Two days later Kate suddenly showed up at the house. I was surprised when she gave me a hug. Kate acted like she usually would. To her nothing was wrong and I really hated that. I wanted to scream at her, maybe even punch her. How could she act like she wasn’t spreading lies? I used to love being around her, but now all I felt was fear. This wasn’t the Kate I made friends with. She had this crazed look in her eyes whenever she locked eyes with me.

We sat in the living room making small talk until she excused herself to go to the bathroom. I watched her as she walked down the hall. My phone pinged which made me jump. The message made my heartbeat increase. Fear washed through me as my body turned icy cold. I glanced up to make sure she was still in the bathroom before diving for her bag. Gripping the material, I quickly unzipped it before searching inside. My finger closed around her phone. It wasn’t password protected like I expected it to be. I thought the message Stephen send me was wrong, until I opened a folder that contained every single picture that was posted of us. Including those that were edited.

“Well look what we have here.”

The phone dropped along with the bag as I span around. Kate stood behind me with her eyes narrowed. I gave a nervous laugh as I pressed my hand against my chest.

“You scared me,” I said as I bent down to pick up the bag and phone. “Your phone started ringing.”

“Oh,” she muttered.

I handed the phone and bag over to her before moving away. My eyes fell on my phone lying on the couch. With a side glance at her I made my way back to it.

“Would you like some tea?” Kate suddenly asked.

“Uu… sure,” I muttered with a little uncertainty.

I watched as she made her way into the kitchen. The moment she disappeared from sight I grabbed my phone. My fingers flew over the keyboard as I replied to the earlier text.
Don’t do anything. Just act normal and don’t give anything away. I’m on my way.

I felt lightheaded. My stomach was knotted with nerves. I took a seat on the couch again. Kate's fingerprints were found in the house and on some of the photos. She was here on that night. My best friend was the one posting pictures on the internet, and spreading photos of us.

“Here you go.”

I took the cup from her with a shaky hand. With a small smile I placed it aside. I didn’t trust her enough to drink it. A tense silence had settled around us. She was busy typing on her phone. Her cheeks were flushed red. The front door suddenly burst open. My head snapped towards it. Stephen stepped inside the house and quickly closed the door behind him. His eyes locked with mine briefly before moving to Kate.

“Hey Stephen,” Kate said excitedly.

“Kate,” he muttered stiffly.

Our eyes locked as he took a seat next to me. With his arm wrapped around my shoulders he pulled me against his body. His lips caught mine before moving to my ear.

“Wait five minutes and then go to the bathroom,” he whispered against my ear.

Stephen answered Kate’s questions stiffly– like he usually would whenever they talked. His thumb stroked my arm all the while. I waited until I knew the five minutes had passed before making the excuse. Leaving him alone with he was something I was afraid to do, but I knew I had to.  The door softly clicked shut behind me. I walked over to the faucet and opened the tab. Splashing my face with cold water, I waited a few more minutes before walking out of the bathroom. My steps flattered when part of their conversation drifted towards me.

“Have you told her about your stepmother yet?”

“What the fuck do you know about my stepmother?”

“A lot of thing,” Kate laughed. “I know that you send her to jail and that you don’t want her to get out. I know that she’s the reason your father hated you. I also know that you are the reason your sister got killed.”

  I pressed a hand against my mouth to silence the gasp that escaped.

“You fucking know nothing about me or my family Kate.”

“I know enough about everything you have done. The question is; does your stupid naïve girlfriend know?”

“Kate, if you say a word to Alia about any of this, I swear to God I will make you regret it." His voice rose with anger which made the hair at the back of my neck rise.

I’ve never heard him talk like that before. I didn't hear her reply which made me frown. Deciding to make my presence know, I stepped away from the wall and into sight. Tears welled up in my eyes at the sight that greeted me. My chest tightened and my heart cracked into a million pieces.

Why was he kissing her? I blinked rapidly to clear the tears. I wanted to turn around and walk away, but a few minutes later I was thankful that I didn’t. Stephen ripped his lips from hers and harshly pushed her away from him. He rubbed his mouth as he turned away from her. As he turned his eyes fell on me. I watched as the colour drained from his face. Panic flashed through his eyes.

“Alia.”

My eyes moved to Kate. I caught the satisfied smile before she wiped it from her face. She span around then rushed over to me. Her nails dug into my skin when she gripped my arm.

“Alia,” she gasped. “It’s not what it looked like! He just grabbed me and started kissing me!”

I gripped her wrist and pulled my arm from her hand. My eyes darted between them. Stephen’s eyes were flashing with different emotions. Anger. Fear. Hate. Panic. Shaking my head, I turned to face Kate.

“I think you should leave Kate,” I said softly.

Her mouth fell open and then slammed shut again. Surprise washed over her face before she could hide it.

Kate stepped forward with tear filled eyes. “You believe a man you barely know over your best friend! He fucking kissed me. How can you believe him?”

“Best friend?” I questioned softly as I took a step towards her. “Do you even know the meaning of it? What best friend tells everyone that I had an abortion? What best friend goes around telling everyone that she’s sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend?”

Her eyes widened. She stumbled back slightly. I saw the fear flashing through her eyes before it turned into anger.

“What friend does that?”

“Alia, I swear he was the one that kissed me!”

The slap echoed the living room. My palm burned as I lowered my hand to my side. Kate stared at me with a hand pressed against her cheek. She deserved more than just a slap.
“Get out Kate and stay away from me and my family.”

She growled then stepped forward with her hand raised. Stephen caught her wrist then stepped in front of me.

“Get out of my house Kate. If I ever see you near Alia again-“

“You will regret it!” Kate yelled before storming out of the house.

A shaky breath fell from my lips as my shoulders sagged. But then tears filled my eyes as the feeling of complete sadness filled me.

“Alia,” Stephen said softly drawing my attention to him. 

He took a step closer and reached out to touch me. I recoiled from his touch. Slowly lifting my eyes, they locked with his.

“I think,” I swallowed, “I think you need to go wash your mouth with soap.”

  He gave a stiff nod before turning around and disappearing around the corner.

***

I leaned against the counter as I watched him through the kitchen window. Stephen was chopping wood in the back yard. His chest was covered in a fine layer of sweat, and his pants hung low on his hips.  I was getting turned on by just watching him.

We haven’t spoken much after Kate left. Stephen only informed me that someone had picked her up for questioning. I wouldn’t mind if she actually was sent to jail. Her parting words still left me with fear. I knew the old Kate and not the new one, so I didn’t know what to expect from her.

Shaking the depressing thoughts away, I filled a glass with lemonade before making my way outside. I paused behind him and watched as he raised the axe over his head. It slammed into the wood seconds later making it split in half. Stephen grabbed the wood and dumped it onto the pile before turning. He paused.

“Thought you might want some lemonade,” I said as I held up the glass.

He pulled the gloves from his hands and dropped them on the grass. “Thank you,” he muttered.

I nodded as I watched him drinking. A drop of sweat dropped from his hair onto his shoulder and slowly started to trail down. It got caught on one of his nipples.

“Alia?”

My eyes snapped up to his. “What?”

“Are you okay?” he asked softly. “If my friends betrayed me I would be devastated.”

“And if your brother betrayed you?”

He was silent for a few minutes before answering my question. “If Nathan ever betrayed me then I would believe he has a reason for it.”

Stephen sat down on a wooden stump and then gripped my hands. I stepped closer. He pulled me onto his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Are they going arrest her?”

“They will present the evidence to her and give her a chance to come clean. If she still lies she will be locked up until you press charges.”

“Do I have to?”

Stephen reached up and cupped my cheek. He ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “It’s your choice baby. I can’t make that decision for you.”

I nodded. Licking my lips I leaned down to press them against his. A harmless kiss quickly led to something more. It left both of us breathless and wanting more. He gripped my hips as he stood to move under the tree. Stephen sat down and manoeuvred on his lap so I straddled him. His hands slipped beneath my shirt to stroke my back.

“What did Nathan say to you?”

“How do you know he said anything to me?”

“I know my brother,” he said softly. “He’s not happy with me at the moment and I don’t blame him.”

“I heard what Kate said. What did she mean Stephen?”

His eyes seemed to glaze over for a few seconds. Stephen sucked in a breath before slowly letting it out. His eyes trailed over my face before moving past me. “I stayed with my mother until I was eight. Social services deemed her unfit so they took me away from her.” His fingers started stroking my back again.

“My mother had no family that I knew. I was put into the foster program. There were some shady people. Some were abusive and some were good. I once stayed at a family that was very different from the others. They had adopted two other kids and were planning on a third. The woman got pregnant. That’s how I knew you were pregnant. She had the same changes to her body that you had.”

“What happened?”

“Shit happened. They decided not to adopt me since they already had a child of their own. I was sent back to the foster house. Two months later they located my grandparents. I lived with them until they passed away. After that I was sent back to the foster house. I was stuck there for a year before they found my father.” Stephen pulled me closer against him. “He didn’t want me.”

He suddenly fell silent. I rubbed his shoulders to try and relax him. His body had tensed as soon as he mentioned his father.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I’ve gone through abuse since I was little, but living with my father was the worst.”

“D-did he hit you?”

“No. My father hated me but he never hit me. He made sure I understood that I was never welcome in his house. I did everything I could just to piss him off.” He smirked at me. “I loved getting into fights at school just so they could call him away from work.”

I stared at his face when he paused again. Stephen kept his face emotionless. His green eyes had turned cold.

“My father didn’t abuse me,” he looked back at me. “His wife did. My stepmother abused me.”

Tears filled my eyes when I saw the fear and pain flashing through his eyes. Reaching up, I pressed my hands against his cheeks. “I’m sorry Stephen.”

“She threatened me so I kept silent until Nathan saw it. He helped me expose her. She was sent to jail and that made my father hate me even more.” Stephen licked his lips. “He not only made my life hell but also Nathan’s. My father is a very, very bad man Alia. He’s capable of a lot of things. I learned my lesson a long time ago.”

“What lesson?” I whispered.

His eyes trailed over my face before locking with mine. “That I would never be able to fall in love.”

I frowned at him but before I could ask any more questions he caught my lips.

“No more questions baby. I have a few things on my mind that would be a lot better than talking.”