Serenity [Book 2]

Chapter 27: stop lying to me

"I can't do that, Chels, you know I can't." Ethan's hushed voice is what I start to hear as I stir awake, his words hardly coherent to my sleepy state. "Chelsea, I can't just pick up everything and come see you."

My heart drops at the sudden mention of her name. He's speaking to her? In front of me?

He mumbles "fuck's sake" under his breath, letting out a long sigh. "Chels, I have a life, just let me figure it out and I'll let you know, okay? I'll call you when I have a moment alone." After he says this, I faintly hear a woman speaking on the other end. "No, not now, she's asleep right behind me and that won't be for much long, so no. I will ring you tomorrow or something... Chelsea, I will." And he drops his phone to his bed, ending the conversation.

With my heart aching and pounding in my chest, a lump in my throat, I finally get the courage to speak up. "Who's Chelsea? And please don't lie to me, Ethan."

He visibly stills at the sound of my voice, and he slowly turns towards me, but I don't move from my position in bed, my head against the pillow, looking at the clock like it's the most interesting thing in the room. "Hey, sleepy head, did you sleep okay?"

"Ethan, please." I beg, holding myself together.

"It was nothing, don't worry about it." He shrugs it off, but it's not nothing. Not to me anyway.

He crawls onto the bed and I purse my lips as I turn towards him, looking him dead in the eyes. "If you're keeping something from me then it's obviously not 'nothing'."

"It's nothing for you to worry about, though, Francesca, I promise. I wouldn't do anything like that, you know that, right?" He checks, seriousness in his tone.

"How do I know that? Am I supposed to just trust your word here?" I frown, unsure at what he's trying to do. He's saying that he's not cheating, but if not, why is he being so secretive?

"I am telling you with all my whole heart, I would never cheat on you, darling, I would never." He says and I sigh, closing my eyes. Do I choose to believe him or not? Protect my heart because my head is telling me to, or ignore my head and go with my heart?

"Okay, so say that I believe you, how do you explain what I just heard? You were just speaking to a woman and are planning to speak to her again." I decide to not say that I know about the missed calls last week.

"She's not... Fuck, she's not who you think she is. It's complicated, darling." He sighs as he gets up out of bed, like he's dismissing the conversation?

I purse my lips and look down at my hands, allowing silence to fill the room. It's deafening, and only makes my heart ache more.

"So, you have nothing else to say?" I mumble, just needing a little bit more to assure me. His words should be enough, but my mind is being cruel today.

"What exactly do you want me to say, Francesca?!" He snaps, and I sit up with a frown, not expecting that reaction. "I have said I am not cheating on you, and I have told you she's not who you think she is, so, what else do you need, huh?"

"I want transparency! I trust you, but your actions right now are making me fucking doubt that!" I raise my voice, feeling just a tad bit brave.

"Just because you have trust issues-" He stops mid-sentence, and I nod, getting at where he was going with that before I stand up to leave.

"I need space, I think." I mumble under my breath, grabbing my jeans.

"Don't leave." He says from behind me.

I spin around to face him, and I shake my head. "I will not let you deflect what you're hiding, onto me and my problems. Yes, I have trust issues, yes, they fucking rule my mind, but I am not making things up or seeing something that isn't here, so don't you dare pull that shit. You are keeping things from me and for me to be okay, we need space, so, yes, I am leaving."