Our Toxic Love

Chapter Forty Three

-Ariana's POV-

I've never been so mad at someone in my life. Ethan seriously doesn't know what limits are obviously.

First, he breaks his promise and let's me have sex with him, then he locks Nathan in a fucking closet to stop him from coming to the party. He's just so untrustworthy. And insane.

I do admit that maybe I must've seduced Ethan into most of the things we did last night -- I'm not sure, my memory's still fuzzy -- but it's not entirely my fault. I was drunk and I was depending on Ethan to keep me stable -- not a well thought out choice. Honestly, what hurts me most is the fact that I keep putting my trust in him and he just keeps screwing everything up.

I tie my long wavy hair back into a ponytail and pass by a few doors before reaching the broom closet. I press my ear to the door. It's quiet.

I then press the button on the doorknob and twist it. Inside the tiny room, I see a couple of brooms and mops and shelves with detergents on them. Nathan is curled up on the floor, his eyes tightly shut and his lips pressed together.

My stomach clenches at the sight of him like that. The only reason Nathan's been stuck in here all night is because he's my boyfriend. This is my fault. I wouldn't blame him if he woke up extremely mad at me.

I pad over him quietly and shake his shoulder gently to wake him up. He stirs.

"Nathan," I say. "Nathan, wake up."

His eyes flutter open. It takes him a few seconds to look around and realize where he is.

"Ariana? How'd you find me?" He questions.

"Ethan told me you're here. I'm sorry about all this-"

"It's not your fault," he cuts me off. "Ethan's a jerk, he just did it for his own amusement."

I sit down next to him, smoothing out his unkempt black hair.

"How'd this even happen?" I ask quietly.

He shrugs. "I don't know. He just told me he wanted to use my phone. I told him 'okay' and he sent someone a text. Then he told me that Matt's waiting for me here. So when I saw him, he was being normal but then he punched me and locked me in here."

"He punched you?" I ask disbelievingly, searching his face for the bruise.

I lift his hair off his forehead and see a bluish spot on his head.

"Nathan," I say, my eyes glistening with tears. "Ethan did that because of me. Because we're together now."

He shakes his head. "No, don't say that."

"But it's true," I insist. "I'm sorry."

He tries to smile then presses his lips to mine. I don't feel comfortable kissing him as I remember everything I did with Ethan last night.

"Uhm, I need to tell you something," I say nervously.

Nathan stands up, pulling me to my feet with him. He snakes an arm around my back, pulling me closer to him.

"We can talk outside, come on."

We walk out of the room.

"So what is it you wanted to say?" He questions.

"I..." I stop walking and turn to face him. "You're probably gonna be really pissed off after you hear this."

He frowns, supressing a smile. "Uhm, okay..?"

"You know I went to the party last night," I say slowly, tugging at a stand of my tied hair.

"Yeah, how was it by the way?" He's still smiling.