K. Robinson - Twisted Ties

“How do you accidentally sleep with someone?”

“It was right after you left. She drove to your house and parked outside. I felt bad for her, so I went over to talk to her. I knew she was really upset, so I invited her over to my house. We started drinking, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up with Emma beside me in my bed. Both of us regretted it, but there was nothing that we could do. We never meant for it to happen, I swear. Emma was hurting, and I just wanted to make her feel better.”

“It looks like you did a good job. I don’t know if I want to hit you or kill you at this point.”

“It was two years ago. We’ve been friends ever since, and nothing else has happened. She’s too hung up on you to notice anyone else, and I don’t think of her that way. You have nothing to worry about when it comes to me. I don’t plan on settling down for a long time.”

“I was a complete jackass to her earlier tonight. I thought that you two were together, and I know I hurt her.”

“There’s nothing you can do now, except apologize. Emma loves you—a lot. You just have to be honest with her and then give her some time to process everything. She’s spent the last year and a half searching for you, only to find you with Ally and a kid on the way. She’s hurting.”

“I need to go. I’m going to talk with Ally first, so hopefully, she’ll come visit you tonight. You two have a lot to work through, too. She’s pretty messed-up because of everything that happened to her. She’s hurting, too, because she loves me, and I flat-out told her that I don’t feel that way about her. She blames Emma, but Emma has nothing to do with it.”

“I figured out how Ally felt about you a while before you left. I just never told you because I didn’t want you to change the way you acted around her.”

“I wish you had. Maybe if I had known how she felt before everything had blown up, things would have been different.”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” Andy sighed.

“Are we cool?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we’ve been cool for a long time—with the exception of when I thought you knocked up Ally. I could never find you before to tell you that we were okay.”

“I’m glad. I’ve missed having you around.”

“Likewise. Go talk to Ally, and then get Emma back. I’m tired of seeing Emma miserable all the time.”

“Let’s see if she’ll give me the chance to make her happy again.”

* * *

I prepared myself for the fight I knew I would get into as I unlocked my front door. Ally was going to be angry with me, but I’d had to do what was right for me. I just hoped that she would understand eventually.

I walked in and set my keys down on the table. “Ally?”

When she didn’t answer, I started walking from room to room, trying to find her. I knew she was home since her car was outside. I checked the kitchen first and then her room. I looked in my room next even though I knew she wouldn’t be in there. That left the bathroom. I walked to the door and knocked gently. Light was coming out from underneath the door, but Ally didn’t answer.

I opened the door and stuck my head in, just to make sure she was okay. I didn’t see her by the toilet, so I pushed the door open further. She was standing at the sink in her bra and a pair of shorts with her earbuds in her ears. That explained why she hadn’t answered me. I didn’t want her to think that I was staring at her while she was nearly naked, so I quickly backed away and started to close the door.

But then, something caught my eye on the sink, and I stopped. It took me a minute to process what I was seeing. Once it hit me, I threw the door open and stormed in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I shouted loud enough for Ally to hear me over the music coming from her earbuds.

She jumped and turned to face me. As soon as she saw me, she grabbed a shirt and held it over herself.

“Jesse! I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Obviously not. There’s no need to cover yourself. I already saw.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I saw your stomach, Ally. It’s flat. There is definitely no baby in there, and I’m guessing you’ve been using that”—I pointed to the band-type contraption on the sink—“to make it look like you are pregnant.”

“Jesse, let me explain.”

“Explain, what? The fact that you’ve been lying to me about being pregnant? Tell me the truth, Ally. Was it all a lie? Were you even raped in California?”

Tears fell down her cheeks, but I wasn’t buying it. I couldn’t believe that she had done this to me.

“Jesse…”

“No, answer me. Was it all a lie?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

I turned and punched the wall, leaving a hole in the drywall. “Get the fuck out of my house. I can’t even stand to look at you.”

“Please, let me explain. I did it for you!”

“How the hell did you do this for me? You lied to me! You’ve been lying to me about everything since you came back into my life!”

“I knew Emma was looking for you! I knew she was planning to come here to look for you, so I left first. I wanted to find you before she did, so I could protect you from her. She’s a horrible person, Jesse! She doesn’t deserve you! She doesn’t love you like I do!”

“You don’t love me, Ally. With everything that you’ve done, I’d say you’re obsessed with me. This isn’t healthy, Ally. Think about it.”

“You’re wrong. I do love you. I’ve done all of this to protect you! I’ve loved you since we were kids. We’re meant to be together!”

“I can’t even stand to be in the same room as you. Why the hell would you think I love you? I told you from the beginning that I would help you, not that I loved you. I even sat down with you and explained how I felt.”

“I thought if I gave you time, then you might start to love me. I know you do even if you don’t realize it.”

“Ally, get out of my house, or I’ll call the police on you. I can’t believe that I let you live here. You nearly destroyed everything for me. I almost lost Emma again because of you!”

“You’ve already lost her. She’s with Andy now, and he told me that they’re going to get married soon,” she said triumphantly.

I laughed. That was all that I could do. If I hadn’t laughed, I might have strangled her. “Try again.”

“Why are you laughing? How could you think this is funny? You lost her, Jesse. She belongs to Andy now, and you can’t do anything about it.”

“You’re a lying bitch. I talked to Andy tonight. I know everything that you told me about them isn’t true.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You’re lying.”

“No, actually, I’m not. I had a nice conversation with Andy, and we managed to get a lot cleared up. I know why they’re here.”

“She slept with Andy! I saw it with my own eyes! I’m not lying about that.”

I shrugged, trying not to show how much that hurt. “I know.”

“And you don’t even care? You’re still going to take her back after she slept with your best friend?”

“We all make mistakes. You living in my house is proof of that. I can forgive Emma for what happened. But you? I will never forgive you for what you’ve done. I want your stuff packed, and I want you out of here in the next half hour. Once you’re gone, I never want to see you again. If you ever come near Emma or me again, you’ll regret it.”

“Please, Jesse, give me another chance. I swear, I won’t lie ever again. I just want to be with you.”

She threw her shirt to the ground and ran over to me. Before I could stop her, she was kissing me. I felt bile rise in my throat as I shoved her away.

“Stay. Away. From. Me.”

“Jesse, please!”

“Get the fuck out of my house!” I roared.

I’d had enough of Ally to last a lifetime. I turned and walked to my room. I made sure the door was locked behind me before I lay down on my bed.

I couldn’t believe that this Ally was the same girl who I’d grown up with. What kind of person lies about being raped and then about being pregnant? I didn’t know if she’d always been this way and I’d just missed it or if something had happened to her to make her change, but I didn’t care. I never wanted to see her again. There was something seriously wrong with her to have fabricated everything that she’d told me. If she thought that was what it took to make someone love her, she needed some serious mental help.

I remembered the hatred I’d seen in her eyes before, and I wondered just what she was capable of. I hoped that she packed her things and left not just my house but Morgantown as well. If she stuck around, I would have to make sure that Emma was around either Andy or me at all times. I didn’t want Emma to get hurt because of me. If she didn’t want anything to do with me, I would still make sure that she was safe. She just wouldn’t know that I was there. I knew my plans seemed like I was going to become a stalker, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to keep Emma safe.

Ally started beating on my door as she sobbed and apologized, but I didn’t care. She could beat on that door until she died as far as I was concerned. There was no way I was coming out of this room until she was gone.

Ally finally gave up after almost an hour. I could hear her sobbing in her room as she threw things around. I hoped that she was packing her shit. If she refused to leave, I would sneak out of my damn window if I had to.

Maybe if I called Andy, he could get her out of here.

“You’ll regret this, Jesse! I’ll make sure of it!” she screamed outside of my door, making me jump.

She hit my door one last time before I heard the front door slam shut, and then the house went silent. I refused to get up and check to see if she was really gone. There was no way that I would fall for any more of her tricks.

My eyes started to grow heavy after about an hour of waiting. Unable to fight sleep any longer, I closed them and drifted off. My last thought was of Emma’s expression when she slammed the door in my face. I had to get her back.

I opened my eyes to see that the sun was starting to rise. I sat up slowly, trying to remember why I was so pissed off. The night before came rushing back to me, and I jumped out of bed. I had to get to Emma and talk to her. I had to explain everything that had happened. I didn’t know if she would believe me when I told her about Ally, but I had to try.

I grabbed my keys and ran out of my house. I knew it was still early, but I hoped that Emma was awake. I doubted that she was though. She’d never been much of a morning person when we were together. I stopped to think as I sat down in my car. I glanced at the dash. It was barely past seven. Maybe I should give her some time to wake up, so she doesn’t bite my head off. I didn’t want to piss her off before I even got started.

I seriously doubted if Ally would go straight to Emma anyway. Ally probably knew that I would go to Emma as soon as I could. Besides, for all I knew, Ally might have left Morgantown already. She had to know that Andy would come after her once I told him what she had done to me.

I made a split-second decision and headed toward Andy’s apartment. He wasn’t much of a morning person either, but I didn’t care if I pissed him off. It wasn’t like I hadn’t dragged his ass out of bed at ass o’clock before to go surfing.

There wasn’t much traffic this early in the morning on a Saturday. Morgantown was a college town, and most of the students were either sleeping in or sleeping off their hangover from Friday night.

I made it to Andy’s within ten minutes, and I hurried inside. I had to beat on the door for a few minutes, but he finally answered.

“Do you have any idea what time it is? Some of us like to sleep, you know.”

“You can sleep later. We need to talk,” I said as I pushed through the door and walked to his couch to sit down.

“I think we did enough of that last night. I really don’t need anything else dumped on my lap at the moment,” Andy grumbled as he closed the door.

“Have you talked to Ally since I was here last night?”

“No, but Emma stopped over right after you left. Do you have any idea how hard it was to pretend like nothing had changed? She kept asking me what was wrong with me.”

“Why did she come over so late?” I couldn’t hide the jealousy from my voice. I hated the fact that Emma had gone to Andy when she needed someone to talk to. I hated that he was the one she leaned on now instead of me.

“She mainly wanted to talk about what an ass you are. I started to tell her the truth, but then I thought that you might want to be the one who told her what was going on.”