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He shakes his head slowly. “It’s…it’s a long story. I’ll explain later.”
“Wait, Shaun, no-” I protest, but he’s already ducked down the hall and disappeared into his bedroom, leaving me even more confused and now frustrated.
With a sigh, I plunk back down on the couch and drain the last of my glass of wine. I have no idea what the fuck just happened. Lena looked like the sight of Shaun shook her to the core.
And Shaun…I don’t know what the hell to make of that expression. There were a hundred emotions behind those eyes, and I couldn’t make sense of any of them.
The longer Lena takes in the bathroom, the more worried I get. I’m heavily debating about going to check on her when I hear a door down the hall open. I’m not sure which door it is, so I’m not sure who to expect coming down the hall, but I must admit that I’m a little bit relieved when I see that it’s Lena.
I spring to my feet. “Hey, are you okay?”
I can tell from her face that the answer to that is a ‘no’ before she has a chance to respond.
She shakes her head a little. “Um, I’m sorry, Elliot, I think I need to go.”
“Lena…I’m sorry, but how do you know him? He wouldn’t tell me.”
She sighs and clears her throat. “Well, uh, you remember me talking about how my last relationship ended really badly?” she asks.
I feel a knot of dread forming in the pit of my stomach. It doesn’t take a genius to guess where this is going. I nod slowly. “Yeah.”
“Yeah…that was Shaun.”
“Lena, I’m sorry, I didn’t know-”
“I figured you probably didn’t,” she says, shaking her head, “It’s okay, this isn’t your fault, I just need to get out of here and go get my head on straight. I wasn’t expecting to see him tonight. Hell, I wasn’t expecting to see him, ever.”
“Is there anything I can do?” I ask, a hint of pleading in my tone.
In spite of the fact that I hadn’t seen this coming in the slightest and I’d been as blindsided as they had, I still feel responsible somehow. She looks up at me appreciatively before standing on tiptoe and kissing my cheek.
“It means a lot that you’re offering, but no, I just need to go,” she says.
“Are you going to be okay to drive yourself?” I ask, “I can give you a ride if you need a little more time to calm down before you get behind the wheel.”
“Thank you, but I’m okay,” she assures me, collecting her purse and moving towards the door.
I catch her by the arm gently. “Just let me know when you’re home safe, then, all right?”
She nods, but I still don’t let her go just yet. “Promise,” I demand.
I know she’s upset and probably needs a little space, so I feel bad being so pushy, but I also know that if I don’t hear from her, I’ll be going out to find her myself to make sure she made it in one piece.
She looks up at me, and a brief, tiny smile curls over her lips. “I promise,” she whispers, then steps closer, taking my face between her hands, “I’m sorry, Elliot, tonight was amazing, just…”
“I know,” I nod.
Lena kisses me, then without another word, she leaves. I let out a long, slow breath, still processing, and suddenly, I’m struck with a blind rage. What the hell did Shaun do to her to hurt her so badly?
Before I can stop myself, I’m storming down the hall and beating down my roommate’s door.
There’s a long pause, and I grit out, “You don’t open the door, I’m gonna open it for you, Shaun.”
After a moment, it swings open. And I have to admit, some of the fight goes out of me when I see just how defeated Shaun looks.
It’s like he’s aged ten years in the last ten minutes. I’ve always sensed that he carried a weight, some burden on his soul that left him a little broody, but now it’s like the weight of the world is crushing him.
“It’s ‘later,’” I tell him drily, “Explain.”
