15-05-2021-052358It-Ends-with-Us

I follow Ryle outside and he’s walking toward the parking lot. I run
to catch up to him and he just stops and punches at the air.
“I didn’t bring my fucking car!” he yells, frustrated.
I pull my keys out of my purse and he walks up to me and snatches
them from my hand. Again, I follow him, this time to my car.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if he even wants to speak to
me right now. He just saw me locked in a bathroom with a guy I used
to be in love with. Then, out of nowhere, that guy attacks him.
God, this is so bad.
When we reach my car, he heads straight for the driver’s side door.
He points to the passenger side and says, “Get in, Lily.”
He doesn’t speak to me the entire time we’re driving. I say his
name once, but he just shakes his head like he’s not ready to hear my
explanation yet. When we pull into my parking garage, he gets out of
the car as soon as he turns it off, like he can’t get away from me fast
enough.
He’s pacing the length of the car when I get out. “It wasn’t what it
looked like, Ryle. I swear.”
He stops pacing, and when he looks at me, my heart doubles over.
There’s so much pain in his eyes right now, and it’s not even
necessary. It was all due to a stupid misunderstanding.
“I didn’t want this, Lily,” he says. “I didn’t want a relationship! I
didn’t want this stress in my life!”
As much as he’s hurting because of what he thinks he saw, his
words still piss me off. “Well, then leave!”
“What?”
I throw my hands up. “I don’t want to be your burden, Ryle! I’m so
sorry my presence in your life is so unbearable!”
He takes a step forward. “Lily, that’s not at all what I’m saying.” He
throws his hands up in frustration and then walks past me. He leans
against my car and folds his arms over his chest. There’s a long stretch
of silence while I wait for what he has to say. His head is down, but he
lifts it slightly, looking up at me.
“Naked truths, Lily. That’s all I want from you right now. Can you
please give me that?”
I nod.
“Did you know he worked there?”