I had stopped by Elaine's house before heading back to Jannie's, wanting to catch up with her while I washed her hair under the kitchen sink. I hadn't spent as much time with Elaine as I usually did, which I found every opportunity to apologize for. Elaine kept saying that it was fine, she understood that I was young and in love, but I could tell she had been missing me. She went on to tell me that she had dinner with Gordon Zachariah, the man from our dance class that more than likely had two left feet, and how he was an absolute ass the entire evening, until suddenly it was as though something came over him and caused an entire shift in his personality. His dancing wasn't the best, Elaine still had to correct it, but there was something very endearing about the way he asked her to dance in the middle of the sidewalk with no music playing whatsoever. She smiled and said it was the first time she felt anything romantic since Larry passed away.
I loved seeing the glow on Elaine's face, the way her eyes pinched slightly at the corners as her mouth widened into a cheeky smile while a slight redness erupted from her skin. If I wasn't mistaken, I could have sworn Elaine was like a school girl with a budding crush on dearest Gordon, but it was always hard to tell with Elaine. She loved men and she loved to flirt, so I didn't know if this was just another one of her crushes that would never amount to anything – which happened quite frequently. I didn't try to push her too much about Gordon in fear of her getting too nervous about her feelings only to pull away from him like she did with everyone else. She went on to talk about dance class and how there was going to be a big announcement tomorrow evening after class, so both John and I had to be there whether we liked it or not. We hadn't planned on missing the class, but I could tell that Elaine was getting worried that we may be too busy to make time for her. I did everything in my power to convince her otherwise.
After I dried and styled Elaine's hair, I headed back to Jannie's to rest after a long day of work. There had been more deliveries than usual today, and the amount of food being bought made it difficult for me to get in and out of the customer's houses without making multiple trips. My arms were sore from carrying so much, taking time to relax on Jannie's couch before everyone arrived home. Jannie had been out all day with Freddy because he was going to have to head back to the university to begin teaching his summer classes, which left me with the peace and quiet before the house filled up with her family again. This was one of the things that I missed about being in my own house – the quiet. But it wouldn't be long and Fletcher would have our house back to the way it was before, if not even better.
I rested on the couch, feeling myself slip into a resting state that wasn't quite deep enough to be considered sleeping and still not fully awake either. I heard a noise in the distance but my mind didn't register it until I heard someone calling out my name, snapping awake as I lifted my head from the pillow to listen that I had heard what I had correctly. When my name was called out again, I hopped up from the couch and cautiously approached the front door, looking through the side window to see none other than Atheson standing on the porch as he leaned against the door, consistently knocking on it. What on earth did he want?
I pried the door open which caused Atheson to stumble slightly inside, wreaking of vomit and alcohol. I could see some traces of vomit on his shirt, immediately disgusted as I stepped away from him. He tried to straighten himself out, but he was having trouble standing as he leaned against the frame of the door and let out a giggle before smiling crookedly at me.
"Ellie, I came here as fast as I could," Atheson said, almost winded as he spoke, trying to steady himself on the door frame. "I couldn't wait any longer, I just knew it was time."
"You smell like puke, Atheson," I mumbled, scrunching my face up as I took another step away from him.
He shrugged it off, allowing himself inside as he looked around. "Vomit happened, I'm over it now – feeling much better. But, Ellie, I have to talk to you, it can't wait any longer."
"I'd rather we waited until you sobered up," I replied, folding my arms over my chest. "I don't think there's anything so important that can't wait until you're of sound mind."
"See, this is why I'm here – you're so, so smart," Atheson said as he stepped past me, bumping into the table near the door before stumbling over to the stair case, holding himself up as he turned around to me and waved his hands at me. "You just have it all, Ellie, you're so together all the time. You're always together when I'm not, it's like old times," He paused to laugh at himself. "We had some pretty good times, didn't we? Ah, god, they were so good. We were a power couple, like Brad and Angelina, y'know?"
"Until his alcoholism and abuse broke up their family, but okay," I replied, shaking my head at the giggle that escaped from my mouth.
His wrist was weak as he waved away the thought. "Oh come on, they were good before that – just like we were."
I watched as he picked up a photo of Jannie and her family, eyeing it for a moment before bringing his attention back to me. I sighed, waiting for him to continue but in turn he stared at me as though he was lost in some other thought. "Did you come here to talk to me about our relationship? Because I thought you said all you can say about it?" I asked.
He stepped towards me, but I stepped back from him without realizing it. This looked like it hurt him. "I thought I did, Ellie, but I just had the most amazing conversation with Fletcher and I think I know why I screwed up so bad. I'm a man, men like pretty things, Hadley was a pretty thing, but I wasn't thinking with my big guy – no, I was thinking with the little one, but he's not really that little – I don't need to tell you that," He said, laughing at himself as he stumbled over his words. "But I messed up because I saw something I thought was better, when I had the best in front of me all along – and I'm willing to wait as long as it takes to make you love me again."
I raised my eyebrows at him, unable to stop myself from scoffing. "Make me love you again, Atheson?"
He swatted away the idea, rolling his eyes. "You know what I mean – wait for you to forgive me so we can go back to the way we were."
I thought through everything he had said to me, watching as he shot me the weakest smile he could manage. There was nothing about Atheson that had changed, he was still the same drunk with far too much of an ego to see what he had done wrong. Did he think that I had been the problem when in reality it was him who had cheated on me? I shook my head once, opening the door and holding it open. "I don't know what you're trying to say, and I don't think I care much to hear any more of it. You should go."
Atheson broke the distance between us, trying to put his hands on me but I snaked away from him, backing myself into the corner as he stared at me as though I had broken his heart. He sighed, biting his bottom lip as he looked timidly at me. "You'll forgive me, though, because you're my Ellie – right?"
I shook my head. "I'm not yours, Atheson."
He grabbed a hold of the bannister to the stairs and shook it violently before returning his attention to me. "Did I do something wrong?"
I couldn't help but laugh, shaking my head as I pointed towards the door. "The very fact that you have to ask me that is exactly why you need to leave."
"Tell me what I did wrong!" He yelled, causing me to press my back up against the wall in fear.
"You want the truth, Atheson? How about the fact that not once can you take responsibility for your actions – it was your little guy thinking? What does that even mean? The very fact that you think it's okay to say cheating is fine because you're a man is a joke in itself, your manhood has nothing to do with your actions. I don't do things just because I'm a woman, I do them because I know what's right and wrong – just like you do," I snapped, watching him shrink away momentarily. "You were the one who broke my heart by cheating on me with Hadley, not the other way around. I don't know what Fletcher said to you, but he was wrong. I'm not going to love you again and I'm not sure I'll ever forgive you. Coming here today in a drunken state was your first mistake, telling me that you'll make me love you again was your second."
In a split second, Atheson broke the distance between us and pushed his lips against mine, trying to stop me from speaking. I threw my hands up in defence, doing my best to shove him off of me but he was pushing all of his weight on me. I turned my head to the side, gasping for air as he continued to smother the side of my face in sloppy kisses. He wreaked of vomit, his shirt still slightly damp, and I felt practically drunk from his mouth being on mine – and not in a good way either. I yelled for him to stop and get off of me, but he seemed persistent that trying to kiss me would change my mind. Finally I lifted my knee up and landed it straight into his manhood, causing him to topple over as he grabbed between his legs and let out a groan of pain. Just as I went to jump over him, I heard footsteps on the porch until someone walked into the house and right into me. I looked up to see the confused face of John, looking from me to Atheson in a few seconds. As soon as he deducted what had gone on, he gently set me aside so that he could grab Atheson by the back of his shirt, pulling him up from the ground before shoving him out of the door. Atheson tumbled onto the porch, screaming apologies as he tried to get to his feet, but John simply grabbed him once and held him in place.
"What the hell were you just doing to my girlfriend that she needed to kick you in the balls?" John growled, watching as Atheson squirmed in his grasp.
"It's all a misunderstanding, man, I swear to god!" Atheson sounded more lucid now than he did five minutes ago, fear rippling through his eyes. "She was acting like she wanted me to kiss her!"
John laughed so loud that I felt like laughing, too, watching as John pushed him off of the front porch until Atheson landed on the grass below, scrambling to get to his feet. "You're a disgusting human being, Atheson, and you bet your ass I'm letting my cousin know what you were up to."
Atheson stopped moving, his eyes wide as soon as he realized what he had done. "Man, there's no need to bring Hads into this. I just wanted to apologize to Ellion, I swear on my life."
"That's not what you just tried to convey to me," I replied, stepping beside John as we watched Atheson try to brush the grass clippings off of his pants.
"You projected your feelings onto me!" Atheson yelled.
"Is that why you came to my friend's house drunk in the middle of the afternoon?" I replied, watching as he cowered a little. "Go home, Atheson."
Atheson whispered something under his breath, spitting in the direction of John but it only went so far until it missed entirely. Atheson cursed out John a bit as he walked away, saying that he better not tell Hadley about anything that happened. John and I weren't in the least bit concerned after Atheson was out of our line of sight, instead John focused his attention on me. He brought his thumb up to gently smudge my lips as though Atheson had left saliva all over my mouth, anger rippling through his face as he looked over his shoulder once more to make sure that Atheson was gone.
"Are you okay? Did he hurt you at all?" John questioned, checking me over to make sure that everything was where it was supposed to be.
"He kissed me and threw himself up against me," I said, using my sleeve to wipe my lips before making a disgusted face. "Pretty sure he vomited not too long ago."
"Should we call the police?"
I shook my head. "No, not this time. As much of an idiot as he is, I think his pride is hurt enough for one day."
"What if he tries this shtick on someone else?"
"He won't, he was just taking his guilt out on me," I replied as John pulled me in to hug me. I pulled away, feeling guilty that another man had kissed me especially since John just referred to me as his girlfriend. "You know I didn't let him kiss me, right? I would never willingly let anyone kiss me or anything else so long as I'm with you."
John looked shocked, shaking his head. "You don't need to explain yourself, Ellion, you didn't do anything wrong. He was the one in the wrong here."
"I just don't want you to get the wrong idea," I explained.
"I'm not that type of guy, Ellion. If a man throws himself on you, I'm not going to blame you – I'm going to blame him. He's the one who is in the wrong here, you're not."
I had never had someone in my life who was so trusting, it was hard to get used to. I wanted to kiss him right then and there, but felt as though I had to disinfect my mouth before I did anything of the sort. After I had cleaned myself up, John asked if I wanted to go for a country-side drive while the sun set.