Secrets Not Lies

Chapter Twenty-Five - Go Away

When the doorbell rang, Phil's eyes met mine, apprehension evident in them.

We both hovered at the top of the stairs, unsure of what to do. We both knew it was Gabe at the door—as he'd followed me home—but whether or not to answer it was the question. Of course, Instantly my answer was no, so I assumed Phil had the same idea.

I watched in surprise as he turned to the stairs though, beginning to descend them.

I trotted down the first few steps to catch up to him, grabbing his elbow. I spun him to face me.

"Are you crazy?" I exclaimed. "It's Gabe, he's mental! Are you really going to answer the door?"

Phil exhaled a slightly impatient breath from his nose, eyes holding mine with a determined glint to them. "Someone needs to knock some sense into him," he told me.

"Yeah, and it's not going to be you," I argued, having already made up my mind about not letting him talk to Gabe.

Defiance was written all across his face. "Why, do you not trust me?"

"Of course I do," I assured him, "but I don't trust Gabe. Last time he kissed you, he clearly knows no boundaries."

"I know Gabe, alright?" he tried to reason. "I know what to say to him."

As much as I wanted to ignore the problem that Phil and I had, which was Gabe, I knew it had to be resolved. I just didn't want Phil to be the one to do that. Although he might've been right about knowing what to say, I was still worried that Gabe was right. He was Phil's kryptonite.

"Please, just don't answer it," I said, tightening my grip on Phil's arm slightly.

Despite my practically pleading eyes, Phil said, "I have to."

"No, we can deal with this another day," I argued, hoping to get through to him. He seemed to have his mind made up though.

"Nothing good will come from putting it off," he countered.

The doorbell rang again, and that was all Phil needed to wriggle his arm from my grasp and jog off down the stairs.

"Stay up there, Dan," he ordered as he disappeared around the corner.

I didn't know what it was about his tone, maybe almost warning, that made me listen.

Unwillingly, I plopped myself down on the stair. I leaned my elbows on my legs before staying dead still. I needed to be as quiet as possible to hear their conversation.

A wave of unease hit me as I could hear Phil unlocking the front door. There was a slight moment of shuffling before it opened, only to close again a moment later.

The air was deafeningly silent, the stillness making me hold my breath in anticipation. For a moment, I began to wonder if Phil had stepped out into the hall with Gabe, but then I caught the muffled sound of their voices.

Although I couldn't yet make out any words, I could hear the fury bubbling in Phil's tone. Gabe sounded angry too. My mind began wondering if maybe Gabe was hurt by this all, because somewhere deep down, he knew it really was over.

As my mum said all the time, I'd always been someone to see the good in people. No matter how despicable a person was, I was always able to look past that after I figured out what fueled them.

Even though I wanted to believe Gabe was different—that he was someone truly terrible with no excuses—I knew he was still human. Of course, it was beyond creepy that he'd followed my home, but love was powerful, something that drove people to do crazy things. Maybe he loved Phil.