Unintended

“Scared, Evie?” The way she sneered as she said my name shot ice into my veins. “Because you should be.”

She took a small step towards me, and I took a step back, contemplating making a run for it immediately, but I wasn’t completely sure my legs would hold me. I felt strange. Like fight or flight had kicked in; my heart was racing, my body urging me to run, but my limbs were trembling too much to move.

She flashed me a somewhat menacing smile. “I think we need to have a talk.”

It took me a while to calm down after Natalie left. Even after the high of knowing I hadn’t let her win that time, I could still feel her words beating at me the way they always used to. I knew how to deal with it now, and I knew that now she was gone, she wasn’t coming back, but dealing with her was always draining.

I’d lay on the sofa for a while, letting everything go through my head. What she’d said, what I’d said. Casting away any insults she’d tossed at me was so much easier when I didn’t have to live with her. Then I’d known that, even if I let one round of verbal abuse go, I’d have to brace myself for more later.

When I was done processing it all, and feeling more relaxed again, I headed to my room to grab some clean clothes then went to the bathroom to have a shower, needing to wash away the last remnants of her from my head.

I’d dealt with the worst kind of abuse from Natalie. She’d physically hurt me, but more than that, she’d mentally scarred me too. And while the scars were healing, I knew they would never fully leave. When she’d barged into my flat, I’d seen it all so clearly. The time I’d wasted and the evil she had become.

But then there was Evie.

Evie was everything Natalie wasn’t. She was sweet, and natural, and funny, and kind, and she cared about other people. She cared about me. And while there would always be a bit of me that felt like I wouldn’t ever be good enough for her, I’d begun to see that some things were worth taking a leap for.

Evie was worth it.

And I was going to talk to her. As soon as she finished work, I’d be there, and I’d tell her everything I wanted her to know.

I heard my phone ringing, distracting me from my plans; probably for the best as they made me feel slightly sick. Knowing I was really going to do this made my stomach churn.

I picked up my phone that I’d left resting on the arm of the sofa, surprised to see Keely’s name on the screen.

Keely had never called me.

Immediately thinking something must be wrong with Evie, my gut twisted and I answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ash. Are you free to talk?”

Her voice sounded too casual for this to be an emergency, but there was a slight edge to it that I couldn’t read.

“Yeah, I am. Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know.” She took a deep breath. “Look, Ash, I don’t want to interfere in anything, but Evie’s my best friend and she’s confused right now, so I need to ask you something.”

“Okay,” I said. “What is it?”

“Are you and Natalie back together?”

I choked out a surprised laugh, sitting down. “What? Why would you ask that?”

“Because Evie was coming over to see you earlier and she saw Natalie going into your flat, which se

emed odd since you never mentioned that you were planning to see her.”

Oh, boy.

“I didn’t plan to see her.”

“Then why was she at your place? How does she even know where you live?”

Keely sounded like she wanted to strangle me, and from what she knew of the situation, I couldn’t blame her. We were both aware of how much Evie could let her thoughts get out of control, and she didn’t need the added stress of worrying about me and why Natalie was at my flat.

I could only imagine how it looked to Evie. I hadn’t exactly greeted Natalie with a smile, but if Evie had seen her going inside, she would have also seen that I didn’t try to stop her. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was in shock. God, she must have thought I was an idiot.