Page 65 of Beneath Cherry Blossom Memories

Quickly making sure that Kelly is alright, I bring her some water and the throw blanket from the couch because she insists she’s going to sleep in the bathroom.

“Call me if you need me,” I tell her, kissing her forehead. She groans and hugs the water to her chest. “I’ll be at Jorge’s.”

“K,” she slurs.

Confident she just drank too much, and she will be fine, I leave the apartment with speed. I trip over my feet several times as I get to my car. My heart races uncontrollably while I drive. How come he didn’t call me? Yes, I’ve been fuckingdestroyedthat he vanished and blocked me…again, but I’d have come. I’d have been there. Maybe that’s the problem with us.

He doesn’t realize that.

How could he, though? After what I said?

The horn blares as I peel my face from the dash. A sharp sting pierces my head, and I feel something warm trickling down my temple. My eyes take a moment to focus, but when they do, all I see is red.

“MY CAR!” I roar.

We crashed into a stop sign. The hood is crushed in, and steam wafts from the engine. Eli is struggling with his seatbelt, and the airbag is slowly deflating. “Fuck, you’re bleeding,” he says, voice panicked. “Phoenix…I…”

“No. No more talking,” I growl and roll out of the car. Ripping at my hair as I assess the damage, my breaths come out jagged as the tidal wave of wrath consumes me whole.

Rounding the car, I rip open the driver-side door and yank him out of it. He wobbles, obviously disorientated, but I feel nothing.Nothing.“Was it all a lie?” I slam him into the side of the car. “Did you ever give a fuck about me at all?”

His eyes won’t leave the spot on my head where I’m bleeding. It’s trickling down my neck. “You know about Oliver,” I hiss, fisting his collar. “You know how I feel about drugs!”

“It’s medicine,” he insists for the hundredth time.

He really won’t admit it?

I slam my fist on the roof, right by his head, and he flinches. “Stop lying to me. I swear to God, Elijah. Tell me the damn truth. Now!”

“We need to call an ambulance. You’re bleeding.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone approaching, their face lit up, and a phone angled towards us, but I can’t stop myself. I’m just so…hurt. All the signs were there. All of them. The reclusiveness, the hiding, and vanishing acts. The lack of communication and the absent looks he’d get mid-conversation. Sometimes he’d fade even when we fucked, his eyes glazed over like he wasn’t even there. I thought what we had was important and special.

Fuck, I was going to tell him I loved him tonight.

“I don’t give a fuck. Tell me!”

Something changes in his expression. I know the moment the walls fly up, nothing I say or do will bring them down. “Why? Why should I tell youanything, Phoenix? If you don’t understand shit, the first reaction is to judge. You think you’re so high and mighty? You’re not! You’re a fucking ghost of a person without me kissing your ass!”

“Sonofabitch,” I snap. “I’mfinewithout you. Why would I want a liar anyway? Look what you did. You ruined everything. My sister’s fucking wedding, my car, my whole life!”

“You’re right. I do ruin everything. It’s who I fucking am. Do you honestly think I’d spill my guts because you take my dick like a whore? Fuck that. I’ll never trust you with anything. You’re such a hypocrite.”

That word grinds my aching heart. Me? A hypocrite? “I’m a hypocrite?Me? Look in the damn mirror!” I shove him against the car again and force myself to release him before I hit him. “Don’t fucking call me when you’re half dead on the damn floor. I won’t be there,” I spew more venom—hurting him because he’s killing me.

I can hear sirens in the distance, a small crowd forming while we have this horrible fight. It’s never been this nasty—we’ve never come for blood like this. But how do I stop it?

“You are a hypocrite. If anyone’s addicted to something, it’s you. Let’s see how well you do without me to constantly make you feel like you’re worth something.” He spits on the floor by my feet. “It’s fucking done, Phoenix.”

My breath hitches. “It’s not done. We’re…we’re arguing.”

“This isn’t arguing. This is carnage.”

“We’re not done,” I say louder and lunge for him, but he ducks away. “I want to be with you. That's why I said fucking forever!”

“It's over.”

“Elijah, just…stop.”

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