RED: Welcome To Fayetteville | Complete ✔️

Chapter 14: The Call

Natalie walked from the dark kitchen to meet Derrick in the living room. He was shaking his head at the floor like he had reached his end. His fidgeting was getting faster: the tapping of his foot, the pulling of the thread in the couch cushion, the rubbing on his neck.

The only sounds in the house were the pops of the wood in the walls as they settled. Derrick's dad was almost never home, so Natalie and Derrick were home alone.

"When are you going to open up and talk to me? All I see is you in a twist and blowing up all over the place. And over what? Apparently everyone knows but me, and that's messed up."

"You don't have to know everything, Natalie."

"What are you talking about?! We're dating! Something tells me you're supposed to talk to me about stuff... I'm not your ragdoll. I'm not some lost puppy that follows you around, and let me tell you something," Natalie leaned in closer to Derrick. She held her hand right in front of his face, hovering her index finger just above her thumb. "I'm this close to leaving you. You don't know what it means to be a man. You don't know how to love somebody."

"You're helping so much!" Derrick's sarcasm was a mix between spite and bitterness. "You want to know everything. Why can't you sit there and look pretty? 'Bout all you're good at anyways."

That was it... "Get out, Derrick!" Her yell made him jump. He'd never gotten this much aggression out of her, even when he deserved it.

"This is my house. What are you talking about? You get out," he pointed at her.

"I wasn't talking about this house. Get out of my life."

It finally hit him. He dropped his head and let his anger turn into hurt for the first time in a long time. Natalie leaned against the wall and let him take it in. Now, she felt like he was listening.

"Derrick, you have to see where I'm coming from."

"You don't think I feel bad?" His voice was much lower; his soft side was coming out. "How do you think I feel, Natalie? Zach was my best friend, and he thinks he can go and snitch on me," he uttered.

They both paused. Derrick knew he said too much. Natalie smirked because that's all she could do.

"What did he snitch on, Derrick?"

"Nothing, Natalie. It's whatever." The silence between them couldn't describe the horrible tension in the room. It was like a rope being pulled at both ends, and Natalie was almost ready to let go.

Natalie's phone rattled on the coffee table.

It buzzed loudly in the silence. She saw the name plastered across the pixels on her screen. Her eyes shot open, knowing that if Derrick saw it, the room would explode. She grabbed her phone, read the message, and went to his front porch.

"Hey, what's up?" she said, putting the cold phone to her cheek.

"Where are you?" Zach asked.

"Derrick's house, why?"

"You have to get out, now."

"What are you talking about? I can handle him. I won't let him hurt me."

Natalie didn't notice it, but Derrick stood up from the couch and turned the corner to the front door. He crept closer and closer, avoiding the spots on the floor that make the loud pops. His figure moved slowly in the darkness, getting closer... and closer...

"Do you really think he'd hurt me?" she asked.

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