It's short, but no whining!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

A high-pitch scraping noise came from the television, causing me to wince. The sound was much worse than nails on a chalkboard, seeing as how it was a hook on a street sign. Next to me, Chace was leaning closer and closer to the television screen, nearly sitting on the edge of his couch. The movie room was dimly lit, so I couldn’t make out his face, but from the glint in his eye, I figured he was grinning.

            “I read a story like this once. I know what happens next.”

            I knew what happened next too, but only because I’d seen the first season of Supernatural at least a dozen times. Crazy Chace though, this was basically his first time watching the show. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

            “Her boyfriend is going to be hanging upside down above his car, bleeding from the neck. Like I said, I read a ghost story like this.”

            “Well, let’s see if you’re right,” I responded, watching as the girlfriend foolishly climbed out the car.

Five seconds and one harsh scream later, Chace threw up his arms, turning to give me a smug look. “I knew it!”

His reaction caused a grin to spread across my face. “Yep.”

“Have you seen this episode before?”

            “Yep,” I admitted. “Girls can’t help liking shows with cute actors.”

            “Sam is pretty cute, huh.”

            “Dean’s more my type.”

            He raised an eyebrow. “Or am I more your type?”

            I pretended to think about it for a moment. “Hmm… Nope. Dean is definitely still my type.”

            “Ouch,” Chace said, pressing his hand to his heart. “I guess I can’t live up to an old man actor.”

            “He’s not old!”

            Chuckling, Chace wrapped his shoulder around me. “So defensive.”

            “Well, who is your celebrity crush?”

            “Justin Bieber,” he quipped.

            I laughed. “No, seriously.”

            “Hmm… I’m not actually sure.”

            “Meghan Fox?”

            He wrinkled his nose. “Nah, not for me. Redheads are more my type.”

            I shoved him lightly. “Very funny.”

            “No really. Karen Gillan is probably my celebrity crush. Oh wait! Who is that singer from Paramore? Her too.”

            “Hayley Williams?”

            “Yeah!”

            Rolling my eyes, I leaned back against the couch. “What about an actress that isn’t a ginger?”

            “Alexis Bledel. She’s got pretty blue eyes.”

            “Is blue your favorite color?”

            Shaking his head, he kicked his feet up on the coffee table. “Nope. Red is.”

            “Now you’re just lying.”

            He laughed. “I’m not. Red really is my favorite color. Crimson. What’s yours?”

            “Purple.”

            “Purple?” he repeated skeptically.

            I nodded. “Yeah… Well, kind of. Do you know that color the night sometimes has? When it’s between dark blue and purple? That color.”

            “You’ll have to show me one night,” he told me, a twinkle in his eyes.

            “Sure,” I agreed with a smile. “Maybe I’ll even paint you something for your birthday…” Blinking, I realized an important fact. “Oh. I don’t even know when your birthday is.”

            He tapped my nose with his pointer finger. “Sure you do. I mentioned it in one of our first conversations.”

            “You did…?”

            “I’m the youngest in my grade.”

            “Oh!” His words suddenly came back to me. My birthday was last month. That was back in late August, which meant… “Your birthday is in late July?”

            He snapped his fingers. “Bingo. And yours is on Halloween.”

            “How did you know that?”

            “I actually pay attention when you talk to me.”

            “I listen to you!”

            Laughing, he avoided my swinging hand. “Hey, hey! Watch it! You’re going to take out my eye with those nails, woman!”

            Pausing mid-swing, I examined my slightly overgrown fingernails. “I guess I should cut these…”

            He captured my hand in his, squinting his eyes at them. “I’ve never seen you wear nail polish. Do you ever?”

            I shrugged. “Not really. I don’t like having to waste time with things like that.”

            “Is that why you don’t wear a lot of makeup either?”

            “That and I like to think I have natural beauty,” I laughed. “Of course, if I really believed that, I wouldn’t use mascara.”

            He grinned. “And mascara goes on your eyelashes.”

            “Yep,” I responded, catching his grin. “I’m glad you remembered.”

            “Well, if it counts for anything, I think you have natural beauty.”

            “I think you do too.”

            Pulling a face at me, he dropped my hand. “Guys don’t like being told they’re beautiful. Unless they’re like, transvestites.”

            “You’re very handsome then,” I corrected myself, rolling my eyes. “Geez, you’re so nit-picky.”

            “Nit-picky or not, I’m just glad your attitude toward me hasn’t changed.”

            “Huh?”

            He shrugged. “Nothing.”

            “No, not nothing. Why would you think that?”

            “Your text messages…  I don’t know. They just aren’t as happy and friendly as usual. I’m used to at least three smilies and an l-o-l per message. You stopped doing that and startd adding periods, so…”

            I blinked, surprised at his perspicacity. “I haven’t…”

            “Are you angry at me about something?” he inquired, frowning. “If I did anything, you can tell me.”

            Biting my lip, I lowered my gaze to the floor. If I wanted him to come clean about his lies, I couldn’t be the one to bring it up. Unfortunately, the wait was making me anxious and that anxiety was coming across as irritation— which it partially was. But I wasn’t irritated only with Chace; I was irritated with myself as well. No matter how many times I told myself Chace’s reasons for lying were perfectly acceptable, the fact he couldn’t trust me still made me upset. Even though I was keeping my own secret from him.

            “You are angry,” he declared after a few seconds. “I can see it in your face.”

            “I’m not,” I protested, but he placed his hand against my mouth, cutting me off.

            “Rosie, believe it or not, but I can tell when you’re upset about something. You can tell me.”

            I shook my head, pulling his hand down. “I can’t tell you.”

            “Why not?”

            “Because I can’t.”

            “Because why?”

            I pressed my lips together, irritated. “Because!”

            “Why can’t you?” he snapped, sounding frustrated. “I can’t rectify what I’ve done if you don’t tell me, Rosie!”

            “It’s nothing!”

            “Obviously it’s something!”

            Grinding my teeth, I returned my gaze to the television. “It’s not. I’m trying to watch T.V.”

            To my annoyance, Chace clicked off his the T.V. “Rosie. Tell me what’s wrong.”

            “How did things go with Noah?” I asked, attempting to change the subject.

            “Fine,” he responded shortly.

            The corner of my lip twitched. “That’s good.”

            “Why are you mad at me?”

            “I’m not,” I sighed. Or at least I didn’t have a right to be mad at him. Actually, mad is a strong word. I should say miffed.

            Bringing his handsome face close to mine, Chace stopped about two inches away, his breath blowing against my lips. His chocolate eyes burned into mine, smoldering with an unknown emotion. “Rosie… Please.”

            Intoxicated by his heavenly scent, it took me a moment to form a coherent sentence. “It’s nothing, Chace.”

            “I don’t believe that,” he replied, his lips gently brushing against mine as he spoke.

            “I…” Without warning, a sharp pain shot through my head. My hands shot up to my head and I squeezed my eyes shut, holding back a groan.

            Chace immediately put space between us. “What’s wrong?”

            “Headache,” I forced through my gritted teeth. “Give me a few seconds…”

            “Do you want some Advil or something? I’m sure my dad has something in his cabinets.”

            Shaking my head, I pressed my palms against my temples. “No, it’ll go away after a second.”

            Pursing his lips, he watched me with worried eyes. With each pound of my heart, a new lance of discomfort was sent through my skull. “Damn,” I moaned, wishing for it to end. Usually these attacks only lasted a few seconds. This was one was the most prolonged by a long shot.

            “Maybe we should bring you to the hospital.”

            I shook my head. “No, hold on. It’ll be over soon.” No sooner were the words out of my mouth the pain came to an end. Breathing out in relief, I let my hands fall to my lap. “Phew.”

            Chace frowned at me. “Are you okay? Does that happen often?”

            “Only lately, and maybe once a day,” I answered honestly. “It’s no big deal.”

            “Maybe you should get it checked out.”

            “I did.” It was the truth.

            A little bit relieved, he nodded. “That’s good.”

            “So are you and Noah friends again?” I questioned quickly before he could bring up the other subject.

            “Ah, yeah. We talked it out. I realized how childish I’d been. Anyone would freak out after learning…” Trailing off, Chace grimaced. “Anyway, we’re friends. We’re going to hang out next Tuesday. You’re welcome to come.”

            My heart skipped a beat. Maybe this was my chance to get him to confess. “After learning what?”

            “Nothing.”

            “Why did he freak out?”

            “I told you already,” Chace said nonchalantly. “He thought I was depressed and he was afraid of what could happen. Now he knows nothing would’ve happened, so we just let it drop.”

            I studied his face for a moment. His expression was completely calm, not betraying a bit of uneasiness. Were his lying skills really this good? “Are you lying to me?”

            He did a double take. “What? Of course not. I wouldn’t lie to you, Rosie.”

            “You’re lying,” I accused, my heart clenching. “You’re lying to me right now, Chace.”

            “What? I’m not—”

            “Yes you are!” I interjected loudly, shoving myself off the couch. “If you can’t admit it, then I don’t want to talk to you.”

            Chace stumbled to his feet, grabbing my hand as I tried to walk away. “Rosie, wait. What are you talking about? Why do you think I’m lying to you?”

            “Let go,” I ordered.

            “No.”

            “Yes!”

            “If I let go of you now, I know I’m going to regret it,” he returned, eyes flashing. “Tell me why I’m a liar.”

            My chest tightened and I blinked furiously, keeping the moisture from gathering up in my eyes. “I told you Chace. You know.”

            “I don’t!”

            “Then let go of me!” I demanded, ripping my wrist out of his grasp. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you are fake, Chace.”

            From his expression, one would think I slapped him in the face. “Rosie…”

            “I’ll see you later.” Grabbing my coat from off the back of the coach, I fled the movie room and went out into the dark hallway. Chace called after me, but I ignored him, trying to remember how to get to the front door. After a few moments of searching, I finally found the oak door and pushed it open, stepping outside into the chilly October air.

            Stumbling to my car, I climbed into the driver’s side, glad I’d opted for driving down to his house instead of having him pick me up. Now alone, I let the tears roll down my face. I was such an awful person. How could I say that to Chace? Sure, I was angry, but he had his reasons… Shaking my head, I realized I was giving him excuses. Maybe at first it would’ve been okay for him to lie to me, but we were dating now. A relationship couldn’t be built on dishonesty.

            “But I’m a hypocrite!” I cried, pressing on the gas too hard and jolting forward. “Damn it!”

            My first urge was to go to Kate, but I knew she was on a date with Paul. Naomi would be home, but I didn’t want to go to her and explain both my problems and Chace’s again. And honestly, I just wasn’t as close to Naomi as I was to Kate. Finally I decided just to go home and deal with it myself.

            Since it was Friday night, my dad was out drinking with his buddies, which left me home alone. After kicking off my shoes, I made a beeline for my shower. Maybe a nice warm shower would help me recollect myself. I stripped quickly, stepping under the relaxing spray of water. Instantly I felt calmer, slumping against the cool tiled wall.

            “Think about this rationally, Rosie,” I murmured, closing my eyes.

            According to Noah, it’d taken awhile for Chace to reveal his depressive past to him. I’d only known Chace for about two months. Was expecting him to tell me sooner just because I was his girlfriend wrong? Would I tell him if our situations were reversed? Probably not. After all, I was keeping my impending blindness a secret.

            “But that’s different,” I groaned, knocking my head against the shower. “I’m not lying to him.”

            A valid point. Chace lied directly to my face about two different things. And who knows how many other things he lied about just to cover up those two major fabrications? I avoided the truth, but I never lied to him, except the occasional “nothing’s wrong”, but how bad was that?

            “But he’s got good reasons,” I sighed, reaching for the shampoo. “Why am I talking to myself?”

            It all came back to the same question: Was Chace’s lying justifiable? My mind couldn’t make up its mind. I wanted to say yes, but at the same time, it hurt me and I wanted to say no. Why couldn’t he just tell me? Why couldn’t I figure out how to get him to tell me? There had to be some way…

            Suddenly, it hit me. I knew what I had to do.

            If I wanted Chace to tell the truth about his problems, I would have to tell the truth about mine. With my mind resolved, I took a deep breath. As soon as I was out of the shower, I was going back to Chace’s and spilling my guts.

____________________________

I told you it was short. I call this, the setting the scene chapter ;) The next one will be much better, prometo. OH. So, do you read on the Wattpad app? Well I've got some news for you! You can vote in the Watty Awards. You just have to open your phone browser, and go manually to the website. DO NOT use the app. It'll bring you to the website and you can go the "The Watty Awards" tab and vote! So you should go do that! :D Be the awesome fans you are! Vote for my story "A Surreptitious Relationship"! Thank you all so much! The support has been amazing so far :)