Prince with Benefits

Chapter Three

Chris set the pizza on the table, and Hugh started to complain about the anchovies on the top. I loved Hugh more for filling up the silence before I had to.

After a delicious mango sorbet dessert, we went to the small living room and prepared coffee.

"I'm sorry this happened to you Em," Chris said as he handled me the coffee mug. "I'm glad you found out before the wedding, though."

"I'm glad too."

"So," Hugh said, sitting beside me on the gray suede couch, "I'm letting you know that you can't get up from the sofa until our intervention is finished."

I cleared my throat. "What are you talking about?"

Chris sighed and shook his head. Hugh ignored him. My gaze was travelling from one side to the other, trying to figure out what the hell was going on now.

"Em, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, because we love you." Hugh reached out for my hand. My eyes were widened. "But you need to leave."

"Oh." My stomach rolled. Of course, I needed to leave. I'd been imposing myself on them for the last few weeks. I was the worst friend, I didn't think of them once through the days, and I had probably invaded their privacy. One more thing to add to my list of things to improve.

That stupid list was never-ending.

"Jesus, Hugh. You seriously need to learn how to say things in a more subtle way," Chris said.

"No, it's fine. Really. I love Hugh's honesty, you know that."

Hugh pressed his lips before continuing. "Em, I'm not saying you need to leave our house; we love having you here, but I think it's time for you to go out into the world and start over."

I blinked at him as the words sank in. Oh, hell no, I thought as I figured out where this was going. He was probably thinking that I should go visit my mother or some nonsense like that.

Before I could open my mouth to protest, he raised a palm. "Listen to me, then you can complain all you want." I rolled my eyes, left the mug on the table, and crossed my arms. Hugh pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. "I love you, Em, you know that, but I'm not the only one concerned about you. Your mom has been calling and you never take her calls." I opened my mouth, but Hugh glared at me. "She might not be the best mother, but at the end of the day, she is your mother and she cares for you. You can stay here as long as you want, but you're stuck in your room staring at the ceiling. This is not you. And whatever happened was not your fault."

My eyes teared up again. I felt like I wasn't good enough and that was the reason why Sam cheated on me. I was also probably not fun enough for my friend and that's why he was asking me to leave. My throat felt like sandpaper as I swallowed hard. Chris took me in his arms, pulling me closer.

Hugh sighed. "Em, I really think you should go visit your mother. Talk to her, go out, meet other people, stay away from the place that is hurting you right now."

"But I would just be running away from one problem to another, Hugh."

"Baby steps, Em. Fix the past so you can move forward." He placed a hand on my knee. "I've always thought that somewhere in that thick head of yours, you blame yourself for your parent's splitting up."

I stared at him. I had never admitted it to anyone.

"How did you know?" I asked softly.

"Because it's you, Em. You blame yourself because the sun doesn't shine, as if you had some sort of power over everything around you."