Tatum's Tears | On Hold

Chapter 7 - ❝Open up.❞

DEDICATED TO @jollyangels !

~

Chapter 7 - "Open up."

Tatum really needed to stop jinxing herself.

Because just the previous day, she'd thought that she was grateful that Angier and Francesca weren't that into PDA.

She was definitely wrong.

Or, her eyes were deceiving her—which couldn't be the case, because Tatum was sure she couldn't conjure up something in such vivid detail, but there just wasn't any other explanation.

Anyhow, Tatum had been calmly on her way to exit the building on her morning break to go outside for some fresh air, when a couple making out like their lives depended on it—right next to her locker—had caught her attention. She'd glanced away quickly but only after a second, the back of that familiar blond head had registered in her brain. And at second glance, the lean limbs wrapped around the guy's neck and the fingers buried in those blond strands were confirmed as Francesca Blythe's.

Shatter.

Heard that? That was just someone dropping something accidentally. That was not the sound of her heart crashing to the floor and splintering into pieces.

For a second, Tatum was frozen in a fit of sudden panic. Why she panicked, she didn't know. But after closing her eyes and pulling herself together, she ignored this stupid burn on the back of her throat and marched forward.

She considered tapping their shoulders and telling them they were in the way of her locker just for the heck of it, but decided she wouldn't be able to pull off that nonchalance after such a sudden attack on all her senses. She had to recover and she had to do it fast.

With that thought steeling her determination, Tatum walked past the couple—who might as well go at it right in the hallway, for all their subtlety—telling herself that she did not feel bad.

No, that was just a moment of wanting someone to show off like that and it had nothing to do with Angier Wellington and his stupid, stupid charm.

~

A few minutes later, Tatum was relatively calmer and more collected. She was sitting on the cemented ground behind the library, leaning against the side wall of said building. She was not hiding, mind you. Just a few moments to pull herself together.

Just when she thought she'd managed to retain the leash on her emotions, she finally let out the breath she'd been holding. Unexpectedly, she felt a hot tear slide down her cheek and land on her palm resting on her thigh. Before she could even try and wipe it all off, another tear slid down her cheek. Tatum clenched her teeth as she felt her vision become blurry and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

Just stop, She commanded herself, wiping her eyes with the back of her palms, but it was fruitless. Stop, stop, stop, STOP!

The more she told herself to stop, it seemed like the more she was going to cry.

"Stop." Tatum whispered, finally giving up and letting her head fall on her knees. She let her tears fall freely now, soaking her jeans as they fell relentlessly. She cried silently for the Mate she will never meet, for the little boy who'd been tormented so badly that he'd taken his own life. She cried for herself for ever letting her mind think of her only friend like that. She cried, because she was helpless and he'd just been there and she hadn't even known when she'd fallen so hopelessly for him. Most of all, she cried because she didn't know what else to do.