Demi was acting unusual. She had gotten home a little over an hour ago and she had barely said three words to you, not even kissing you the way she usually did. The only kiss she gave you was on the cheek, and even then it felt cold, as if she was forcing herself to do it. Her behavior was making you anxious, racking your mind to try and remember if you had done anything to upset her.
You couldn't think of anything, so you knew the best thing to do would be to confront her. She was on one of the couches in the living room, completely withdrawn into her phone and whoever she was texting. You cautiously sat down on the opposite end, not even earning a glance from her.
“Hey Demi?” you asked softly. “Hmm?” she responded, still refusing to remove her focus from her phone to you. “Can you at least look at me?” She stopped texting after you asked, yet she didn't look up. “No” she whispered, shutting off her phone and putting it down. That definitely wasn't the answer you thought she would give you.
“Why not? Did I do something wrong?” Tears pricked your ears but you weren't prepared to let them fall, not sure if there was even anything to cry about. She closed her eyes while shaking her head, rubbing her temples nervously. “I...it wasn't you” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Then tell me please” you begged.
Her lips moved but no words came out, so you waited for her to talk louder. “I was with Wilmer.” That was all she said. She didn't offer you an explanation as to what she she had been doing with him, leaving you to assume the worst.
“Oh.” Like her, you didn't say anything else. You picked at an imaginary loose strand on your pants, not knowing what to say or do. There had been countless times during which you had thought about how you would react in this exact situation, but that was when you had first started dating her and she was fresh out of her relationship with Wilmer. You figured that after a year of being together you could trust her, apparently that wasn't the case.
She picked up her phone again and went back to texting, breaking your heart at the thought that it was probably Wilmer who she was texting. “Are you going to leave me?” Her voice sounded just as you felt: defeated.
Were you going to leave her? Even if you wanted to, could you? You couldn't figure out what to do, so you just shrugged and got up to go to the bedroom. She didn't get up to follow you, not that it was surprising. You softly closed the door behind you, wanting to show her that you weren't mad. If anything, you were just hurt and confused.
As it started to get dark outside, you went to go take a shower and get ready for bed. You frowned when you came out, seeing Demi already in the bed. You had no intention of sharing the bed with her, so you reached over to grab your pillow to sleep on the couch.
“You can sleep here” she said, wrapping her hand around your arm. You paused, considering her offer. If you stayed, it would make it seem as though you had forgiven her. You still hadn't decided how you felt, so you took the easy route and just shook her hand away, leaving the room. “I love you” she called out to you, but you didn't respond.
No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get to sleep. It was too hot, the couch was uncomfortable, and you couldn't stop thinking about what Demi might have done with Wilmer. It was so unfair of her to leave her statement about him open to interpretation. Didn't you at least deserve the whole truth?
The next few days and night were no different. Demi would try and make conversation with you, but you just ignored her. You still hadn't slept, and you could guess that Demi hadn't either. She wasn't texting as much, even making a big show of turning her phone off and leaving it on the coffee table for an entire day.
On the fourth day someone cracked, you were just surprised that it was Demi. You were in the kitchen getting something to drink when she walked in and grabbed the glass from your hands. “Come with me” she demanded, forcing you to follow her to the bedroom.
“I know you're not talking to me because you don't know how to react, so I'm just going to tell you exactly what happened. Do you want to know?” You kept your mouth shut but nodded anyway, giving her the go-ahead to explain.
She took a deep breath, her demeanor changing from what had seemed angry to sad, apologetic, and...scared? “I didn't sleep with him. Well, I almost did but I just couldn't go through with it. He threatened to hurt you if I didn't, and I love you too much to let him do anything. But before we could do anything, I realized something. He's a coward and he would never be brave enough to actually do anything. I left right away, and so far he's proven me right. Please tell me you believe me, we didn't actually do anything.”
You listened to each word she said, trying to figure out if she was being sincere or not. The pleading look on her face and tears in her eyes made you desperately want to believe that she was telling the truth. You took too long to answer, so she started talking again.
“Every single morning these past days I've been terrified of waking up with you gone, so I didn't sleep. That way I would be able to hear you if you were leaving, and maybe I would've been able to stop you and convince you to stay.” She was wiping away the tears that had managed to escape her eyes, so you made a quick decision.
You gently grabbed her hand, pulling her to you. “I'm in love with you, okay? That's why I didn't leave. I knew there had to be more to what happened.” You kissed her to show her you really did believe her, pushing her down on the bed. “I want you” you muttered against her lips. That wasn't good enough for her, she needed more. Her lips detached from yours so she could look into your eyes, showing you that she meant what she was about to say. “I need you.”
