Chapter 87

I hated the vulnerability. It turned me into a person I couldn't recognize. Ever since I was five I had braved and prided myself for being untouchable, nothing hurt me as far as everyone knew. I was able to brush things off with ease, ignore anything that I didn't feel like thinking about. And now I wasn't able to do that. The door to the emotions I had shut off had been slightly opened and I was fighting to keep it closed. But there was something trying to push it farther apart. 

I slammed my fist on the wall and struggled to even my rugged breathing. I felt as if I had run miles up a goddamned mountain. And as I was in that very awful state, the door was unlocked.

" Germaine?" Arden called out. I turned to him and found him looking around my room with a look of unhidden shock, then he turned to me with the same look and struggled to find the right words to ask me what was going on. 

" The hell?" he asked. And the worry that overtook his features was immense, he stepped into me room and arched a brown towards my direction. Silently demanding answers I could not give. I wasn't in a position to even talk. And when I expected him to pry, he did the exact opposite, he walked over to my bed and silently sat down. Then he took out his phone and proceeded to busy himself, pretending he wasn't even there and he couldn't see how distraught I was. 

That was his way of offering comfort, basically what he was trying to say was that he was there Incase I needed him. That he was there Incase I didn't need him at all. 

I left the room and went into the washroom, splashing water on my face and blowing out an exasperated breath, then I went and joined Arden on the bed. He put his phone away and finally asked me what was wrong. 

" And don't give me any of that ' it's nothing' bullshit!" 

I took in the sight of my now destroyed room and glanced at me, then he said that one thing I never would have expected him to say.

" Is it about Layla? Is that why she's seated by herself Infront of the building?" 

I was confused and I wondered exactly what those implications meant and why he was making them in the first place. And because I didn't want to say anything and expose information that shouldn't be exposed, I kept quiet.

" Oh come on, I've known you longer and better than anyone. If you really thought I was unaware of you two then you must be the most ignorant person I've ever met. "

Never before have I been so tongue-tied. Arden used his fist and hit my shoulder, and it wasn't a playful nudge either, it was literally a punch. 

I winced and moved slightly away.

" What is wrong with you?"

" That's for lying to me and going behind my back!"

" I don't know what you're --" he raised his fist again and I put my hands up in a gesture of peace. And I felt like a completely idiot, wondering just how much he knew and for how long he had known. And so I went ahead and asked him. 

" I've known all this time, from the second I came back from my trip and found your clothes in the kitchen. Your story just didn't add up, "

He had me going speechless again.

" So you what? pretended you didn't know for the fun of it?" he shrugged casually. 

" I just wanted to see whether you'd tell me, but you decided to draw out the stupid lie of yours. "

I felt bad, he wouldn't admit it but I could tell he was upset. He could downplay the situation as much as he wanted to but I knew him as well as he knew me. 

" I'm sorry, " I admitted. Normally I would have jumped into a pool of acid before apologizing to him but this time I knew I had to, and the apology was sincere. 

I was glad when he accepted it, then he went ahead to give me an account of all the times he had known Layla and I were together and I wanted to knock his teeth off so he could stop. 

" Like the other day when I called you to ask whether you knew where she was. I was in the parking lot when you arrived you idiot!...and I watched as you literally carried her inside. I nearly got out of my car to bust you,but something stopped me. "

I recalled the night he was talking about, it was the day the day I had taken Layla to the club and she had ended up slightly drank and slept in the car. Knowing Arden had been there the entire time was nothing if not unbelievable. 

" What did?" I asked, wanting to know what had prevented him from busting us as he termed it. 

" You've changed Gabriel!"

" I most certainly have not!"

" You have, otherwise I'd have put a end to you two. That morning I wanted to punch you in the face, I thought you had taken advantage of her innocence or something. "

I shot him an evil glare and he told me to relax.

" I know you'd never, but still, I assumed that you had wooed her. She's quite naive, "

I didn't think she was but I failed to mention it. Layla was indeed shy, but I believed that she could always take care of herself. She wasn't foolish to fall into traps and she could distinguish truth from false. 

" You like her, " he said. It wasn't a question but rather a fact he just casually three out there. But I could tell that he was trying not to make jokes at the fact. 

" She's driving me insane, " I admitted and he no longer felt the need to withhold his laughter, he let it out and only stopped when I threatened him. 

Knowing that he knew removed a huge burned from my shoulder. 

" I have to admit, I never would have imagined that she's your type. "

She wasn't. I went for the fierce kind. She was the very opposite of the word fierce. She was gentleness incarnate and I didn't know what to do with all the things she was making me go through.

" Careful, if you continue talking like that I might just believe that you're in love. "

I scoffed and shook my head. 

" She's set on frustrating me until I lose it!" 

" Who? Layla? The same one I know?" 

He didn't believe she was capable of affecting anyone like that but I knew better. That sweet girl was like a hurricane in my life and she was destroying the harmony I had worked so hard to establish. 

" What happened?" He asked and I buried my head in my hands. I couldn't tell him I was that upset because she no longer wanted to continue with what we had, that would have sounded way too suspicious and he would have definitely jumped into wrong assumptions. If all I did was like her then I would surely not have a problem with us stopping that fling of ours. 

" Wait!" I suddenly said, then I turned to Arden and frowned, remembering something.

" Why did you tell me you liked her?"

I recalled his stupid confession. And the lengths he had gone to to ensure that I believed him. He chuckled.

" I wanted to see your reaction, and let me just say you didn't disappoint. "

He was the most insane person I had ever come across.

" You're not that smart, the high heel in your car, I saw how nervous Layla became after I found it. You were trying too hard to prove there was nothing and that only made me more suspicious. "

I had had just about enough of his revelations. But he seemed to be having fun admitting them all.

" But to be honest, the most telling factor was last night. Do you know that your sheets smell like her? You are the worst at sneaking around. "

" Just shut up, will you?" 

He kept laughing for a while before his expression grew serious. Then he stood up and crossed his arms, looking around the room and wearing that same knowing look that I was now terrified of. It made me wonder what he was thinking about and what little facts he was placing together in an attempt to come up with yet another truth. If he truly had known about Layla and I from the beginning then I doubt there was anything I could keep away from him. 

" Hmmm, " he said. One hand on his waist and the other slightly scratching the back of his neck.

" What? " 

" Nothing. "

" Arden, just bloody tell me!"

He shrugged, then he gestured to my room and asked me whether I had really done all that die to frustration. He made me recall the main reason I had gotten so worked up, shaking my head, I told him it was something else. When he asked whether I'd tell him, I went ahead and did.

" Wait, really? Fuck! That's messed up!"

I had told him about my actual parents and he seemed almost as angry as I had been when I learnt of the facts.