The Kings IV II

38

Josie

I knocked on Eros's door, letting out a heavy sigh. "Eros, I'm here. Open the door."

He opened the door, an annoyed look on his face.

"You wanted to talk," I said, pushing past him and into his house.

"Yeah, I did," he said, slamming the door shut.

I shrugged, folding my arms over my chest. "Then talk."

"Why on earth did you say something to her?" He harshly asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

"What?" I asked, completely agitated with him.

"I was leaving school this afternoon when I saw you talking to Veronica," he said, "you need to-"

"Okay," I said, taking a step towards him, "you need to calm your fucking self down, first of all."

"Oh, is that so?" He chuckled, looking down at me.

"Yeah," I snapped, "secondly, I was being nice to her. I was apologizing."

"I genuinely do not believe that. Not after the way you acted this morning."

"Fine, ask her what was said," I laughed out, shaking my head, "if you can't believe me, then fine."

He placed his tongue in his bottom lip, his hands on his hips. "Why the sudden insecurity, Josephine?"

"Why were you following me?"

"I was leaving school," he deadpanned, a dumbfounded look on his face.

We stood in silence, our eyes glued to each other's.

"Why am I here?"

He folded his arms over his chest, letting out a sigh. He still looked angry, but he didn't really ever seem to be happy with me these days.

My angry eyes softened up, making me bite down on my lip.

"The sudden insecurity has stemmed from me knowing that you deserve a girl like her," I said, "there. There's your answer."

He clenched his jaw, looking away from me.

"You deserve a girl who runs a fucking campus cleanup group," I spat out, shaking my head, "you deserve a girl who, you know. Is her."

"Josie, stop," he muttered, raking his hands through his hair.

"No," I said, shrugging, "wh-why are you still around? You've pointed out every flaw of mine, and all of those are reason enough to just pack your shit and hit the road. I don't get why-"

"I'm still around because I am not lying when I say I'm in love with you," he said, "I write fucking poems about you, Josie. I fucking draw your face on everything. I think about you, all the goddamn time. I am so blindly in love with you."

"No, you were," I said, "you're not blindly in love with me anymore. You know all the shitty qualities I've got."

"But I'm still here, yeah?" He asked, sitting down on the arm of his couch.

I didn't respond, just folded my arms over my chest as I looked over at him.

"I've got my flaws, and you're well aware of them," he said, folding his arms over his chest.

"You've got anger issues," I said.

"Fair enough."

"And you are colder than ice when you're upset with me. You make me wonder, for days at a time. Just to avoid hurting my feelings. I'd rather you scream at me, Eros."