The Promise (30 page)

“What’s wrong with me, Sophie? What the fuck is wrong with you? I come in here to find the woman I
’m so fucking in love with all over her ex and you’re seriously asking me what the fuck is wrong with me?”

I can’t breathe. I can’t believe this is h
appening right now. After spending a whole year keeping all of my anger inside, and months of not telling Chase anything about what happened to Jack, I can do nothing but finally snap.  

“This isn’t Jack!” I scream
at him from Matt’s side, standing straighter now so I can meet his infuriated gaze with one of my own. “Jack is dead, Chase! He’s fucking dead! Are you happy now?” Matt, Ana and Drake are all still standing around us and the patrons are staring, but I don’t care. I can’t believe this is happening like this. I feel the tears brimming but I don’t even try to stop them. Chase takes a step towards me, making me put my hand up. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

“I didn’t
…” He hesitates for a moment but because I’m so livid, I don’t give him a chance to finish what he’s trying to say.

“What, Chase? You didn’t what? You didn’t know he was dead? You didn’t know that Matt was his best friend? You’re right, Chase, you didn’t know and maybe that’s my fault but the only thing I ever asked from you was to trust me and you couldn’t fucking do that,
could you?” I snap out, seeing as he flinches at my words. I’m sobbing harder now but I don’t care who sees me. “Matt. Take me home, please.”

“Sophie, wait, please
…” Chase pleads with his hands in front of him. It’s as though he’s almost begging

“No, Chase. I don’t want to talk to you right now,” I
answer as I grab my purse.

“Baby
…” Chase chokes out as he grabs a hold of my arm.

“Chase, I can’t do this. I
can’t do this with you right now …” I manage through my tears. “Please, just let me go.”

H
is tear rimmed eyes are filled with regret. “Sophie, I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough, Chase,” I
answer, tugging my arm out from his hold. “You know, I understand that I kept you in the dark about a few things, but I have never
ever
lied to you. I’ve never given you any reason for you to think that I’d hurt you in the ways you just accused me of.
Never
,” I whisper up at him as fresh tears begin to fall from my eyes.

I swipe them
away from my face angrily as I look away for a brief moment, before meeting his anguished gaze again. “I have to go, Chase,” I whisper, glancing down at the hand he still has on my arm as I pull gently away. “Please let me go.” I plead. He releases me before Matt leads me outside and over to his car. Behind me, I hear Drake telling Chase to stay where he was and since he doesn’t come after me, I guess he listened to him.

The whole
drive over to the apartment, I literally sob my eyes out. Luckily, Matt has already entered our address into the GPS system, which I’m highly thankful for because I’m feeling far too useless to help him with anything right now.

As we walk
into the apartment, I fall apart again as I think about everything that just happened back there. Matt pulls me into his arms and holds me as we sit on the couch while I cry some more. I don’t know how much time passes by but eventually I manage to stop, with Matt still holding me in his arms.

This
is exactly what had happened when Jack had died and one of the main reasons Matt and I are so close now. He and Ana are the only reason I survived Jack’s death. Matt and I had spent more than one night with me crying in his arms while he gently consoled me.

“Shh, it’s okay,
Honey,” he whispers while rubbing my back. “Get it all out.”

“God, Matt
… Why couldn’t I have just fallen in love with you?” I halfheartedly laugh and receive a soft smile from him in return.

“Just wasn’t meant to be, Soph,” he
answers. “Besides, Jack would’ve kicked my ass.” He laughs and then after a second, so do I. We sit here for a minute quietly and he pulls me back into his warm, hard chest. “Do you love him?” Matt asks me.

“Yeah, I do,” I
answer him. I’m surprised at how easy it actually is to say those words out loud.

“Does he treat you right?”
he asks, and I nod without any hesitation whatsoever.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to talk to him?”

“Eventually
… Just not right now,” I answer truthfully and watch as Matt sits back while studying me.

“You wanna get out of here?” he asks
as he raises his eyebrows at me. I nod a yes in reply. “Okay, go grab your stuff and we’ll go.”

I throw a few things in a bag
, enough that’ll last me until I need to come home and then grab my phone and text Ana, to let her know I’m leaving now before climbing into Matt’s car.

“Where do you wanna go, Babe?” Matt asks
, and for a moment, I sit here with absolutely no idea. I glance over at him as he waits patiently for me to answer him, placing his hand on me leg as he whispers, “Anywhere you want, Soph. Just tell me and I’ll take you there.”

There
is only one place that I want to be at right now and we both know it. He’s just nice enough to give me the chance to say it on my own.

“I want you to take me home, Matt. Please
, just take me back to Jack,” I whisper. He nods before putting the car into gear … and then we’re gone.

Chase

Why won’t she answer me?

I’ve been texting her for the past hour to tell her that I’m on my way over, but not once has she replied.

This isn’t like her at all. I pull into the parking lot of the bar, parking as close to her truck as I possibly can before stepping out into the rain.

“I’ll see you in there man. I gotta take this call, it’s one of the vendors,” Drake says as his phone grabs his attention. Walking around the side of the bar and looking up at the sky, I notice that the weather doesn’t look as though it will clear up anytime soon. I wonder if I’ll maybe be able to spend the day with Sophie tomorrow after all.

I walk into the bar and look around for Sophie. When I see her, my heart drops down to the ground. She’s here as usual but seeing her with her arms and legs wrapped around some guy by the bar while smiling widely at him is making me want to vomit. I walk closer, stopping when I hear and see the way he’s speaking to her. This isn’t just some guy she knows. This guy loves her. I can tell from his mannerisms that he wants her.

“
Forget about me, Soph! Look at you! Man, you look amazing! Sexy as ever!” His eyes scour over her body and he winks, making her cheeks redden. He’s still touching her and she isn’t stopping him. “I missed you so fucking much, Babe!” He pulls her into him and gives her a lingering kiss on her cheek,

What the fuck?

“I missed you, too! I’m so glad you’re here!” She says beaming him. I can’t believe this was happening right now.
Not Sophie
. God I feel like I’m going to be sick. I don’t know how I’m even watching this because all I’m seeing was red. I clear my throat and stand there staring at them both.

“Sophie?”
I sound as bad as I feel.

“Hey
, Baby,” Sophie looks up at me and I flinch at the endearment.

“Who’s your friend?” Douche B
ag asks her.

“This is Chase, my
…“ I can’t do this shit.

“I’m her boyfriend,
” I ground out. Man, I want to hit this guy.

“You have a boyfriend?” He looks at her confused.

She hasn’t even mentioned me? That fucking hurts.

“Yeah, remember I told you I was seeing someone,” she sa
ys and slowly begins to pull away from him as her eyes meet mine. She can tell I’m pissed. I wonder if she can also tell how much this hurts.

“Yeah, she has a boyfriend so why don’t you back off?” I snap at h
im. I haven’t been this mad in awhile. Maybe ever.

“Chase, calm down,” she says
and I glare at her. 

“Don’t Sophie,”
I warn. “Don’t tell me to calm down when I walk in here to find some douche bag all over you.”

“He’s not
a douche bag, Baby. He’s …” she starts.

“Hey man, you don’t need to talk t
o her like that,” Douche Bag says, squaring his shoulders, still standing way too close to my girl. I probably could have held off a little while longer if he hadn’t moved to pull her away from me.

“
Get your hands off of her,” I hiss. “Didn’t I just tell you to back off?” This guy’s about to get his ass kicked.

“I don’t give a shit what you said. I’m not leaving,” he yell
s back at me. He’s getting pissed now too. Good.

“Guys, stop, please!
” Sophie tries to raise her voice over ours but I don’t care. I’m not stopping. Not this time. Something clicks in my brain and I know who this is. This guy looks like the one in the picture I saw in her room that morning. Her ex. He came back for her after all this time? It doesn’t look like Sophie’s fighting it, either. She promised she wasn’t getting back with him but from the looks of it, that’s exactly what’s happening. 

“I fucking knew it,” I say to myself. My heart’
s breaking, “Sophie, you promised,” I say, wishing my voice hadn’t just cracked. With the way I’m feeling though, I’m doing good to not break down in hysterics in front of the entire bar.

S
taring down at Sophie, the girl I love with everything inside me, I can tell she sees the pain there. I never knew I could hurt like this but as bad as this hurts, the thought of not having her is killing me. Hell no. I’m not giving her up, not without a fight. I love her too much. I move my now livid gaze back to Douche Bag. “You know what motherfucker? You had your chance with her and you fucked it up so I suggest you get the fuck out of here!” I growl at him.

“Guys, chill out!” Ana yell
s.

“Chase, he’s just my friend
!” Sophie says.

Friend my ass
.

“Dude, what the fuck are you talking about? I had my chance with her?” He look
s confused but I’m not falling for that shit. I know this has to be him. This has to be Jack.

“Cha
se, come on man, just calm down,” Drake had come in and is trying to push his way between us. He looks at Sophie for a second and then back at me but I shake him off.

“What the fuck, Sophie?”I sa
y finding her eyes again. God I love her so much, how is this happening? “You said you weren’t going back to him. I think we both knew that was bullshit. I just didn’t want to admit it, but you should’ve been honest with me.” The look that crosses her face tells me she finally understands. “All I ever asked from you was your honesty. You couldn’t give that to me before so at least be decent enough to give it to me now, Sophie. Just … tell me don’t you want me.” I can’t stop my voice from wavering. The idea of watching her leave me for another man is pure agony to my soul. I take a deep breath before finding her eyes again. “Say it,” I whisper knowing I can’t manage anything more right now. I’ve never known hurt like this. “Just … just tell me you’ve made your choice and that you’re going back to Jack.”

She sa
ys nothing. My heart feels like it was about to implode and she’s just staring at me. What the hell?

“What?” I hear Ana say at the same time Matt and Drake
both said it. Sophie still won’t answer me. I deserve the truth and I won’t leave until she gives it to me. If she wants to go back to the guy who broke her heart so badly, then that’s her decision. Before I could walk away though, I have to hear her say that what we have means nothing to her.

“Damn
it Sophie! Just say it! Be honest. Tell me I don’t mean shit to you!” I see her features fall, but she still says nothing. “Tell me after everything that’s happened between us you still want Jack,” I point at him accusingly. “Come on Sophie! You obviously love this guy so fucking much that it should be easy for you to admit it to me! Just say it!” I choke out. She starts to shake her head but his voice distracts me.

“Sophie you didn’t tell him?” Douche Bag ask
s her and that’s when I know that he didn’t just show up, she’d known all along he was coming chose not to tell me. I can’t stop myself this time. I punch him square in the jaw. Fuck him.

“Chase
! What is wrong with you?” She screams back at me as she jumps off of her stool and ran over to Douche Bag.

Now she wants to talk?
I lose it.

“What’s wrong with
me
, Sophie? What the fuck is wrong with
you
? I come in here to find the woman I’m so fucking in love with all over her ex and you’re seriously asking me what the fuck is wrong with
me
?”

I realize too late that I’ve finally told her I love her in the middle of a bar while I’m screaming at her over this guy but I can’t help it. She looks like the wind has been knocked out of her and as much as I want to go to her, to comfort her, I’m heartbroken. The shit I felt with Lauren before? That wa
s
nothing
compared to this. I’d take death over this any day.

“This isn’t Jack
!” Sophie screams, fury in her eyes, as she stands to meet my gaze. “Jack is dead, Chase! He’s fucking
dead
! Are you happy now?”

What? Oh no, please don’t tell me
.

I look up at her and I see the tears pooling into her eyes and I realize that it’s true. This isn’t Jack. She wasn’t lying and everything starts clicking. The nightmares, the way she’s traumatized about
certain things, the hesitation. It all starts to fall into place and I’m the biggest asshole in the world right now.

Oh my G
od, what have I just done to her?

I try to step towards her to touch her arm, to tell her I’m sorry, but she stops me, flinching at my touch.
“Don’t fucking touch me!”

“
I didn’t…“ I start but she cuts me off and I don’t blame her.

“What Chase? You didn’t what? You didn’t know he was dead?
You didn’t know that Matt was his best friend? You’re right, Chase! You didn’t know and maybe that’s my fault but the only thing I ever asked from you was to trust me and you couldn’t fucking do that, could you?” I flinch at her honest words. She’s sobbing now and I hate myself for knowing I’m the cause of it. “Matt, take me home, please.”

“Sophie, wait, please
…?” I beg.

“No Chase. I don’t want to talk to you right now,” she sa
ys and grabs her bag before turning away from me. I can’t let her leave like this.

“Baby
…” I whisper to her and put my hand on her arm to get her to look at me.

“Chase, I can’t do this.
I can’t do this with you right now …” she’s still sobbing and barely even able to look at me. “Please. Let me go.”

I can’t believe I’ve done
this to her. Just knowing I caused this makes me hate myself. “Sophie, I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough, Chase,” s
he shakes her head at me and pulls away from me again. “You know, I understand that I kept you in the dark about a few things, but I have never
ever
lied to you. I’ve never given you a reason to think I’d hurt you in the ways you just accused me of.
Never
,” she whispers up at me, furiously wiping the tears I’d caused from her face.

She look
s away from me for a second before she finally faces me again and the look of sadness in her eyes kills me. Knowing I‘m the one who put it there is unbearable torture and I deserve every bit of it. “I have to go, Chase,” she whispers and looks back down at my hand and at me again. “Please let me go,” her eyes plead and against everything I want, I let go of her arm and watch her walk out of the bar with him. I start after her and Drake grabs me, causing me to look over at him.

“Don’t man
. Let her go. Give her some space. I think you could both use some,” Drake says, his words causing for me to deflate. I know that he’s right, but fuck I don’t want her to leave like this.

“I can’t
—”

“You have to
, Dude. You’ve just majorly fucked up and she’s obviously pissed and hurting right now. No good will come of you following her. Sit your ass down, drink a beer with me and just chill the fuck out. If she wants to talk to you then she will,” he insists as we walk over to the bar. As I get there, Ana throws me a glare as she places a beer down on the bar.

“That was
such
a dick move, Chase,” she accuses, shaking her head with disappointment. I say nothing. I know not to because I can tell that she’s not done with me yet. “If I didn’t know how much you love her, I’d be inclined to shove this bottle right up your ass! You got that?” she asks. I nod, knowing she’s right as she hands the glass to me before pouring herself a shot.

“I didn’t know, Ana, I swear it,” I say
, my voice sounding broken as I put my head in my hands. Throwing down her shot, she practically slams the glass down on the bar.

“I know
you didn’t. Believe me, the dumb look that appeared over your face when she told you proved that,” she answers, pouring another drink, with her eyes fully focused on the bottle in her hand. “I’ve been asking her to tell you for weeks now. She wanted to but she was scared, Chase.”

“You knew?” I ask
. The look that’s washing over her face is one that I don’t think I ever want to see again.

“Of course I knew, Chase. She’s practically my sister and Jack was my brother,” she stares into my eyes and
throws back her second shot before walking over to the sink. Holy shit. I don’t think I could’ve fucked up any worse if I’d have done it on purpose.

“Ana, I’m so sorry
… I didn’t …” I start.

“You didn’t know
, Chase, I know that. I told her to tell you but she was afraid that once she’d put everything out on the table that she’d get hurt again. Sophie’s been through enough shit already. She didn’t want to open up to anyone else again after what happened, and to be honest, I don’t really blame her,” Drake reaches across the bar and takes a hold of her hand.

“I can’t believe I just fucked everything up with her,” I mumble into my beer.

“Oh shut up! You didn’t fuck everything up with her, you idiot! She’ll call you when she’s ready,” Ana says while rolling her eyes dramatically.