Liv's POV

"For God's sake! Caleb!" I call out annoyed and roll my eyes.

"What? Did I burst into your welcome home-lovemaking?" Caleb lets out a guffaw before his eyes wander down to my bare legs.

Damn! I quickly slipped into Zach's t-shirt and my panties before I opened the door. If I had known that it was Caleb, I would've put on my pants as well.

After finishing checking me out, Caleb gives me an amused wink and walks past me into our apartment.

"Hey," I call after him putting my hands on my hips. "I didn't invite you in!"

"There he is, the man of the hour." Caleb ignores my objection and heads straight towards Zach who just put on his boxers. "Are you done with your romantic shit?"

Zach rolls his eyes and searches for his t-shirt. I shoot him an apologetical smile as he looks up and spots me wearing it. With a careless shrug, he heads for the bedroom without taking notice of Caleb.

"Shorty, we seriously need to talk," Caleb follows Zach and I do the same. "Why did you ignore my calls the past days?"

"Because I don't fucking feel like talking to you, Caleb!" Zach turns around and flashes his eyes at him. "And coming to my apartment without telling me first is fucking dumb. You think I'd really talk to you next to Olivia?"

I stumble hearing Zach's last words. What does that mean? Zach glances at me for a moment as if hearing my perplexed thoughts and I see something flashing over his face. Something like regret or fear.

"What's that all about?" I ask, looking between my annoyed boyfriend and a furious Caleb who glares at Zach. Both are ignoring me. What the fuck?

"For fuck's sake, I told you before we need to take care of..."

"Shut the fuck up, Caleb!" Zach interrupts him in a low and threatening voice. He shoots me a nervous glance before facing Caleb again, "Let's talk outside."

With that he marches off onto the rooftop terrace and slams the door behind them. I stand in the living room and look at the wildly discussing men through the glass door, feeling left behind and totally confused. How could that wonderful moment between Zach and me turn into such a fucked-up situation in just a few minutes?

What the fuck did just happen? Why is he acting so weird now? And, most of all, what does Caleb want from him all the time? Since Caleb is not giving in, this must be something big. He isn't the type to make mountains out of molehills. Usually, it was quite the other way around. Caleb always seemed to have this "I don't give a fuck" kind of attitude to be honest.

Our house-warming party where Caleb appeared without an invitation comes into my mind. And also the weird phone call Zach had with him at the hospital occurs to me again. All of a sudden, all the pieces come together, and I gasp as realization hits me hard.

Zach was lying to me all the time. He has been dishonest with me again. Tears well in my eyes as I watch my still furiously arguing Zach. My Zach. I frown. Is he even my Zach anymore?

With an angry and hurt huff, I storm into the bedroom and put on some clothes before I head for the door and almost jump down the stairs. Hopefully, Zach didn't catch on to my sudden escape. I don't want him to follow me. Mainly because I need some time to process the fact that he obviously did shit behind my back again, after all we've been through. But I'm also worried about his health and if he's running after me, hurrying down the stairs in a rush, I'm quite sure it wouldn't be good for him. Even though I'm fucking fuming right now, I don't want him to be in pain or get hurt again.

Once I made it downstairs, I look around and think of a place to go. I'm surely not calling any of the girls and give them another reason to distrust Zach and judge our relationship. At first, I want to wrap my own head around it before talking to them.

Without properly thinking about it, I head for the park right next to the building we're living in.

This park has grown to one of my favorite places in the past weeks. It's a bit like a magic forest with all the giant trees and wild bushes growing amidst the unmown meadows. So often I came here to catch some clear thoughts or to simply get my mind off the things going on in my life right now. There are barely other people around in the park, so I was mainly alone here which makes me love it even more.

With a deep sigh, I sink down onto one of the benches and close my eyes for a second. I thought we were past the stage where Zach keeps things from me and gets involved in shitty situations.

"He literally promised me to not get into Caleb's businesses again last week," I mumble to myself and huff with flared nostrils. "Fuck you, Zach!"

Opening my eyes, I spot Caleb leaving the house.

"Shit!" I jump up and hide behind the big tree right next to the bench.

What the fuck am I doing here? Hiding behind a tree? How low can I sink?"

I shake my head at my own stupidity, suddenly feeling like a child. But I really hope he didn't see me. The last thing I need now is one of Caleb's stupid lines, so I lean against the tree and close my eyes. I will just wait for a short time before I get out of my second-class hide-out. God, this is silly!

"Yo, princess!"

I flinch so hard, I almost trip over my own feet.

"Caleb!" I shout out and press my hand against my chest, feeling my racing heart. "Damn, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Don't be dramatic," Caleb states, raising an eyebrow. "What the hell are you doing down here?"

Remembering the reason I left, I regain control over myself again and turn my bitch mode back on.

"Leave me alone," I snarl and start stomping off. To my surprise he follows me.

"Wait!"

Ignoring him, I just keep walking. Even less than with Zach, I want to talk to Caleb in this moment. They can stick to their shady businesses and should leave me my peace. I've had enough from this shit.

God damn, I don't remember the last time I've been that furious. This was simply too much for my already stressed self. The way Zach looked at me in regret and remorse, I just knew he's hiding something from me. And it's certainly not a good thing. Tears fill my eyes again as I blindly walk towards the exit of the park.

"How could I not notice something's off earlier?" I sob and shake my head in disgust about myself. "How stupid can one person be?"

It seems like I just don't deserve to be happy. Whenever I feel like finally everything is coming into place, something bad happens. Over and over again.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I hear Caleb's annoyed and at the same time slightly amused voice.

"Get the hell away from me!" I shout and abruptly turn around, causing Caleb to almost bump into me.

A frown forms on his face as he sees my tears, but he quickly composes himself again and smirks at me, flashing his brilliant white teeth at me.

"Don't be such a cry baby," he chuckles. "That doesn't suit you, princess!"

"Fuck off!" Once more, I storm off and this time I'm actually running as fast as my feet can carry me. I need to get away from this man. I'm getting sick of his slimy manner and his smug grin.

While running through the streets feeling nothing but betrayal and pain, Theo's bar comes into my mind, as it's just around the corner. On impulse, I decide to pop in. A drink will do me good now and maybe will also help getting my mind off Zach.

Zach's POV

"Fucking shit!" I curse and kick at the wall as I wait for Caleb's text to appear. "Hurry the fuck up, man!"

God, I fucked up big this time! How could I be so stupid to think Liv wouldn't catch on? I know Caleb and how persistent he can be when he wants something. How could I possibly be so goddamn, fucking dumb to believe this was a good idea?!

The moment I looked down from the rooftop and spot Olivia walking towards the park, I almost freaked out. Did I really pay that little attention to her to not even notice that she left the apartment? Fuck!

"You fucking idiot!" I say to myself, shaking my head in annoyance.

I'm surprised, but even more glad that Caleb agreed to follow her, since she would've killed me if I would have run down the stairs to find her. As much as I hate sitting here completely powerless while I wait for Caleb to inform me about my girlfriend's state, deep down I know she's right and I probably really should take things slow for the next weeks.

I pace the room, constantly running my hands through my hair. Again and again, I replay the past weeks in my head, and I seriously ask myself how the hell I could get the idea of asking Caleb to beat up Liv's father. If Liv will ever find out about that, I'm sure she will freak out. She'd be damn disappointed and so hurt. Fuck, I'm not even sure if she'd stay with me then. She hates violence so much and honestly, I don't like it anymore either. The times when I enjoyed getting into a fight are over. The times when I needed the physical pain to be able to at least feel something are long gone, and still, I fucked it up again.

After checking my phone for the hundredth time, I sigh and put it back into my pockets. What on earth is taking him so long?

Right in that moment, the much longed-for text arrives.

*Found her.*

That's it? 'Found her'?

Angry about his taciturn text, I quickly type an answer.

*Where are you?*

I stare at my phone and wait for Caleb's reply. One minute passes by, two, three, four. After five minutes, I call him, but it goes straight to his voicemail. A second later, another text comes in.

*Shorty, don't be such a pain in the ass.*

*Where the fuck are you, Caleb?*

*Drinking with your girl.*

I stare at my phone. He got to be kidding me. What the fuck is he doing with Liv? My Liv.

*I'm coming to get you. You won't fucking drink with Caleb!* Blind with rage, I quickly text Liv, and without hesitating, I slip into my shoes and jacket and grab my keys.

No way I'm sitting here doing nothing while Caleb is shifting one drink after another with my girlfriend. Who the fuck does he think he is?!

As fast as my weakened body allows, I hurry down the stairs and head for the park. I know they aren't there anymore, but I have no other idea where to start searching for them.

With a pained groan, I sink down onto one of the benches and try to calm my breathing. Damn, I really need to work on my condition. Getting out of breath after barely moving fucking sucks.

While waiting for my breath to normalize again and for my heartbeat to slow down, I ponder over the places Liv and Caleb could be. What if he talked her into coming with him to his home? God, he's a dead man if that's the case. But Olivia would never agree to go to Caleb's place. At least not willingly.

I frown and a sudden thought sends a cold shiver down my spine.

"No, he wouldn't do that..." I reassure myself. "He wouldn't bring her to his home against her will."

Or would he? The thing with Caleb is, I find this guy so irritating. Generally, I think you can say he's a smug slimeball, but he also has his moments where he's actually willing to be helpful and even sort of friendly. And the one time he helped abducting her was because Terrence blackmailed him. Of course, that's not an excuse, but Caleb would go over dead bodies to keep his business in secret. And as much as I know he already did that before quite a few times. So, it's better to be on good terms with him.

I mentally review all the surrounding pubs and bars and suddenly it hits me.

"Why didn't I think about that earlier?" I curse and jump up.

As fast as possible with my ruined condition, I start hurrying in the direction of Theo's bar.

*I know where you are. I'm on my way to pick you up.* I quickly text Liv. Not that I'm expecting a reply from her, but I want her to fucking keep away from Caleb.

Deep down, I know I have no right to be pissed right now, after all, I was the one who fucked up again, but I'm blinded by my rage about her having drinks with Caleb. All I can think about in this moment are the things Caleb could say to her. Fuck, what if he tells her about our arrangement? I need to get there before things get even worse.

A few minutes later and panting like a dying racehorse, I arrive at Theo's bar and stop in front of it. Through the window front, I already spot Liv and Caleb sitting at a table near the bar.

Fuck, she's drinking whiskey. That's not a good sign. She hates whiskey to the core.

As if she'd feel my arrival, her eyes land on me and they narrow. Liv is warning me to keep my shit together and not having a tantrum.

Well, I can't help it. I'm so in rage, I simply can't calm down in this moment.

After taking a deep breath, I push the door open full-force.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

*****

New chapter. New drama.

Would you react the way Liv did as she realized Zach has lied to her again? Or do you think her reaction was over the top?

What do you think will happen next with Zach losing his temper once again?

Please don't forget to comment and vote.🦋

Katie🤍