Chapter 36

I had to park three houses down from Elizabeth's house when I went to hang out with her before the game.

Typically, before big games like this I'll go out to the barn and get myself in the zone all alone.

But today, I was switching things up.

Elizabeth had asked if I wanted to chill before the game and how could I say no?

But there were three other cars besides her little silver thing in the driveway, an SUV, a black Jeep, and a little Chevy Cruze. There were three more cars along the road too around her house, all with New Jersey license plates.

How the hell did all of these people drive down here?

The door was open when I walked up to the front porch and I was beyond confused.

"Hey Charlie." Mrs. Von Batton smiled as I walked into the kitchen. Mr. Von Batton simply gave me a nod, briefly looking up from his laptop.

"Everyone's in the living room." Mrs. Von Batton said happily.

"Everyone?" I raised my eyebrows. "It looks like you're throwing a party here." I laughed.

"Didn't Elizabeth tell you? All of her friends came down for the weekend." She grinned.

"No, no I didn't know." I frowned, my stomach uneasy as I walked into the living room where there were five people sitting around talking loudly and drinking iced tea.

"Tommy, what's going on?" I frowned, standing behind him behind the couch.

"Charlie! Hey!" Tommy grinned, turning around to face me. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Yeah, back atchya." I replied, sticking my hands in the pockets of my sweatpants. "What's going on?"

"Massive chemical spill on the football field so we have another bye week." Tommy shrugged. "So we all came down for this game."

"Two bye weeks in a row in the middle of play offs?" I raised my eyebrows. "The fuck?"

"I dunno, man." Tommy shrugged.

"Where's uh, where's Elizabeth?" I frowned, glancing around the room.

There were two of the guys that had come down with Tommy the first time and two of the girls that were here for Elizabeth, but there was no way I could remember their names.

"Upstairs probably. Just warning you though, she's..."

I didn't even hear what Tommy said as I jogged up the stairs towards my girlfriend.

Why didn't she tell me people were coming over?

I stopped dead when I got to the top of the stairs, articles of clothing on the floor catching my eye.

I would recognize that bra anywhere.

I froze, my stomach twisting as I took a shaky breath.

What the fuck was going on?

There was a white t-shirt on the floor next to it and I felt my heart start pounding in my chest.

I had a bad feeling and this was no way to feel before the second biggest game of the season.

As I stepped closer to Elizabeth's room, I heard laughter and the unmistakable sounds of two people getting some and my stomach fell to the floor.

I ran my hands through my hair as I felt my eyes start to burn, unable to properly prepare myself for what was happening behind that door.

How could she do this to me?

Why would she invite me over and then go and fuck someone else?

Who even was it?

Was it Brian fucking James?

Was it-

The door behind me opened and somebody stepped out.

I spun around, still breathing heavily, and stopped dead when I saw Elizabeth walking out of the master bedroom wearing sweatpants and a tank top.

"Oh hey." She grinned, holding a can of soda in one hand and her phone in the other. "I didn't know you were here."

"What the fuck?" I whispered, glancing back towards her door.

I looked at Elizabeth again, my brain completely shutting down and unable to comprehend the situation I was placed in.

"Are you okay? Are you crying?" Elizabeth frowned, stepping towards me. "Charlie, what's going on?"

"I didn't... I thought... Your bra... The sex... You're not..." I couldn't form words, my heart still pounding in my chest as my lungs weren't able to properly breathe.

"Okay, okay let's take a breath." Elizabeth said softly, pulling me into her parents room. "Honey, sit down."

I let her set me down at the end of her parents bed and was still too out of sorts to even care about the fact that a literal tear rolled down my cheek.

"Babe?" Elizabeth whispered, setting her stuff down before walking back to me.

"Your bra is on the floor in the hallway and there are two people fucking in your room." I whispered. "I thought you were in there..."

"Oh..." Elizabeth sighed, putting her hands on the sides of my face. "Oh babe... That's Kelly and Matty. They just started dating and haven't been able to keep their hands off of each other. I made them promise to stay the hell away from my bed but oy..."

I shook my head, wiping my cheeks as I took a deep breath.

"What the fuck is happening to me." I whispered, looking at the water on my hands. "I don't cry."

"Apparently you do, babe." Elizabeth said softly, sitting down on one of my legs. "Take a deep breath, I'm not cheating on you."

"I just thought... Jesus." I shook my head, resting my head against her shoulder. "What the fuck are you doing to me?"

"Nothing, babe, this is all you." Elizabeth laughed.

"I don't need this kind of emotional stress before a game. Not this game, at least." I mumbled, wrapping my arms around her waist.

Elizabeth sighed, pressing her lips to the top of my head.

She stayed quiet, rubbing her hand up and down my back as my breathing returned to normal.

"Please, never cheat on me." I whispered, closing my eyes.

"Never." Elizabeth confirmed, shaking her head. "I'd never, ever."

I took a deep breath, my lungs still shaking.

This was a feeling I wasn't used to.

Elizabeth let out a sigh, pulling my head up so I could look at her.

"I don't know what is happening to me." I shook my head. "This... This isn't me. I don't think I have cried since I was like twelve."

Elizabeth softly pressed her lips to mine, letting out a laugh.

"Welcome to the world of feelings." Elizabeth whispered. "Now come on, let's go kick those idiots out of my room, I want to snuggle with my boyfriend."

"Look, I'm sorry but I don't think I can get anything up right now, I can give you a-"

"Completely PG snuggling." Elizabeth corrected, standing up off of my lap. "Come on."

I took a deep breath as I let her lead me out of the room.

My heart was still pounding and my limbs felt weird...

~*~*~

"What the hell is going on?" I whispered to Elizabeth, feeling like that's all I seemed to be saying today.

"Dude, I don't know, they fucking hated each other until like a month ago." Elizabeth whispered back, grimacing as she watched her best friend suck faces with the guy.

"It's disgusting." Tommy agreed, leaning towards us. "I've never been more uncomfortable around Matty."

I sighed, pulling Elizabeth closer to me.

"Do you want to go to the barn?" I whispered, pressing my lips to her neck.

Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat and she let out a laugh.

"I have people in my house, I can't leave." Elizabeth shook her head.

"Your brother is here, they're his friends anyways." I replied softly, rubbing my hand up her thigh.

Elizabeth laughed again, resting her hand on top of mine.

"Remember what I said about testosterone levels running high after a game?"

"We're going to state championships, baby." I whispered. "I'm riding on a high and God dammit I need to let off some steam soon."

Elizabeth laughed, softly rolling her hips as she gave me a look.

"Come on, baby." I whispered, letting my breath rush over her neck. "You know you want it... The feel of my-"

"Alright! Tommy, make sure nobody gets into trouble here. I'm going out with Charlie." Elizabeth said suddenly, standing up from my lap.

"What? It's the middle of the night. You're not going anywhere." Tommy frowned.

"Damn right, I am." Elizabeth snapped. "Goodbye."

"Elizabeth's gonna go have-"

"Enough." Tommy threw an empty water bottle at the guy, shooting daggers with his eyes.

Elizabeth pulled me out of the house before anybody else could say anything and was all over me before we got down the street to the truck.

"Fuck." Elizabeth whispered, twisting her hands in the fabric of my shirt.

I laughed, grabbing at her hips as I pressed her up against the truck.

"Fucking hell, I need you." I breathed, sloppily kissing her lips as I lifted her legs up around my waist. "You killed it tonight, holy shit. That one field goal where you..."

I trailed off as Elizabeth started laughing, leaning away from me.

"What?" I whispered, unable to stop the smile that spread on my face.

"You can tell you're from Texas when your attempts at talking dirty is about football." Elizabeth snorted, shaking her head.

"Oh shut up and get in the truck." I laughed, my cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

-----------

This chapter gave me so much anxiety while I was writing it.

Did you have faith in Elizabeth or did you think she was cheating??

- E xx