He's a Cheater ✔️

2 - DRAFT TWO

2
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I stumbled through the door, a few shots of tequila burning in my veins around two in the morning, expecting to be greeted by a darkened empty apartment. Instead, the lights were on, and Mary was curled up on our couch underneath a thin blanket.

I walked over to where she was laying, scooping her up into my arms, not wanting to wake her. She mumbled a few incoherent words, pressing her face deeper into my chest. As I placed her in our bed, a flicker of pain ran through my heart in the form of guilt.

You should just tell her, a slow voice in my mind reasoned.

You'll lose her forever. You'll only be hurting her, the other voice reasoned, easily convincing me to take the decision of inaction. Wanting to clear my head, I walked towards the bathroom with the intention of splashing cold water against my face.

"Jake?" Mary's voice called out, muffled under the duvet.

"Yeah?" I replied tiredly, drying my face hurriedly with a nearby towel.

"Where were you?" she yawned, pushing the heavy blanket off of her body. "I came home early to surprise you."

"Sorry, babe. I went out for a bit with the guys. Didn't want to bother you," I mumbled cautiously, walking over to her and pressing my lips against her forehead. I was hoping that she didn't notice the stink of alcohol on me, but as she leaned away from my embrace with a frown, my heart momentarily dropped. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, throwing a dazzling smile at me. She pushed herself off of our bed, explaining "I should probably change."

"How was the art show?" I questioned, stripping off my own shirt as she entered the bathroom after a few stumbles.

"The artist I was hoping to impress didn't show up," she confided, a deep sigh coming from the other side of the shut bathroom door.

"Next time?" I prompted, trying to instill her with hope. I took a clean shirt from the freshly laundered clothes lying in a corner of the room, pulling it over my head. She opened the door again, leaning against the doorframe tiredly.

"Yeah," she breathed out, resigned. "Next time."

Her disappointment reignited my guilt, so I cradled her head in my hands gently, forcing her to meet my eyes with hers.

"Mary," I told her, my voice hushed, "you're talented. Everything will work itself out eventually."

She nodded in assent, her lips breaking into a breathtaking smile. "Until then, I've got you."

My heartbeat stuttered at her words, but I kept the smile on my face, even as guilt coiled in my gut painfully. She reached to wrap her arms around my neck, pulling me closer to her warm body. Her lips were soft against mine, but she soon deepened the kiss, her tongue slipping past my open lips. She smiled against my lips as we stumbled back, her back pressed up against our open bathroom door. Her hands had gone to tangle in my hair, and I moved mine to rest at her waist, keeping her body firmly against mine. As we broke away from each other for air, I couldn't seem to keep up the pretense of perfection.

"I'm going to go finish changing," Mary told me softly, somehow sensing that I was upset. She closed the bathroom door as I left, and I took the opportunity to collapse onto our bed. Kicking my shoes off, I nestled my body into a crook in the duvet, embracing the warmth it offered. My phone, which had been digging into my lower back, was soon discarded as well, lying on our empty nightstand. Mary joined me a few minutes later, her head tucked under my chin, resting underneath my head.

"I know you're hurting," Mary started, the panic rising up my throat making it necessary for me to stop her.

"I'm not," I cut her off pathetically, my words limp and useless.

"I know you're hurting," she repeated, giving me a silencing glare. "But, I don't know why. And if you're not going to tell me, that's fine. But you need to tell someone."

Deciding complacency as the best course of action, I muttered, "okay."

We fell asleep next to each other, her head resting on my heart, an unworthy mechanism incapable of loving someone as beautiful as her.

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(smaller author's note)
OKAY I'M REALLY SORRY FOR THE SLOW UPDATES I JUST HAVE THIS INNATE NEED FOR EVERYTHING TO BE PERFECT AND IT'S KIND OF INCAPACITATING.
Thanks for reading :)