Heaven // Ryan Tedder

Chapter Twenty-Three; Fear

The drive back home with Joshua was mostly silent, and Janelle couldn't help but occasionally glance at his face, which was still blood covered and incredibly swollen. She couldn't believe Ryan. Why would he just walk in and start a fight with Joshua? Who the hell even told him about what happened?

Janelle refused to think about what she had walked in on last night. If she did, she'd only start to cry again. Joshua, if she and Joshua were to talk about it, she'd actually have to accept that he really cheated on her.

As Janelle looked at his face again, his eyes met her gaze. She was expecting him to look like he had earlier, desperate and pleading; only, now he looked angry, his icy blue eyes staring into hers harshly.

"Is something wrong?" She Asked quietly.

Joshua scoffed. "Of course something is wrong." He Said in a gravelly voice. "Some guy you know just walked into your job and jumped me, And I want to know who the hell he was."

"I don't know him.." she shook her head, feeling herself sink into her seat.

She hated when Joshua got angry. He had never laid a hand on her, but he used some kind of scare tactic that made her feel like she was small and helpless; It felt as if she was a two-year-old being punished by an infuriated parent.

"You called him Ryan." He stated. "Your coffee cups have had the initials 'R.T.' on them, and you've been texting some guy named Ryan Tedder. That's a hell of a coincidence."

Janelle looked at him, a look of disbelief on her face. "You've been looking through my phone?"

"You've been lying to me!" He shouted.

"You're the one who cheated on me!" She Shouted back, just as loud.

Suddenly, everything went silent as he pulled the car up into the parking lot of their apartment. He only looked at her, before shutting the car off and opening up the door.

Janelle opened her door as well, stepping out of the car as he already made it to the door.

She followed him inside, hugging her purse to her chest as they went up the stairs.

"Joshua, I want to talk, Okay?" She Asked.

The two of them stopped at the door to their apartment, where Joshua quickly unlocked the door, opening it and stepping inside. Janelle followed him in, grabbing his arm as he tried to walk away from her.

"Joshua!" She raised her voice, causing him to turn around sharply to look at her. "It's clear we have some shit going on, and I want to fix it!"

"Fine, then, explain who Ryan is." He crossed his arms over his chest, and Janelle scoffed.

"He's just a friend, okay?" She Said.

"And you told him about last night?" He snapped. "What, did you ask him to come beat me up? Thought you'd teach me a lesson?"

"Joshua, I didn't tell him!" Janelle felt her eyes well up with tears, but she blinked them away. "I didn't know he was coming to do that, I have no idea what got into him!"

"Then who told him, huh?" He asked sharply. "Who?"

"I don't know!" Janelle Shouted. "But maybe you deserved what he did to you!"