Bed Sheets

19. Forkville Beach

It was nine p.m.

He was a bit later than usual, but he reached the beach, and stared walking towards the sand, when he saw a figure sitting by the water. When he squinted his eyes and realized it was Eric, he could not stop his body from racing in his direction.

Eric glanced over his shoulder. It had been about two weeks ever since he last had seen Draven, and over that time, he had spent it at Jason who continuously pressured him to simply go to the beach. At first, he thought he would never show, but he started missing work, missing Draven, and most importantly, needed closure.

He stood to his feet when he noticed Draven approach closer towards him, not even taking of his shoes as he rushed through the sand. He was wearing a large black sweater, the hood covering his hair, and sweats as usual outside of work. Eric had a reflection of his outfit, and he held back a smile.

When they were near enough to examine one another features, Eric instantly noticed how much Draven had changed in those few weeks. He did not seem to have taken care of his hair, neither his face, or his health. He appeared sick, dark shadows under his blue eyes that were sombre.

Maybe it was the darkness as the night began.

Draven was the first to speak, still shocked that Eric had showed, "Hey."

Eric replied, "Hey."

Silence. Neither of them spoke for about a minute, Draven looking away for a second before asking, "How have you been?"

"Great, you?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Could be better." Another silence; Eric wanted to run into his arms and plant a kiss on those quivering lips. Then he said, "Miranda had been the one to leak that recording to the news—"

"I figured that much," Eric interrupted, nodding his head, "I didn't come for that."

Draven nodded his head as well, then added, "Why did you come?"

He sighed, "There's a few things I wanted to ask you."

"Alright," Draven accepted, "ask me anything."

Eric kicked the sand a little bit, shuffling in his stance before asking, "When's the last time you saw your wife?"

He could not answer that, it would give the wrong impression, "Eric—"

"When?" his tone had been more stern, and Draven bit his bottom lip before replying,

"Two days ago."

He heard Eric inhale sharply, and Draven added, "She's been helping me get through this—"

"Get through what?"

"I've been depressed recently, Eric," he admitted, although he considered it to be an embarrassing fact. Eric's gaze widened, and he continued, "I lost everything."

"Did you ever really like me?"

"I wanted to start a relationship with you," he said truthfully, "I was falling in love with you so fast that I gave you things I would have never done for anybody else. I never in my life gave anybody the title of co-author, but I did to you."

"Because you liked me—"

"Partially, yes," he breathed, "but partially because you're an amazing writer, Eric."

There was a pause, and Eric asked, "Are you married?"

"We're separated."

"So you're still married?"

He fell quiet for a moment, before saying, "Yes."

It is as if he could hear Eric's heartbreak, as he watched him begin to walk towards the end of the beach, to the parking lot.

Draven followed him desperately, "I'm not in love with her anymore."

"Then why haven't you gotten divorced?" Eric shouted over his shoulder as he stormed off.

"Because we never got around to do it."

He scoffed, "Lies."

"It's the truth—"

"So tell me this," he sharply turned around to face Draven, "Did you have sex with her during those two weeks?"

Draven shook his head incredulously, "No I—"

"That's a lie, a hot woman in your condo and you didn't come around to even touch her," he hissed.

"No, I didn't."

"That's bullshit," he shrieked.

Draven shook his head, growing even more desperate as he followed Eric, "I promise you." When Eric merely rolled his eyes and continued his walk, Draven reached for his wrist and pulled him back, breathing heavily and placing his palms on each of Eric's shoulders.

From the look in Eric's eyes, he could see that it was hurting him, the mere thought of Adelina being around him. He wasn't hearing him, hence why Draven forced him to stay for a moment.

"She stayed with me, yes. She told me she still loved me, and to forget about you, but that was the problem Eric — I can't forget about you."

"You're just saying to make me—"

"Can you shut up?" he shouted, "Listen to me for one second?" When he saw Eric's lips shut, he knew that he was finally attentive. "She did ask me to get together again, but that whole time, I wished it was you that was asking me that, not her. That's the reason I came here everyday, hoping that you would show. I searched for you, I went to Melissa's, I went to Jason's, I went to Rebecca's — I looked for you because I needed you so much. I just wanted to hear that you were okay, that's all I needed."

He noticed Eric's expression softened.

He sighed; he had told himself he would not cry but it was difficult. In a shaky tone, he said, "I never meant to hurt you, and I should have told you about Adelina, you're right. But during my time with you, I never once even thought about her. You're the one I want, Eric."

Eric bit his bottom lip, but the last sentence caused his heart to begin pounding again.

"I love you."