{Tip:- Listen to the song (Love is Gone - Slander ) attached for mega feels in this chapter, I am sorry in advance for the emotions that may swirl in you.}

Lily's POV 

"Lily," Finn says, his voice full of shock.

"We met in the elevator," Rachel interjects smoothly, glancing at me. "She didn't know I moved into the building."

She takes the cutlery from Finn's hands. "Thank you," she sing-songs, turning to leave. Then she pauses and looks back at me.

"I'm planning a housewarming party soon. I couldn't do it before because a lot of my friends were out of town. Please come," she smiles, then turns to Finn, "Give her my apartment number, hope to see you both there" she adds with a slight giggle before walking away.

"Lily, um—" he starts, flustered, "are you okay? why'd you come over?"

I just stare at him, trying to collect my thoughts. Disbelief and anger settling in the pit of my stomach. I feel sick.

"Butterfly, come in," he says again, and I step inside. He closes the door behind me, and I keep staring at him, unsure of where to begin.

Do I ask him about Rachel moving in? Do I bring up the photos on Instagram? Do I mention the fact that he lied about who made the juice?

"Lily," he calls my for the third time, snapping me from my thoughts.

"Rachel said she lives here?" I finally say, looking him directly in the eyes. I went with the more direct question, that deserves an answer to. Why was I not told that she's living here, it's not like this is something that can be casually ignored.

"She must have moved here because the commute is closer to the university," he explains, stumbling over his words. "Though I didn't know she moved here."

"You didn't know she moved here, but she comes over to borrow things?" I ask, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Finn's face flushes, and he sighs rubbing the back of his neck. "No, of course not."

"Then why didn't you mention she moved in?" I demand, my tone calm but my frustration spilling over.

" I ..." he starts, but I raise my hand causing him to not say anything further.

"If you lie to me, we are done" I say and I repeat the question, "Why did you not tell me she moved in?"

"I didn't think it was important," he says quietly, running a hand through his hair. "Rachel's just a friend, and I didn't want to upset you over something that seemed trivial."

"Trivial?" I let out a humourless laugh, "This isn't trivial, Finn. She's been acting like there's more between you two, and now I find out she's living here, and you didn't even tell me. How am I supposed to trust you?"

"I swear, I kept it from you because I thought it would only cause unnecessary problems," Finn says, his voice trembling with guilt. He nervously runs a hand through his hair, avoiding eye contact.

"Unnecessary problems? Well, congratulations, Finn. Your silence has turned it into a massive problem. You should have been honest from the start." I say, my voice trembling with anger. My fists clench, and I take a step closer, eyes burning with intensity.

Finn's face reddens with frustration. "I was trying to avoid exactly this, Lily!" he gestures between the both of us "I didn't want you to get upset over nothing."

"Nothing?" I echo, incredulous. "You think hiding something like this is nothing? If it was really nothing, why lie about it?"

"Lily, I was going to tell you, after I spoke to my dad, during the Easter break." He yells.

"Are you seriously yelling?" I scream back and his eyes soften slightly. He has no right to be angry here. He's the one who lied. "Going to and actually doing are two separate things, Finn." I continue.

He sighs heavily, running a hand through his hair. "I know, Lily. I messed up. But can we just talk about this calmly?"

"Calmly?" I retort, my voice still sharp. "You kept this from me, and now you want to talk calmly?"

He walks towards me, and I take a step back, but I instinctively take a step back, creating a physical barrier between us.

"Why did you not tell me?" I yell and that triggers the tears, I hate how I cry when I'm angry. Like yes, I am hurt right now but the tears are not even sad tears.

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Because I didn't want to hurt you! I thought it would just complicate things for no reason"

"Complicate things?" I scoff, shaking my head. "You've already complicated everything by not being honest. Do you even understand how this makes me feel?"

"This is what I tried to avoid, I know you're sensitive when it comes to Rachel" he says, and that takes me by surprise.

That's what he thinks of me, being sensitive when a girl is trying her hardest to cajole her way into my relationship.

"Sensitive? Do you even hear yourself?" I ask in utter disbelief.

He thinks I'm overreacting. He thinks I'm being unreasonable. How can he not see how wrong this is?

"Lily, I never told her to move in here. And, I don't have the right to tell her not to either. That's up to Rachel." He snaps and I just look up at him, completely dumb founded. "I can't kick her out." He sighs.

I wipe my tears away angrily.

I reach for my pocket bring out my phone, and hold it up to his face, showing him the screenshots Kam sent me earlier.

"Why did you lie about the juice? And why is Rachel posting these pictures like you're more than just friends?" I yell, the tears have finally started pouring out and his expression shifts from a deer in fucking headlights to realization then to guilt.

"Lily, I can explain," he starts, but I cut him off.

"Then explain," I demand, my heart pounding. "Explain why Rachel is making juice in this photo, the very juice I drank from your fridge, when you ... " I pause and let out a dry distasteful laugh.

"You said it was Shawn's mum who made it." I spit out the words, walking towards him and stopping just an arm's length away.

"Actually, let's ignore all that. She moved downstairs, you know how uncomfortable I am with her, even before we started dating back at the cabin months ago, you knew. She was the reason, I said I didn't want to move things further with you, but you assured me that you'd spoken with her, and it was okay."

"I get why you're upset, and you have every right to be. I just wanted to avoid unnecessary drama, but I see now that I only made things worse by not being upfront with you," he says, his voice soft and earnest.

He takes a step closer, his eyes filled with regret, and reaches out to gently hold my hand. His hands don't feel warm anymore, they're cold and unfamiliar in mine.

I pull away from his touch, the hurt evident in my eyes. "She clearly has feelings for you and is so fucking delusional that she has made herself think she's actually dating you like a fucking psycho. She comes to your house under the pretext of borrowing shit, and you clearly think it's normal."

He's expression is blank and unreadable, and a slight tear escapes. Usually I would kiss it away and bury my head in his chest until heartbeats soothes but not anymore.

I shake the thoughts out of my head, "You think I'm sensitive? No, ask anyone, literally anyone, this is fucking insane. Please tell me you can see how mental this is?" I ask.

"I ... " he walks over to the couch, before turning back to me, "Rachel's always been like that, it's her personality, she does what she wants against anyone's wishes."

This is just like the cabin months ago, him excusing her behaviour. He just lets her do whatever she wants?

"So ... because it's her personality, I should sit back and take it?" I respond, "You literally have a girlfriend, things cannot be the way they were before. You should have told me, everything."

"I messed up, and I'm sorry. I just... I was scared." he says, his voice softer now, almost pleading.

"Scared?" I repeat, my voice rising again. "Scared of what, Finn? Of me? Of us?"

"Scared of losing you," he admits, his voice barely above a whisper. "I thought if I told you, you'd leave. And I couldn't bear that."

"The only way you'd lose me is by lying to me," I say, my lips trembling and chest heaving heavily, and my eyes hurt so much from crying.

He tries reaching for my hands and I pull away, feeling a mix of anger and sadness.

"Butterfly, I'm so sor..." he starts his voice soft, and I cut him off again.

"No! You don't get to use that name," I yell.

"Sorry..." I laugh bitterly. "Sorry? You're fucking sorry? For what? Lying or that you got caught?"

"I should have told you everything, Lily. I'm so sorry," he says, his voice breaking and his eyes tearing up now.

"Again with this, For what?" I ask again, my anger boiling over. "Lying to me, for keeping secrets, or for letting Rachel manipulate this entire situation?"

"All of it," he admits, his shoulders slumping. "I should have been honest with you from the start. I didn't realize how much it would hurt you."

"You didn't realize?" I repeat, my voice shaking. "He didn't realize," I say bitterly to the invisible audience in the apartment before turning back to him.

"Finn, trust is the foundation of any relationship. Without it, we have nothing."

He nods, tears welling up in his own eyes. "I know. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to rebuild that trust. I'll talk to Rachel and set firm boundaries. I'll be completely transparent with you from now on. Just please, give me a chance to make this right."

I look around sarcastically as though there's an audience watching his audacity and I turn my gaze back to him.

"You still want to be friends with her? When she so clearly has feelings for you, and you want to set boundaries?" I say the last bit in air quotes, "You could have done that from the start"

"I'm done," I sigh, and Finn's eyes widen in disbelief.

My head hurts from shouting, my throat hurts and I'm emotionally drained.

"Lily, please" he begs, his eyes screaming for a second chance to make everything right.

"No, I ... I can't do this," I say barely above a whisper turning to leave, but Finn reaches out and holds my arm turning me to face him, his eyes searching mine hoping it would take back what I just said.

"What do you mean?" he asks, his voice cracking and that causes my tears to fall. He reaches over to my face cupping it to wipe the tears.

I take a deep breath, and step away from his touch

His face falls, the pain in his eyes mirroring my own. "A break?" he repeats, the words barely escaping his lips.

I nod, feeling a lump form in my throat. "I need time, Finn. Time to figure out if this is what I really want, if we're what I really want." My voice is trembling, all the energy from earlier has dissipated but I force myself to stay strong.

"Lily, I love you, please" He begs "what happened to always ?" His voice is desperate.

I take a shaky breath, trying to steady myself. "I don't know," I whisper, barely able to meet his gaze. "I just know that right now, I need some space."

His shoulders slump, and he runs a hand through his hair, looking defeated. "I don't want to lose you, Lily."

"Then you should have been honest."

With that, I walk out the door, my heart heavy. The elevator ride down feels endless, each second stretching out as I try to process what just happened.

The bus ride home is long, and I break down, tears streaming down my face as I struggle to hold myself together. People glance at me with pity, but I barely notice them, lost in my own world of hurt and confusion.

When I finally arrive home, I see Kam and Jen on the couch. Their heads turn as I enter, and they take in my expression, concern immediately clouding their faces.

"Lil," Jen says, rushing to me, with Kam following close behind.

I don't even make it to the couch. I fall to my knees in the doorway, overwhelmed by the weight of everything. The floodgates open, and I can't hold back the torrent of emotions any longer.

"What happened?" Kam asks, her eyes wide with concern.

I just shake my head, they both pull me into a hug, and I collapse into their arms, letting out muffled sobs, releasing all the pain I've been holding in.

Kam strokes my hair gently while Jen holds me tightly, whispering soothing words that barely register through my sobs. "We're here for you, Lil. It's going to be okay. Just let it out."

Minutes pass, or maybe it's hours. Time seems irrelevant as I cry, my body shaking and my throat hoarse from crying. 

*******

Author's Note 

Hiya guys ... so how many people do I owe a therapy session?

Hehe, love - RennyTee xx