Facade [h.s]

eighteen

"Absolutely not" I said, quickly standing up in front of Indigo's shocked face. "I refuse to believe that."

She sighed, walking the few steps that separated her from me. "Raine, you have to believe me" she said, worry in her eyes. "Please. I would never lie to you about something like this."

I let out a sarcastic laugh. "You've been lying to me for months" I stated matter-of-factly, and we both knew it was true. It was refreshing to finally be able to say it to her face, without needing to tiptoe around it all the time.

Her arms fell. "You know what? It's true. I lied to you about a lot of things, and I'm sorry. But you have to believe me when I say I didn't do it to hurt you" she said. "Joel is - or was, I don't even know anymore - my best friend too, Ray. Ever since we were little. I wouldn't lie about him to you like that. You know I wouldn't."

I shook my head and looked away, knowing she was right. I knew she wouldn't have. But it didn't make it make any more sense, either. The Joel I knew would've never done something like that. It didn't make any sense. "Give me the key" I said lowly, and she sent me a weird glance.

"What?" She asked, as if she believed she'd heard me wrong.

"Give me the key" I repeated.

She shook her head. "I can't do that, Raine. You need to understand."

"Indigo, give me the key."

She put her hand over the pocket where she's hidden it. "I won't-" she started to say, but a low voice suddenly interrupted her.

"Give her the key."

My head snapped to the left, and I was almost surprised to see that Harry was still sitting on the armchair, looking up at us. I'd totally forgotten he was there too, since he hadn't said a word.

"I really don't think it's a good idea, Harry" she said, seeming worried.

He let out a sigh, seeming to be way more stressed than I'd ever seen him before. "She needs time, just let her go."

I raised my eyebrows, not having really expected him to say something like that. I didn't know why, but it was weird to see he'd taken my side. I knew I wouldn't have been that surprised about it a few days before, but that day, after everything that had happened, it was definitely odd. I didn't know how I felt about it.

I was still a bit unsure about him because I still hadn't had a chance to truly talk to him and the wariness that had permeated every single one of my thoughts about him still hadn't left, but I was glad that he'd decided to let me go. I still didn't know what his role was in everything that I'd been told, which made me feel a bit worried about being left alone with him, but the fact that he'd told Indigo to give me the key made me think that, maybe, he wasn't as dangerous to me as I'd made him out to be. Maybe he'd just been caught up in a shitty situation, and he was trying to manage just as much as I was. I didn't know.

Indigo sighed, and I was sure that she thought it was a bad idea, but I didn't care. I just wanted to leave, because I couldn't will myself to stay there for an instant longer. I just wanted to get out of there, to have some time to think it over and make sense of it all.

She took the key out of the pocket and handed it to me, not looking at me. I took it quickly and didn't waste any time in walking to the front door, unlocking it and getting out of the apartment as fast as I could.

I rushed down the stairs, not wanting to give her the chance to rethink it, and only stopped when I finally exited the building. I bent over and put my hands on my knees, taking deep breaths to make my quick heartbeat slow down.