Page 54 of My Fake Fiancé

“No, honey, it’s me,” Tatyana says, rubbing my arm as I sit up. “You okay? You were pretty shocked last night.”

“This whole thing is so messed up,” I say, choking back a sob. Tatyana shoves me over and sits down next to me on the couch. She pulls a blanket over both of our laps and wraps her arms around me.

“I know. This sucks, hun.” Tatyana comforts me. I lean against her shoulder and sob into her shirt. She holds me in silence for a few minutes. “Mike, why don’t you let us have some girl time,” Tatyana suggests and I look up with a sniffle.

“Oh no,” I protest weakly. “I don’t want to kick you out. I’m so sorry.”

“No, no. It’s fine. Mike has other things he can be doing right now. Isn’t that right?” Tatyana addresses Mike, widening her eyes at him so he gets the point. I try not to laugh at her not-so-subtle attempt, Mike smiles at her and nods.

“She’s right. I’ve got some things I need to do today, so I will leave you two to do whatever you need.” Mike comes over and kisses Tatyana on the lips then smacks a loud kiss on my forehead. Tatyana laughs and I grumble, wiping off my forehead. “Have fun, be good! I’ll send some food over for you two in an hour or so!” Mike calls as he leaves the apartment.

“He’s a good guy,” Tatyana practically swoons.

“The food was a nice touch,” I agree.

Tatyana sits up, pushing me off of her. She claps her hands, ready to get down to business. “So, do you want to talk about everything or do you want to be distracted?”

“I want to be distracted,” I whine.

“Wrong answer. I was only giving you the option because I thought you would pick the right one,” Tatyana scolds me and I groan. “I told you that you weren’t coming back here until you and Kurt worked it out. Obviously, with this new development, that is going to be a little more difficult than we were expecting but I still think that you need to talk to him. But I am not kicking you out. You are always welcome to come back here.”

“Thanks,” I pout. “I don’t know what there is to talk about. I thought we were getting close but then he freaked out, kicked me out, and the same day, he brought his ex back home. That…that is just so messed up. And yes, I understand that our whole situation was messed up from the start but I actually thought we were developing a real relationship. I guess I should have known it wasn’t real to him when he didn’t want to put a label on it.”

“Now, see, I can understand that. You two are already in this fake engagement so everyone around you sees you two as fiancés. So, I can understand why it would be weird or confusing to add a different label, even if it is a real one.” I give her a look and she shrugs. “I’m your best friend, I am going to give you my honest opinion. And keep in mind that I have been supportive of this whole situation, from the start.”

“Fine, that’s true. Okay, I can kind of understand it but if we were starting to build a real relationship why would he kick me out without even listening to me? Why would he immediately get drunk and go running to Ashley,” I choke on her name as another round of pain hits me, tears streaming down my face.

“Oh, baby.” Tatyana grabs a tissue and wipes my cheeks, dabbing under my eyes. “You’re right about that. That part is pretty messed up. I can’t defend that,” Tatyana admits.

“Okay, I have to stop crying over this man. I have to. I can’t let this fake relationship ruin my life, even if I thought it was starting to be real. I just had one incredibly horrible relationship and fake dating Kurt was a great experience. Now I know what I want and how I deserve to be treated, and this ending is not it. I deserve better than that, no matter the circumstance,” I try to toughen my resolve but I can feel my strength fading. This whole thing has been exhausting and part of me is relieved it is almost over even if losing Kurt would create a huge hole in my life and in my heart.

“You know, maybe this is good. You learned some very important lessons, you got Callum off your back.” Tatyana makes a face. “We think. And you’re raking in the dough from working so much. You’re getting your life together and that is all that matters.”

“I guess that’s true. Can I wallow in it for a few more hours? I promise after that, I will pull on my big girl pants and get to work.”

“That’s fair. I will accept that,” Tatyana relents and we sit back on the couch.

She starts playing Psych and a few minutes later she gets a notification that we have food on the way. We both praise Mike when some chicken wings and fries arrive at our door.

We spend the next few hours wallowing in my sadness. Tatyana indulges me to a limit and I promise myself I will knock it off as soon as we decide that it’s enough. I hope she allows me at least another hour but I can tell she’s starting to get tired and she keeps checking her phone, probably talking to Mike which makes me feel even worse because I know I keep cutting into their time together. I hope that I am not putting a strain on their relationship

Knock, knock, knock.

Tatyana looks over at me when we hear the knocking on the door. “You should get it. You haven’t gotten up off this couch in a few hours.” I laugh a bit and throw a pillow at her before getting up.

“Technically, you haven’t you either.” I point out as she ducks away from the pillow as it lands short. She picks it up off the ground and tucks it behind her head.

“This is mine now.” She goes back to watching TV and I make my way to the door. “Hopefully, it’s the pizza guy. We ordered like twenty minutes ago!” She complains and pats her stomach. My stomach growls a bit and I agree, I hope it’s the pizza guy. Even though Mike sent us food right after he left, I wasted so much energy crying that I was now hungry again.

I open the door and my heart drops to my stomach, a feeling I am all too familiar with recently. “Kurt,” I say, holding onto the door.

Tatyana peeks up, looking over the back of the couch to watch the scene unfold. “Wait, how did you get into the building?” She asks him, pretending it wasn’t her who let him in.

I haven’t looked away; my eyes are too busy staring at his face. He ignores her and stares only at me.

“Can we talk?

Chapter 49

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