Stay With Me

(13) The Morning After

Sorry this was 2 weeks late I really struggled with this chapter and I've been busy.

The Morning After:

28th February 2015

Carly sighed at the sound of the automated voice. "Damn it!"

"He won't answer." Rachel repeated for the third time from her spot on the couch where once again she was listening to Mary... Maisie's... whatever-her-name-was-on-Google's advice and was currently sat in front of the tv, smothered in blankets as she continuously spooned Ice cream (with a little added extra) into her mouth.

Carly huffed moving to sit on the couch, crushing Rachel's feet with her butt as she did, making Rachel wince. "This is ridiculous! I've been trying to contact him all day! He must have turned his phone off."

"Can you blame him? He clearly doesn't want to hear from us."

"But you didn't even do anything wrong!"

"Well that's not what he thinks is it!" Rachel snapped angrily before sighing. "Sorry. It's true though. To Nate what he saw last night was another girlfriend cheating on him with his best friend. He hates me."

Carly frowned. "Don't say that Rach, we don't know what's going on yet." Biting her lip she pressed the call button again only for it to once again go straight to voicemail.

"God will you just stop calling him already!" Rachel said irritated. Every time she called him a small bit of hope would bubble up inside her only to be crushed when Nate didn't pick up or call back. It was exhausting.

Confused, Carly turned to face her best friend. "Don't you want him to know the truth?"

Rachel spooned more Ice cream into her mouth. "He already does." She said before swallowing with a grimace. Melted Ice cream was disgusting, even with the added bonus of alcohol. "You said Mark messaged him last night telling him the truth right?" Carly nodded. "And there was a little tick next to it?" Another nod. Rachel shrugged. "Then he read it. And now over 12 hours have passed and he still hasn't got in contact with anyone or returned home." She said remembering the text Mark had sent Carly this morning saying he hadn't come home. He'd stayed the night incase he did so he could explain to him what really happened face to face. "The text changed nothing...it's over."

With a sigh Carly started picking at her fingernails, a habit she really had to stop. It was when the familiar sound of Carly's ringtone filled the room that they froze. Rachel's hand was halfway to her mouth causing the Ice cream to drip down on to her clothes, which she ignored as Carly looked at her with wide eyes.

"Do you think it's him?"

Rachel swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly feeling dry. "Um I don't know.." She replied slowly before realizing the call would likely cut off soon. "Answer it!"

"Oh um Yeah.." Carly mumbled, quickly digging her phone out of her pocket and answering without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" Rachel held her breath watching Carly's face carefully.

"Hey."

"Oh.." Rachel let out a big breath when Carly shook her head lightly. It's not him.. "Hey babe." Carly said getting up to talk in the kitchen instead. "How are you feeling?" She asked pulling out a cup and some milk to make herself a coffee, she'd been up half the night and was starting to feel tired.

Robbie groaned loudly from the other side. "Remind me to kill Mark when I see him next, my head is killing me! Have you guys heard from Nate yet?" He asked groggily ,clearly he'd only just woken up.

Carly sighed as she turned the kettle on. "Nope. Everyone has been trying like crazy to get in contact with him but his phone must be off. He hasn't gone back home yet either, Mark stayed the night in case he came back." She explained, biting her lip softly as she carefully stirred some milk into her cup. "Robbie.. you don't think Nate has actually ended things with Rachel do you?" She asked worriedly. "What if we never get to tell him the truth or he never comes back?" She whispered so Rachel couldn't hear.