Page 92 of Some Things Never Change

"Who the fuck is this?" he demanded, irritated.

I watched as he paced back and forth in front of the couch. His grip on the phone was so tight that his knuckles turned white. I could hear David answering with his name, and Andy let out a low, mocking chuckle.

“David? Well, long time no talk. This is Andy, by the way.” A pause, and I couldn’t hear what David’s response was. “Yes, that Andy.”

He turned to me with bright eyes as he tilted his head. “By the way, I’ve always wanted to thank you for something.”

I could hear David ask loudly, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

The cocky smirk now sitting on his lips oozed into the tone of his voice. “Thanks for ending things with Julie when she asked for it. Because we’ve never been happier together.”

With his smirk immediately down turned into an intimidating scowl, his voice also dipped low and murderous. “Don’t ever call my girlfriend again. If you do, I promise to break every fucking bone in your body and shove it all back up your ass.”

With that, Andy hung up before David could say a comeback. He handed my phone back to me in a long huff. “Delusional asshole,” he muttered under his breath.

I immediately blocked the unknown number before David could call or text back. “I’m so sorry, Andy. Did I wake you up?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it.” The hard lines on his face softened. He reached out to rub warm circles into my shoulder. “You alright?”

I let out a long, exasperated groan to release the pressure building up in my chest as I buried my face in my hands for a moment. It was heavy with many emotions, but what I felt the most was anger and frustration at myself.

“I’m sorry, Andy,” I answered, looking back up at him. “I should have never answered that phone call.”

“You don’t need to apologize. It’s not like you knew, right?”

The hefty emotions I felt in my chest rose up to my throat like bile. “Because,” my voice croaked. “If I hadn’t answered, we wouldn’t be up and have to deal with his crap.” I couldn’t even bring myself to say David’s name.

Andy sighed. “Julie, it’s alright.” His voice was all smooth and soothing, like his warm and gentle hand in mine.

I frowned, loathing the way David’s call left me feeling heavy and uncomfortable. “No, it isn’t. If I hadn't picked up, it wouldn’t have given him the confidence to be such an asshole.”

My voice was slowly giving out on me as the emotions sitting in my throat constricted me from talking. My eyes began to burn as I felt them well up. I hated how I got the two of us in the middle of something like this, interrupting our wonderful night and our much-needed rest.

Maybe it was because of my lack of sleep, but the fury I felt toward myself was tenfold what I felt toward David when I realized it was him on the other end of the call. My rage was so intense I almost felt like screaming, but couldn’t bring myself to disrupt the stillness of the night around us.

In my blurry peripheral vision, I saw Andy frown. Wordlessly, he sat down on the couch before pulling me into his lap and cradling me in his arms. There he gave me the softest, warmest hug like the ones his dad always gave, and I never felt so safe. I sat in his arms with my arms around his neck. All the while, he rubbed comforting circles into the small of my back.

With each heavy sigh and cry, I also breathed in his usual fresh, light, and crisp scent. It smelled like the morning sun rays of a beautiful, clear spring day. The warmth of his skin and his calming scent were what anchored me.

“I hate that bastard. I hate the way he makes me feel—like I’m so worthless that he should step all over me. He never has anything nice to say and always ruins everything in his wake,” I croaked into Andy’s wet shoulder, with tears prickling at the corner of my eyes. “I should have never answered that stupid phone call. I’m sorry.”

If I had been more cautious and actually took the time to look at the phone, then maybe I would have noticed it wasn’t someone I knew calling me in the middle of the night.

“Hey, I thought I told you not to apologize about this anymore. It’s not your fault. David’s the one who’s fucking delusional,” said Andy adamantly. “You shouldn’t be apologizing for anything he did. If he didn’t want to be the asshole, then why was he so insistent on trying to get in touch with you a whole year after you two broke up?”

When I couldn’t respond back, he kissed my temple tenderly. “That’s what I thought. Don’t worry about this. It’s all water under the bridge.” He gave the small of my back a soft pat.

“Are you going to break every bone in his body and shove them back up his ass like you promised if he tries to call me through a different number?”

I pulled away from his shoulder to see his soft smile, amusement flickering in his eyes.

“I’m not the type of man to make empty promises, and you know that.”

“Like the promise you made to my dad at the cemetery?”

Andy laughed. “Exactly like that one.”

I smiled back and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “We should try to go back to sleep.”

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