Babysitting the Bad Boy's Little Brother

Chapter 45

Emma's POV

There is a knock at the door. Dom yells at me to answer it. No one talks to me anymore, and no one comes over. In my sweatpants and a cropped sweatshirt, I walk to the door. Dominique told me to change since she insisted that we go out somewhere. I told her that I had no intentions of going out nor do I have intentions of changing out of my lazy girl clothes. The last time we went out, she ended up getting completely wasted and I was responsible for her safety. That night was too stressful for me. 

When I open the door, my brain stops every thought. I see Austin standing outside in the rain. I don't know how long he has been standing there, but he is wet. He looks me up and down and then his bluish-green eyes stare into mine. He probably is surprised by my homelessness. I have no idea why he is here. One whole month of not speaking to each other, and he is here. No texts, no calls, nothing. He just showed up. I wanna say something. I wanna ask him why he's been avoiding me, why he hasn't called me, why he hasn't cared, and most importantly why he is here. 

"Hey," He says, awkwardly. 

"Hi," I say, and force a smile even though tears have been my preference lately. 

"So, why did you just text me out of the blue and ask me to come over?" He asks

"What? Text you? I didn't text you. That must've been a different Emma. Check the number," I say, surprised that he could even come up with an excuse like that just so he could come over and see me. All this is drama. Pure drama. And I don't want anything to do with it. 

"Um, yes you did. This is you, Emma. Don't play dumb." He shows me his new iPhone that he must've gotten over the last month and lets me read the texts. I realize that my name is no longer "bae," but has now returned to my first and last name on his messages. I'm a little confused by that because the last I remember, we were still together. Sure, it's been one month. But this was a break. I'm not sure why it lasted one month. I doubt neither of us expected it to last this long. But, what happened was one of those "you don't text me first, so I won't text you first" scenarios that ended wrong. 

"Me? Playing dumb? Austin, you have lost your mind. I didn't send those texts."

"Oh really? I have lost my mind? Who else could've sent those texts, Emma?! Because you are the only one here. Maybe coming here was a mistake," He raises his voice louder than I raised mine and my anxiety is triggered.

"I was in the shower. The only person home besides me is Dom. She had to had sent those messages from my phone. If coming here was a mistake, then maybe I'm a mistake too. I don't know what happened to us. We were amazing in NYC with my aunt in January. We came back happy, but we both agreed to take a break. Hell, if I knew that break would last over one month then I would have never agreed to it. If I'm a mistake, then just leave. I don't wanna fight for something that you don't want," I yell at him, and my eyes get teary. I don't know why he came here to treat me like this. I step further away from him, and we're probably six feet apart. 

"I didn't mean it that way. Maybe Dom sent those texts, okay. Maybe you weren't lying. But, that doesn't change what has been happening to us. We don't talk anymore and I've missed you like hell. I don't know what happened. It's like you ghosted me after that week. And, after two weeks, I thought that ghosting me was your way of breaking up with me. I was so mad, broken, and angry. Angry at you and angry at myself. Do you still want to be together, Emma? Because right now, it sure doesn't feel like it."

"We didn't break up. You ghosted me. I have felt like shit for a month. I've looked homeless, stopped studies, barely have gotten out of bed, and I've been afraid to text you. You probably relapsed again. Alcohol and women. If you didn't think we were together, you probably didn't act like it either. I don't wanna know how many girls were involved or for how long. I've felt broken and alone for a while. The feeling sucks. Especially when you are almost positive that your boyfriend has forgotten your existence," I sigh and tell him. The look on his face after I finish talking is a guilty one. Of course, he cheated. Of course, he's the same Austin that I knew of in school. I should've known. Maybe I did know, but I refused to admit it to myself because I was dumb enough to think I could change him. I thought he could be different, be better. But, I was wrong. And now, I am heartbroken. I break down, crying in front of him. I get deja vu and realize that this isn't the first time that I've cried in front of him like this.