Adrian sighed. “The asshole got drunk and cheated?”
I laughed bitterly. “That’s the worst thing, he wasn’t even drunk. I made a rule to help us work something out. They would have nights together to do whatever as friends without me and without telling me where they were going. As long as I had my nights alone with him, too, without them asking. It was hard, I was jealous of them, but I tried to stick to it. Then there were the nights we all agreed to hang out together and try to not kill each other. I thought it respectful to all parties concerned. Only I did, however. God, I’d kill for a beer right now.” Tears flowing freely down my face.
“It was a respectful plan; I don’t see why it didn’t work,” he answered, coming to rub my shoulders. Waiting for me to find the strength to continue if it was possible.
“It worked for a few weeks, then they started ditching me to go out together or even worse forcing me to spend time with only both of them. If I said no, then they would walk out and say I was unreasonable and have the day together. He took my place on the tour without even asking me. I was all packed and waiting to go, only for my ride to never turn up. They refused to return my calls for weeks. I stood up for myself when I found a picture online of them both together on tour. Their posts about ‘date nights’, all while he was still hinting he wanted to get back with me. It got toxic really fast. They called me a jealous bitch, an overly dramatic whore, poisonous and crazy and so many other things. Short of it, they decided I needed to be locked up. That I was the only one with a problem, they did no wrong. Just bat shit crazy Lily having a mood swing! I should understand they were just particularly good friends. And then, I walked in on them in bed together on my birthday. They stood me up on my birthday to fuck. That’s how little either of them cared about me. All through those months, all the arguments and fights. They made it clear it was one hundred percent my fault and mine only. Constantly telling me they did nothing wrong.”
Adrian pulled me into a tight embrace as the tears came heavier and I finally broke down over it all. I collapsed into his arms; I had nothing left. “It is not your fault, it was theirs. The drink, the drugs, the fame, the fake friends. If ye don’t have a strong mind and a good grounding of friends, it is impossible to resist the temptations. No one person could ever carry the weight of all of that for him. It wasn’t the fact that ye were not enough for him, he was never enough to resist the temptations. Youse did all that you could. I promise you, baby, none of this was your fault. Yes, youse fought back, yes it got toxic, but it never would have if they respected your boundaries and damn well made it work!” He pulled me down to sit on his lap, watching the ocean as I cried out years’ worth of agonies.
Chapter 6
Adrian’s POV
The meal was a quiet affair, Lily was clearly drained by all the baggage she released earlier. Acting like she was embarrassed and didn’t know how to act around me now. She lay on the sofa under a blanket, watching the flames of the open fire as I cleaned the plates. Both of us sipping wine in silence. The way I felt after hearing everything he had done to her, I felt like draining the entire wine wrack myself. The radio playing music in the background, the DJ said, “And next, The Script with their new release ‘Run Through Walls’.” I could see her starting to tear up at the song’s lyrics. “Ye okay darling?” I asked.
She sighed. “Once upon a time…”
I nodded. “He was like that for you?”
She sighed again. “The type of friendship I will probably never trust anyone enough to have again.”
“I would like to try and be that kind of friend for ye, if you will let me,” I offered. “I never want to hurt youse.”
“Yeah, he used to say that, too, and look where that got me: destroyed. Just like my family did, and every so-called friend I met along the way. I will never open my heart again,” she muttered to herself. Finding the bottle of wine to refill her glass as far as she could without it spilling.
I kissed her forehead. “I can wait until you trust me, for as long as you require.” I fetched my laptop, dropping it on the sofa next to her. “Why don’t ye check in on your life? Let people know you are okay. There must be a few people who are worried about youse.”
Lily did not seem convinced, but she took the machine as I continued washing up. Giving her privacy to check her messages. The next thing I knew, there were raised voices and the front door slammed. I rushed to check the computer, to see a Skype box full of messages, none of them nice and all from that monster.
Hello whore, who are you fucking for money now?
Wait until he realises you are nothing but a filthy little bitch who will fuck anything for a dollar!
Why don’t you just kill yourself and save us all the drama of you being around?
The world would be a far better place without you in it.
You were a shit fuck anyway.
Those nudes you sent me made me want to throw up, fat bitch!
You will never be
