. She grabbed his keys and left quickly, driving the distance back to Jared's.

“You aren't welcome here,” Jared said jokingly her as she walked by him to her room.

“I know. I'm just getting some clothes,” she told him. She filled a backpack with clothes and carried it back downstairs.

“Gone so soon?” he asked her. “Stay a bit longer.”

“No, thanks,” she told him.

“Sure?”

“Yeah. See you later, okay?” Skyla walked back to Shannon's Jeep and climbed in.

“Skyla! Wait,” Jared called out to her. “I have to tell you something.”

Skyla turned back to look at him. “What? What is it?”

“Shannon is cheating on you. I walked in on him with someone else, and it wasn't you.”

“I don't believe you.” Skyla started the Jeep, and tossed her backpack in the backseat.

“Sky, stop, I'm trying to protect you!” Jared called out to her, using his nickname for her.

“I told you to stop calling me that!” she told him, finally turning around to face him. Jared's words caught in his throat as he took in the sight of the black eye he gave her. As Skyla shut the driver's side door, Jared ran over to the Jeep and got in on the passenger's side before Skyla could lock the doors.

“I'm going too,” he said adamantly.

“No.”

“I'm putting my foot down on this one, and I'm going.” Jared laid his wallet and BlackBerry up in the dash as he fastened his seatbelt; as they drove down the road past the river park and towards the beach house, they barely said a word to each other. As Skyla drove up to the beach house, Jared leaned back in the seat and said, “I'll just sit here and wait.”

Skyla glared at him and walked in, leaving her bag out in the Jeep. She walked in the house and saw Shannon kissing a blonde and stopped, then walked out and began hitting Jared. “How could you have known and not told me?!”

Jared grabbed her. “I did tell you! You didn't believe me!”

Skyla slumped down and began crying. She didn't pay attention when Jared scooped her up; she just felt her already-broken heart crumble. She grabbed his shirt while she was in his arms and wiped her eyes on it. “I know I didn't believe you; I wish I had now. And maybe I wouldn't be in this mess.” She looked down at her hands and noticed she was in the passenger's seat of the Jeep. Jared had already put her inside and was driving off. “Where are we going?”

“The river park. I'm throwing you in the water. And I'm going in with you!” Jared pulled into their spot and parked. He pulled his BlackBerry and wallet out and stuffed them between his and Skyla's seat; Skyla crossed her arms and legs and pulled out her phone to check the time. “Come on!” he told her as he began dragging her out of the Jeep.

“Stop! I don't want to go in the water!” Skyla told him.

“I don't care! Sky, you need to realize that everything Shannon has told you was a lie.” He wrapped her in a hug and they stood on a rock overlooking the water.

“I told you to stop calling me that.” She hugged him back.

Jared pulled her head back around and looked in her eyes. He didn't hesitate to give her a long kiss; he felt Skyla wrap her arms around his neck and he put his hands on her hips. He knew the way they looked on the rock would have made for a perfect picture; he heard a camera shutter click and he turned his head away from Skyla.