Another Chance at My Promise

One Reason - CHAPTER 50

Remi rubbed Elio's back softly as Elio napped on his chest. He'd fallen asleep after eating on the couch, so Remi let him stay on top of his chest as he watched tv.

After everything that happened with Damon and Jaxon, and finding out that Marcelo cheated, Remi was overwhelmed. He couldn't look anyone in the eyes. He was too embarrassed. The feeling of not being enough for Marcelo to the point that he had to cheat was embarrassing.

The fact that Marcelo didn't even want to stay for Elio was embarrassing. It made Remi feel less than, and he couldn't take it. Therefore, he'd taken the day off yesterday and today. At least to get his mind back in shape.

But most of all, Remi was disappointed in himself. He should've put his foot down. He should've stood his ground that night when he felt that something was off. Maybe Marcelo would've told him everything then and there would be a chance of them being together right now. Maybe then, finding out that Marcelo cheated wouldn't hurt as bad as having to find out from someone else did.

Remi didn't know.

He placed a soft kiss on Elio's head and sighed.

Then, he heard a knock on the door of his apartment. That's strange. He hadn't been expecting anyone.

Remi held on to Elio as he stood up and walked over to the door. He unlocked it before carefully turning the knob and opening the door to reveal...

Jaxon and Damon.

"Oh... hi." Remi greeted with a sad smile.

"Hey," Jaxon replied. All Damon did was smile a smile that was just as sad as Remi's. "Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"About all of this. We know you aren't okay."

"There's really n-nothing to talk about."

"We know but still... please."

Remi chewed on his lip for a second before he stepped aside and let the two come in. He followed them after shutting the door, and they all went over to the couch. Remi went back to the spot that he was seated in against the armrest, and the two sat in front of him.

Remi moved Elio down so that he was laying in his arms instead of on his chest. Then he looked back up at the couple sitting beside him.

"Are you okay, Remi." Jaxon asked after a while. Remi sighed and looked down at Elio sleeping peacefully with no cares in the world. He wished that life could be that carefree for him.

"I'll be fine. I don't c-care about the situation anymore if that's what you're a-asking about."

"Wait, wait, wait. Don't give up on Marcelo so fast," Damon contradicted.

"One reason why I shouldn't?"

"Because... Because he didn't mean to do it."

"That doesn't matter. He still d-did it."

"No, Remi, just hear me out. Him and Devyn were previously together before he met you. Then, he broke it off with her. Nearly a year after that, he met you. The way that he would talk about you... he was so annoying. I swear he wouldn't shut up about you, but you could tell that his feelings were genuine because of that. He was never that enthusiastic about Devyn.

"After he got with you, that's when Devyn began her attempts at seducing him. He told me about it, and that's when I tried to get him to fire her. He was so fucking big-headed about his job and about the fact that she was such a good employee and that she was so good at building the company that he couldn't find the will to fire her. That's the reason why I'm so angry at him because he could've avoided this if he got off of his high horse and did what he needed to do.

"He called me right after it happened. He was bawling his eyes out. He couldn't even speak three words in a row without stopping to cry. He regretted it. You see, Devyn is the sneaky type. She will find a way to get under your skin. That's exactly what she did with him. She found a way to manipulate him. She told him that his business would fall to the ground without her. That you wouldn't want anything to do with him once it did. He couldn't stand that.

"It meant nothing, Remi. None of it. But he did it, and he couldn't look at himself in the mirror. He told me that he had to leave you. He felt horrible. I'd ended up convincing him not to leave you, but I guess that the guilt was eating him alive because the next time that he called me, he said that he'd just left his place and that he'd left the house for you to live in."

"Where is h-he now?"

"I don't know. He called me a few months ago asking me if you were okay, but I was so angry at him that I blew him off and told him not to call me anymore unless he fixed things with you. He won't answer my calls anymore."

Remi exhaled and looked down at his lap. This was a lot to process. Now that Remi knew where Marcelo's heart was, it hurt less to know that it wasn't him that messed up. It was Marcelo. But at the same time, it wasn't Marcelo either.

It was Devyn. That bitch.

"Why didn't he just t-talk to me about it?"

"He couldn't face you about it, remember? He could barely even look at you. He felt too bad about the situation."

"W-Well, when is he gonna come back?"

"I don't know."