The Journey Taken Together

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Status: Edited

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~Dennis~

A feeling of guilt hits me as I look at Thea. The pain of having to lie to her is excruciating. I don't know why I feel like I have to lie to her...why can't I just tell her? I stare at her as she eats, and I sigh.

"Breakfast good?" I ask her.

"Meh, it's good for hospital food," she replies, causing me to giggle.

"Yeah, been there, done that.." I trail off. She looks at me with concern, and I give her a small smile. We sit silently for a few moments, and a nurse walks in.

"Hello Thea. How are you doing?" The nurse asks.

"Jen! It's nice to see you! I'm doing better, how are you?" Thea replies. I watch Jen as she cleans up Thea's stuff and puts it on the tray.

"I'm pretty good. I am lucky and got assigned your room for lunch break pick-up," Jen says smiling.

"I'm glad you are here," Thea says, and Jen looks at me.

"Well hello there. Is this your boyfriend Thea?" she asks, and my heart drops into my stomach.

"No no, I'm just a friend," I blurt out, and Thea frowns.

"Yeah...a friend," Thea repeats, and Jen nods her head.

"Well okay dear, gotta run. It was nice meeting you...friend of Thea's," she says and walks out of the room.

"Nice to meet you too," I mutter as I glance at Thea. She flips me off, and I form my mouth into an 'o'.

"Wowwwww, is that any way to treat me after all I've done for you?" I tease her.

"Well yeah, you lied to me," she sneers and looks away. Negative thoughts run into my head as I try to think of the possible things she could be talking about.

"About what?" I ask, puzzled.

"You being a virgin," she replies, and I begin to feel nauseous.

"You followed me?" I ask, and she raises her brow at me.

"Followed you where? No I didn't follow you. But where did you go?" she asks, and I look away. 'Fuck I shouldn't have said anything!' I think and steal a glance at her. I can mentally picture fire in her eyes.

"Dennis, just tell me. You can't make anything worse right now," Thea states softly. I take a minute to think about the consequences and look back at her.

"The morning before our scheduled date, I ran into Gigi and Daniel. She just kind of came onto-"

"You didn't!" she interrupts. Her eyes are huge, and I bite my lip.

"You...you cheated," she mutters, running her hands through her hair. I get up and walk over to her bed. I put one hand on hers, and she smacks it away.

"I'm sorr-"

"No! You can't make up for this!" she screams and tears start to form in her eyes. I back up and swallow my pride.

"Should I go?" I ask her, and she shakes her head with disapproval.

"The only reason I say that is because I want us both to see Steven," she explains, and I look away. A knock at the door brings my attention off of her.

"Hello Thea. Are you ready to go?" he says, walking over to her.

"Yes," she says, and he hands her a clipboard. She spends the next ten minutes filling out paperwork, and finally finishes.