Bulletproof Love

I sank down as deep as I possibly could into the bathtub, without replacing my air supply with bathwater. An unsettling calm had washed over the last night, in the seconds following my rendezvous with Jaime, and it stayed there. None of this was running through my mind at the moment, but I had no idea where Tony was, and with Drew not knowing I was still in the house – she’d passed out before I’d even seen Jaime at the party – I had no alibi to explain myself when I did see him. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was completely and utterly fucked.

A soft knock at the closed bathroom door failed to interrupt my empty thoughts. The door opened before I could say anything. His feet made no sounds as he walked through the space, and eventually sat down on the closed toilet seat. “Dee?” he asked, after a few seconds of silence. He’d gotten my attention, but I was staring so intently at the silver faucet hovering just over my feet that I couldn’t look at him. I envied the way it could just sit there, dripping with water and moisture in the upmost absentminded fashion. “Are you okay?” Jaime’s words again drew my focus away from the faucet.

Using my big toe, I felt near the drain for the water stopper, and, finding it, I pulled it out of the drain and listened to the sound of the water running out for a moment before I reached for the towel lying on the floor next to me. I held it up while I stood up and wrapped it around my body before sitting on the edge of the tub. “What am I doing here? I need to go home…” I said more to myself than to Jaime.

“Dee, what if the others see you?”

I picked up my phone that was on the floor next to the bathtub, underneath my clothes from last night that had been previously strewn all over Jaime’s bedroom. It was only ten, so I doubted my hung-over friends were awake.

“Go downstairs and then send me a text telling me if anyone’s up or not. I’ll be getting dressed in the meanwhile.”

“And what if people are awake?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Jaime looked at me and gave me a frustrated sigh, then stood up and left the room without any further words.

Once he’d left, I quickly dried off my body and went to slip on my leggings from the night before, skipping the underwear. Then I put on my bra and my white button-up shirt, which was by now slightly wrinkled. Just as I was buttoning the top button, my phone chimed with the notification of a text from Jaime. The coast is clear, it read. I read the text on my lock screen, without having to unlock my phone, and I realized that there were no notifications from Tony. I sighed, and wondered if he knew where I’d been last night. I quickly untangled my hair, then put all my accessories that I didn’t feel like putting back on in my purse.

I opened the door to Jaime’s room and poked my head out into the hallway, just to make sure no one was up and wandering. All that could be heard were the light snores and heavy breathing of the other people in the house. Once I was satisfied, I walked down the hall, then down the stairs, and waited until I was at the front door to put my boots on. Jaime walked up to me with my keys in his hands.

“Listen, Dylan. About last night…”

“Jaime,” I said quickly to shut him up. “Let’s not talk about it right now. I don’t even know where Tony – my boyfriend – is, okay? I’ll talk to you later.” I noticed the disappointed gaze in his eyes when I turned towards the door, but I tried my best to ignore it.

I walked as slowly as I possibly could to my car. I felt physically and emotionally drained, and the worst of the situation hadn’t even occurred yet.

I just hoped Tony would still love me after this.

Notes

I know this is short, but it's not supposed to be the length of a normal chapter

the sequel is up!!! Go to my page to check it out.