The Housemaid [in edit]

The Housemaid - Chapter Twenty-Two

NOTE: First off--please check out my new TW fanfic, Beginnings. It's the sequel to Secrets.

Also, if you haven't, check out the latest on Reflections!

Now, here's the highly....? anticipated. Chapter 22.

Hint: Refresh your memory with the last two chapters before this one. :)

GUILT
 
At least, that’s what Christine thought would happen the next day.
 
She lay in her bed in the dark with her encounter with Tom fresh on her mind. Erin was sleeping soundly in the bed across from her; Christine wanted to talk to her about everything that’s been going on with her with the band lately, but funny enough, they find themselves busy for each other despite living with each other. 
 
The scenario about the next day in her head scared the hell out of her, if Tom had gone behind her back. But there was just something about that moment with Tom, other than the song, that Christine couldn’t point out. She realized that, yes, he may like her, but does she like him back?
 
Of course she does. Despite being with Jay...
 
The thought of Jay made her frown. It was really strange how she hardly spend time with him. They never really discussed where they were in their relationship. She wished he was here so she can spill out all of her feelings to him.
 
She’s with Jay, not Tom. There are still so many things to experience with Jay, and they were just barely starting. She should confront Tom about this before this could possibly get out of hand…
 
She removed herself from her bed discreetly and made her way back up to the main floor of the house. It had only been two hours since she last sat on the roof with Tom; she wondered if he was still awake. 
 
The house was silent and still as expected. Christine immediately sensed that the rest of the band and new girls weren’t home yet, which was somewhat a good sign. As she made her way to the stairs, she noticed the light in Tom’s room shone through the walls. She bit her lip. he was still awake.
 
The sound of his guitar grew louder as Christine moved closer. Her heart began to race. Was she really going to do this? 
 
She stood under Tom door frame once again, and watched him from his back on his bed, playing his guitar, singing softly to the open notebook in front of him. He stopped momentarily and picked up a pen that was tucked behind his ear and bit its end between his teeth.
 
He hadn’t noticed her yet, which gave Christine a bit more chance to study his features. He was deep in concentration as he wrote words in his notebook; there were times where he crossed a few words and rewrote new ones. Just watching him work made her at a loss for words.
 
Tom tossed the pen over the notebook and exhaled a deep breath. When he turned to set down his guitar against the dresser next to the bed, he finally noticed Christine at the door. He raised his brows, surprised to see her again. Probably sooner than expected. “Chris.”
 
Immediately Christine realized she had forgotten what she wanted to confront to him. She kept her gaze on him, still unable to say a word. She stammered. “T-Tom…I…”
 
Tom sat there, nodding slowly, waiting for her answer.
 
“I…I don’t know why I came here…”
 
Tom stood up from the bed and walked towards Christine with his hazel eyes fixated on her. There were a million thoughts going through her mind about what will happen next, yet her initial thought still hadn’t come up. It was going to bug her, but right this second, she didn’t care.
 
“I think I know why.” Tom said. 
 
Before Christine could respond, she found herself in Tom’s embrace with his lips in hers. 
 
It was an interesting kiss, to say the least. Christine always wondered, even since the beginning, what it would be like to kiss Tom Parker. It was like her dream. A dream come true…His lips were soft and tasteful…indeed, he was a great kisser.
 
But then she remembered. 
 
Jay.
 
All she wanted was to confront Tom about these certain expectations they might have for each other, whether it was true or not. She did confront it, but her original way definitely took a wrong turn. 
 
“No.” Christine breathed as she pulled away from his kiss. Her eyes were already glistening with tears. 
 
“No, what?” Tom asked softly. His hand was on the side of her face. It pained her to see that this is what could have been. She reached for his hand and slowly removed it from her face.
 
Her lips quivered. “I can’t do this. Not like this, Tom. We can’t. I’m sorry…”
 
She turned around and began to run back to where she started. She never should have gone to his room.
 
Unfortunately on her way back, she realized the lights were on in between the bottom stairs and the kitchen. Jay and the others were home. There was laughter between them, and some playfulness. Christine quickly tried to conceal herself back up the stairs, but that didn’t work.
 
Max and Siva drunkenly gave her hugs, while Vada and Faye tried to contain them. Christine gave them a weak smile, though behind them, she noticed Nathan staring at her. He already knew something was wrong. 
 
Jay pulled her out of the stairs and gave her a warm embrace. “Hey, baby.” He looked at her with that cute smug on his face. He chuckled softly when he noticed her face was stained with tears. “Have you been crying?”
 
“Chris, wait, I…” Tom stopped in the last step of the staircase after realizing that the rest of his band mates were there. 
 
Jay narrowed his eyes as he kept them fixated on Christine. She watched him gradually put two and two together, and felt his hand close into a fist against her shoulder. She should have kept her face straight. 
 
“What did he do?” He gritted his teeth.
 
Christine gulped. She was confused on why he’d get so worked up by this so fast. And it was scaring her. “Jay—”
 
“Did he hurt you?” He pressed on.
 
“Jay, I would never—” Tom answered.
 
“I didn’t ask you, Tom!” Jay turned around and raised his voice at Tom. This startled Christine and the girls who were also on the floor. “But, since you decided to pipe up, what the fuck did you do to her?”
 
“Mate, quiet down!” Nathan hissed. He tried to move Jay away from the staircase, but instead was pushed away. Faye held onto Nathan before he could start again.
 
Christine was shocked to see Tom and Jay exchange such dirty stares at each other. She gaped at each of them, wishing that it would stop. 
 
“Simmer down, simmer down…this’ll all be forgotten tomorrow morning.” Max said while plopping on the couch.
 
“More like in a few hours.” Siva added. He bursts in laughter.
 
“Tell me…Tom.” Jay moved forward, almost inches from Tom’s face. “What. The fuck. Did you do?” 
 
Tom stood his ground. Christine watched the expression on his face, hoping he wouldn’t say anything stupid. 
 
But she thought wrong.
 
“I gave her a proper snog.” His face was hard and serious. He seemed to have no guilt whatsoever for what he’s done, which left Christine in disbelief.
 
The next minute or so was probably the most terrifying thing Christine has ever seen. 
 
Jay threw his fist at Tom’s face, which led Tom to collapse on the staircase. For a brief moment, Tom sat there with a cut on his lower lip and a thin line of blood dripping to his chin. The next thing they all knew, he and Jay were on the tiled floor in an intense scuffle.  
 
Max, Siva, Millie, and Nathan jumped from their spots and ran to them to separate the two. Christine was terrified. She didn’t want either of them to get hurt any further.  
 
“Stop it!” She cried. She was in tears once more. She went forward, but Vada and Faye pulled her back. “No!”
 
“You always fucking do this, Tom!” Jay shouted when he and Tom were finally apart. Max and Siva held onto Tom, while Nathan and Millie were with Jay. “You steal girls from your mates. Remember Ashley?”
 
Tom scoffed. “Oh, don’t you dare bring her into this.”
 
Max agreed. “Yeah, don’t—”
 
Jay ignored them and continued. “You took her from Max, did you not?”
 
Max stayed silent. Tom glared at Jay. “I can’t believe you—”
 
“And Lyla!” Jay laughed. Nathan moved his attention from Tom to Jay to Tom again. “You’re the real reason why she left this house, right?!”
 
“Wait, what…” Nathan furrowed his brows. His hold on Jay’s arm began to slip.
 
“Jay’s talking nonsense!” Tom sighed. “He’s drunk!”
 
“But you kissed my girl!” Jay shot back.
 
“Who you haven’t given the chance to spend time with!” Tom retorted.
 
“Stop it! Both of you!” Christine escaped from Vada and Faye’s hold and went between Tom and Jay. She turned to Tom first and huffed. “What Jay and I do isn’t for you to decide.”
 
Tom’s face fell. “You’re taking his side?!”
 
“I’m not taking either one of your sides!” She placed her hands between her temples. This has been an intense early morning. She groaned. “…I don’t need this right now. We need to go to bed.”
 
“I think we all need to…” Millie replied as her eyes stared past Christine. Christine looked back to see a very upset Sandy in her robe, with Erin behind her. She gulped.
 
“Living room. 9am sharp,” was all Sandy said. She eyed every band member, and turned back to the kitchen. She also made a hand gesture for Christine, Vada, Faye, and Millie to follow suit. Quickly, they went with Erin without looking back at the boys.
 
 
Waking up was not easy for Christine, and probably everyone else, since she slept past 2am. It probably wasn’t easy for Jay, Max, and Siva since they drank the most. 8:30 in the morning felt like 4:30 for Christine, and she knew she needed a pick me up.
 
Erin was already wide awake despite being woken up by two members of the band, but wasn’t dressed in her chef uniform. She sat in her bed, with two Starbucks cup in hand. 
 
“Morning,” she grinned. “Aaron brought us all Starbucks. There was coffee and tea. Guess which one I chose for you.”
 
Christine smiled. “Aw, thanks.” Erin handed her the cup, which was surprisingly still warm. 
 
As Christine took a slow sip of her tea, she noticed Erin still keeping an eye on her. She nodded slowly. “So…I guess an explanation is in order?”
 
Christine knew she was referring to what happened between Tom and Jay. But she also thought it could mean everything else, like the story behind it; like what she wanted to tell her and the band what she explained to Nathan at the house party. Maybe it was time to tell everyone anyway, so the whole house can be all on the same page.
 
Christine chuckled softly. “Perhaps it is.”
 
“You know I’m here for you, Chris.” Erin said with a soft smile. “What happened?”
 
She let out a half-frown. The thought of what happened made her feel so guilty and maybe even embarrassed even if the fight was between two band members. “Tom kissed me.”
 
Erin’s jaw dropped; she was surprised as expected. “Oh…dear.”
 
“I know, I know, I know…” Christine covered her face with her hands in complete guilt. “I feel so horrible about it. I let my feelings for him get in the way when I shouldn’t. That’s how the fight started…because of me.”
 
“Sweetheart, don’t blame yourself…” Erin placed her arm around her. “Trust me…this fight wasn’t just about you. It goes way back.”
 
Christine thought about the past names Jay spat out during this altercation. Ashley, Lyla…it suddenly changed her perspective in Tom. He might have gotten with more girls in the past. But then again, she didn’t know the whole story, just like they didn’t know hers.
 
They both heard a knock on the door and watched it open. Faye’s head popped in with a little shy smile on her face. “Hey…we’re all supposed to head up in 15.”
 
“Which living room?” Christine asked.
 
“The one where the piano is.” 
 
“Okay, we’ll be out in a bit.” Erin replied. Faye nodded softly and closed the door.
 
Christine let out a shaky breath. “What do you think Sandy will talk to us about?”
 
“It’s probably another intervention; we had one right after Tasha was kicked out.” Erin explained.
 
Tasha, the girl Tom was caught fooling around with within these quarters. Christine began to see a pattern with Tom, but again, she still has yet to hear the whole story. “H-How do these things go?”
 
Erin gave her a heartwarming smile; the kind of smile like an older sister would give. She stroked fingers through her hair. Christine realized the anxious look on her face was obvious.
 
“It’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a little gathering for us to try and solve whatever problems that are going on in the house…rationally.”
 
“Oh good…” Christine inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. Maybe this will give her a chance to finally let out all of the feelings she’s kept in the last two weeks. 
 
“I’m sure you have a lot to say.” Erin stood up and offered her hand to hold.
 
It’s scary that Erin was starting to know her too well. Christine took her hand and smiled softly, with her heart beating rapidly. She was scared but knew it was time. “You have no idea.”
 
The both of them soon joined Faye, Millie, and Vada as they finally climbed up the stairs to the living room, all anticipating what’s going to happen in this impromptu intervention.

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NOTE AGAIN: Sorry if this chapter confused you...basically the last chapter didn't actually happen; it was only in Christine's brain, a worst-case scenario of the next day. x) Please don't kill me lol.