Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

Some part of me thought he might text me again to check in and see how I am after what he pulled
me into, but the bastard didn’t even bother.
“Yay! Tell me all about this new guy. This has to be really new, right? You just went out with
Lance like a minute ago.”
I spend a minute trying to think what I can share with her, but my brain won’t cooperate. The
road is completely blocked, so I close the text for now and check emails, social media, and—of
course—make sure my login streak is safe.
My phone vibrates and another message flashes across the screen. “Hello?”
“Sorry,” I text back. “I’m at his house right now and I feel like I’m being rude. I’m also getting
really tired. I’ll text you tomorrow, okay?”
“You’re sleeping over at his place?? Wow, that’s like really serious for you.”
It is, and I don’t know how to explain it.
To evade getting roped into the conversation now anyway, I send back, “Yes, lol, and I don’t
have my charge cord with me, so…”
“gotcha. Well, tell me everything tomorrow!”
I text back telling her to have a good night, but I feel a pull of sadness knowing I can’t really tell
her everything. I’ll have to set up a lunch date with her one day so we can talk in person.
Of course, then she’ll see it all over my face….
It feels like there’s no good answer to that, and it stresses me out. I don’t want my relationship
with Calvin to interfere with my relationship with Charity, but at the same time, there’s so much I
can’t tell her. Even if I gave her a sanitized version of our relationship, I think she’d conflate it with
abuse. Which isn’t exactly unfair, but if she picked up on that, she would flip the fuck out and make
me get out of the relationship… which I obviously cannot do.
There’s too much I can’t explain.
My stomach is getting upset just thinking about it, so I try to push it out of my mind. I do one last
round of notification clearing, update my social media with a picture of Marie napping on her blanket
bed with a toy mouse tucked under her paw, and sign off for the night.
When I put my phone down on the cushion closer to Calvin, he closes his book and looks over at
me. “Are you ready for bed?”
I nod and glance at the book. “Did you finish your chapter?”
“No, but I can finish it tomorrow during your phone time.”
He says that like it’s healthy and normal, but I cringe a little because it sounds batshit crazy. Also
a little because who stops reading before the end of a chapter?