BETH:

"I'm trying to take out some of my old clothes," I stuttered but was finally able to say the words that I needed to say in order to remove any form of suspicion.

I was going to leave but I wanted to do it discreetly. I did not have it in me to actually explain the reason for my leaving which was why this was my resort.

I don't think he sensed anything amiss because he said, "We'll move into a bigger space soon when we we get married so you don't have to do all that sorting."

If I wasn't trying to stay serious, I would have laughed at what he said. Why? Because I couldn't believe my ears.

Troy was really talking about us getting married like he meant it. Like he was seriously talking about our future together. I should be elated hearing that. Probably over the moon. But I, for one, know that was a lie.

I have brought up the topic many times to him in the past and he always pushed it aside like I was bugging him for even bringing such up.

"It's too soon." That was what he never hesitated to say whenever I asked him the question before today. I guess he never really envisioned us together. And if he was now, it was too late for me.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said later after I basically ignored him while I tended to my clothes. I can't believe that he refused to say anything about what he did to me last night after I saved him.

All of a sudden, his phone started buzzing nonstop. Why didn't he put it on silent, bloody hell?

I scanned around the room to notice that he kept it on the bedside cabinet. The sound was driving me crazy already and I needed to shut it off. I cannot afford to be irritated while I plotted my way out of this shit hole of a relationship.

The screen of his phone revealed notifications of pictures from a certain somebody. And it was none other than Ariana.

I was curious to know what she must have sent to him repeatedly that would actually disturb my peace. And so I clicked on her message only to reveal something that I didn't expect to see.

There... Right there, I could see pictures of Ariana in a wedding gown clinging on to him. Yes, Troy was in the pictures she sent to him looking all happy as he held on to her like she meant the whole world to him.

My head eventually clicked what was going on. So, Troy always thought that it was too soon to get married to me but here he was, already married to a woman that he just got close to after the death of his best friend, her brother.

So I never meant a thing to him. Not even a bit.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Troy's voice got my attention as I looked to the side to see him only dressed in a towel wrapped around his still wet body. There was anger written all over his face as he rushed up to me and then yanked the phone out of my hand. The force he used was so much that I fell to the bed immediately.

"Don't you understand the concept of privacy anymore? Why would you be going through my—" He stopped when he realized what I was going through on his device.

I looked down at my hand to see that there was a scratch on it. The way he had forcefully collected the phone from me really did something and I only hoped I didn't bleed because of it.

"I won't touch your phone again," I said softly, my tone a bit apologetic.

I expected him to scold me or confront me again but instead, he began to explain himself.

"I– I was only helping Ariana out with some type of modelling. It does– doesn't mean anything at all. Don't get the wrong idea."

"You two don't look bad together," I said with a straight face when I looked up at him.

My statement actually made him mad. A deep frown etched on his face as he stared at me and it looked like he wanted to get a go at me.

"Why would you even say such a thing? There's nothing going on between me and Ariana and you know that. She's more like a sister to me. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

I didn't say anything to that. And the next thing, his phone beeped, making him look down at it.

A few seconds later, he said, "I've got to go. Ariana needs me."

But what about me, Troy? What about me?

BETH:

I thought I was going to start the day completely normal. But tell me why I woke up to workers moving in furniture to the building across from mine?

"What in the world is going on?" I grumbled as I forced myself out of the bed which I found difficult to sleep on the night before. Apt, I even slept alone without Troy beside me.

I stepped out of the apartment to take a look at the activities going on outside only to see that there was a moving company doing their job to the apartment across mine that had been vacant for some time after the last couple moved out.

I was going to step back inside and act like it didn't mean a thing until I saw Troy standing there. And to my surprise, he was there with Ariana, his arm over her shoulder as they both stood there inspecting what the workers were doing.

Comprehending the situation didn't seem too difficult because I saw Troy directing the workers on what to do. That was one area he liked to focus his strength on as he always stated that everything needed to be just right.

I wanted to head back inside and pretend like none of that was happening but it was too late because Ariana caught sight of me. She suddenly waved to me and it made Troy look up. He sure didn't look any pleased to see me.

"Hi, Beth," Ariana said after she crossed the road to come see me.

"Uhm, hi," I managed to say in return. It was really forced because I was in no mood to actually have a conversation with her if that was what she wanted.

"We are going to be neighbors now. Isn't that great?" She declared out of excitement but it didn't do anything to make me okay to see her. And to know that she was this close was going to be even a bigger problem for me.

"That's nice," I said.

"Troy is such a nice guy. He bought this place for me when I kept complaining about nightmares. Now that I'm closer to you guys, it's going to feel safer for me."

The more she spoke, the more the thought of ripping her head out of her body invaded my mind. I was finding it hard to gauge the level of dislike I had for her at this point and I only wished she would leave my front.

I nodded as if I understood her and then turned around to leave. The instant I did that, I heard a loud thud that actually forced me to look back at Ariana only to see that she was sitting on the ground like she had a fall.

I noticed the twist in her face that suggested she actually fell but how come? How did that happen?

Troy was suddenly running toward us looking all furious. He wasn't actually running as if he wanted to come to see me. He was running down because of Ariana.

"What did you do to her?" Troy barked at me firstly as he bent to help Ariana up from the ground.

I was confused. Did he just ask me what I did to her? Like he was really insinuating that I was the one who caused her fall?

I found myself completely speechless as I stood there transfixed on the spot. Nothing was making sense at the moment to me and I could not even bring myself to understand it.

"Don't blame her, Troy. It's all my fault," Ariana said to him after but it only increased my confusion further.

"Apologize to her this instant!" Troy told me, pointing a finger at me.

"For what?" I had to ask.

"Stop being so petty, Beth. Apologize for what you did."

It was there that I got a hang of the situation and even myself.

"Why the hell would I apologize for something I didn't do?" I asked, my anger laced with a bit of anger.

"Please, don't fight her because of me. I wasn't standing properly," Ariana used her oh-so-sweet voice to try to calm him down and it was actually making me mad because it was more like she was attempting to manipulate the whole situation.

"I never knew you were like this," Troy started to say, his eyes boring into me. "You are a vicious human being. You know what Ariana is going through yet you always find a way to make her feel like she is less important. You need to fix up."

Those words actually hurt me even though I acted like I cared less about what he was saying. Why would Troy say such a thing to me? I was supposed to be his girlfriend yet he was talking to me like I worth nothing in his eyes.

"Let's get you to a hospital," Troy said to Ariana and then carried her on his back.

I watched as he took her to the car we both owned and then drove off. It wasn't a good way to start the day.

BETH:

My sleep has been a mess for quite some time now. By now, I would think it get better but it hasn't. Troy only made it worse for me and I knew I had to go for a checkup before it gets to a point where I can't control what happens to my sleep.

I landed in the hospital an hour after the little incident that I cannot even make sense of as much as I would like to. But I wasn't going to let that overshadow my train of thoughts.

The heavens didn't seem to get my plan because why did I see the Ariana and Troy walking into the elevator as I approached it?

I wanted to turn back but I knew I couldn't risk it. Especially not with the way I was feeling. So I joined them and we got into the elevator without me saying a word to acknowledge them.

Out of nowhere, Troy asked me, "Are you sick?"

Without looking at him, I answered: "Just a bit of insomnia worrying me."

"Hmph. Remind me to get you something later. It might help reduce the lack of sleep you're experiencing," he said.

That sounded like the old him that was always thoughtful. It didn't move me however but it was nice to know that he still had a little bit of nice in him.

I think he was going to utter another word but Ariana suddenly whimpered like she was in pain which caused him to shift his attention to her. She couldn't even stand not being the center of it all for a few seconds and so had to force it back.

The elevator kept going up... Until it didn't.

The suddenness that came with a loud bang affected me. But what was worse was the lights that went out with it.

I was claustrophobic. And my fear kicked in the moment the lights went out. I had to crouch down in fear just so I could at least get a hold of myself as my panic made me start to shake terribly.

I was having a difficult time here. Why did the lights have to go out in this situation? Why did the elevator stop working? My mind is a mess right now and I hoped it would get sorted.

My palms were sweaty and damp as I held them together. I needed comfort but I couldn't even get one.

"Beth? Beth? Are you okay? Talk to me." I guess Troy didn't forget about my fear.

My response came out forced. "Y– Yes."

"Breathe with me. Close your eyes. It's going to be alright," he said, saying the same words that he said to me the last time something of such occurrence happened in the past.

I still remember when it happened. I didn't know how to react at that time so I found myself crying terribly. I was in a worse condition than this but guess who came through for me? Of course, Troy.

He had come down to my level at that time and embraced like I was the only thing in the world that mattered. At least that was how I had felt at that time. But now, he couldn't even offer to do such to me because of the woman beside him.

"Hold on, Ariana. Let me help Beth. She's scared of the dark," I heard Troy say to the woman beside him.

"But I'm scared too!" Ariana protested.

And that was what he needed to completely ignore me while I battled my worst fear. The longer it took for me in here, the worse I became. My condition wasn't something I could handle alone. It has never been.

"T– Troy," I whispered his name, hoping he would have a little sympathy and just help me out.

That little hope was shattered as instant as it came as he said, "Ariana needs me."

Tears slipped down my cheeks as I continued my long battle alone. I buried my head in my arms and it actually made it better for me just by a tiny bit.

After what seemed like an eternity, the lights eventually came back on and the elevator started moving again. I didn't stand up from the position I was in until the elevator reached the final destination.

Immediately, I wiped the bead of tears that had fallen from eyes and then stood upright. I was still in shock from everything that I found myself staggering as I began to walk.

"You don't even care about me, do you?" I managed to say to Troy, my voice exuding the hurt I was feeling. I didn't wait for a response from him before I continued to walk away.

I still had an appointment to meet up with and would have to deal with any other thing later.