~Now here’s a first time for… er… The First Time, hehhehee. A whole chapter without Elisabeth in it!! It’s the only one, so treasure it- hahaha! We’re really racing on with the fic now- don’t know why I’ve got down for this to be uploaded today, but I have, lol! suppose it is a short’n’sweet chappie, lol. hope ya like Newho! *Mwah* Kate xxx~
The two of them sat in the lounge, the silence engulfing them as they didn’t know what to say.
Elisabeth was upstairs, crying, and Paul desperately wanted to get to her and check that she was alright, and do all that he could do to comfort her, like he felt he was supposed to. He hadn’t heard all of the conversation between her and Becky- but he’d heard the end of it, and that in a way had been enough.
He’d hated the way they’d been ‘caught’ too; and wished the situation could be better than this- but… this was what they got, and they, he, had to make the most of it.
At least he’d got Becky to come in here with him to talk- now he had to stick up for… for the girl he was going to marry.
“Becky- please don’t be so hard on Lib,” Paul started gently.
Becky had her arms folded defensively against her, a stern look still plastered firmly across her face.
“I can be as hard as I like,” she snapped. “She hurt me.”
“She didn’t mean to,” Paul continued, trying to get Becky to look at him. “Becky, Lib treasures you as a friend- she loves you so much! You have to give her a chance.”
“If she valued me so much as a ‘friend’, then she wouldn’t have gone off with my boyfriend,” Becky muttered.
“Didn’t it occur to you that maybe Steve went off with her?” Paul threw in, getting a little frustrated with Becky’s stubbornness.
Becky shrugged with no real conviction.
“Becky.” Paul edged closer to her on the sofa, and that made Becky turn to look at him. “I’ve been with Lib throughout nearly the whole of this business with Steve. I’ve had to be there for when things went wrong, and I’m also Steve’s best mate- I’ve had it all from his side, too! If there’s anyone who knows what’s going on best, it’s me.”
Becky studied him hard, as if to trying to analyse his position, and whether he had anything worthy to say.
Finally she said, “Okay then- you speak.”
Paul let out a little smile with a deep sigh of relief, and then started to tell it all from his point of view.
“The first time I came and saw Lib it was a couple of weeks ago. But Steve had already told me what was happening… he said he’d been seeing her a few times now- ever since he hooked up with you, really. I couldn’t believe it- I couldn’t believe Steve had gone for Lib like that, but he said he didn’t care- she was cute, and that was it! And when I spoke to Libby that time, she… I could see she was falling for him too, and that hurt a lot because I knew this would all end up in a huge mess.” And because I loved her too, he thought to himself silently.
Becky didn’t flinch, she just carried on listening.
“The… do you remember when I phoned up that time, and you answered? Well, Lib was really worried that day because Steve had told her he was going to sleep with her that weekend you were away- she was really frightened, Becky.”
Becky looked away. “Own fault,” she muttered.
“But it wasn’t her fault!” Paul protested. “Steve put enormous pressure on her! You heard what she said about Steve being the only guy to have ever been interested in her! She thought he was the best thing ever, and would do anything to make him stay with her.”
“So- she slept with him whilst I was away at my parents’ anniversary?” Becky spat.
Paul shook his head. “No.”
Becky turned to look at him, with a degree of surprise. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
“She said no,” Paul repeated calmly. “She told him to leave.”
Becky’s eyes widened more in surprise. She believes me, Paul thought. She believes it coming from me.
“Why?!” Becky said.
“Loadsa reasons,” Paul answered. “She wasn’t ready, she felt pressurised, she couldn’t do that to you… you know she’s a virgin, right?”
“Huh,” Becky muttered. “She was.”
“She still is, Becky,” Paul replied seriously, and again Becky looked at him surprised.
“She never slept with him, Becky, I promise you that,” Paul assured her, feeling he was getting through. “I can’t deny that she did want to at some stages… but she never actually went through with it. It was more pressure from Steve. You didn’t see that pressure, because you just naturally slept with him. Steve expected that from Lib too, but he was never gonna get it because she was too scared. He even lied to me that he had slept with her! I was so pissed off when he did that.”
Becky sat there pale-faced, letting all this new information soak in. It was quite easy to believe Paul because she knew how honest he was, and it was easy to feel sorry for Elisabeth… but that could just be because of what Paul and she seemed to have…
“How do I know I can trust you?” Becky said back to him.
He smiled at her. “Why would I lie to you? Becky- Steve treats girls like shit- believe me, I know. I’ve been there- seen it all. And I hope this doesn’t hurt you in anyway… but he never cared about you. He never cared about Lib either, he just cares about himself. He doesn’t treat girls right- he uses a lot of them, and cheats on every single one. I’ve never seen Steve have any kind of meaningful ‘relationship’… I’m really sorry, Becky.”
Becky looked down, playing distractedly with the strap on her bag for a minute or two; and Paul wondered whether the dejected stance meant that he had upset her.
But then she spoke up. “I know what Steve’s really like. I couldn’t believe Liz could do that to me either… but I knew he’d have some part in it. She just hurt me a lot, that’s all, by going behind my back with him and lying to me.”
“She’s really sorry,” Paul said to her. “If you let her apologise, she would. When I saw her after you’d caught them, she was really distraught. She didn’t care that Steve was gone, she just wanted you back. She regretted it all in a way; that she’d been blinded by Steve, his charm and her false feelings for him. She was so scared you hated her and weren’t coming back.”
Becky let out a little pathetic laugh. “I did hate her. I really hated her- and I hated Steve, too. I hated both of them.”
“But now…?” He prompted, wanting to know the key answer.
Becky sighed heavily. “When she phoned me up I didn’t really want to speak to her. I just wanted to leave it all. But then… I don’t know… I wanted to know… I had a right to know what happened.”
“Then you must see her side of the story now!” Paul said, encouragingly. “See that she was led on; and even though she did have a chance to stop it and didn’t, she wants to put it all behind her now, and really make it up to you! She’s so, so sorry- God when I spoke to her earlier today she was going on about how you were the most important thing, and I had to get her to phone you, and everything because she daren’t-”
“Did you?” Becky smirked.
“Yeah! And she was just so mad at herself for falling for Steve, and saying she’d been so selfish and everything. Of course, I didn’t want her saying those things, but she did. You have to know this is what she really wants.”
Becky paused a minute; thinking.
“And then of course she- we- never expected you to turn up tonight! That must have looked really bad and not done anything for your opinion of her- and I’m really, really sorry,” Paul said.
A smile played at Becky’s lips, and she looked up at him with a sudden grin. “I’m sorry I interrupted.”
Paul blushed, and looked down, a little embarrassed. “That’s okay,” he mumbled.
“I just thought- God, first Steve, now Paul- she’s sleeping with guys all over the place!”
“We haven’t slept together,” Paul said solemnly. “We were just in bed, that’s all.”
Becky grinned again. “And why?! That’s what I want to know!”
Paul blushed again, realising he was going to have to tell Becky the ‘good’ news.
“She always said you two weren’t together,” Becky half-laughed. “And did not look like that to me-”
“We’re getting married,” Paul said softly.
Becky turned to look at him sharply, nearly dropping her bag on the floor, a look of shock spread all over her face when he said that.
“What?!!”
Paul couldn’t help but smile- it was pretty unbelievable, even for him!
“We’re ‘engaged’… if you like,” he said, using the inverted commas with his hands. “I kinda… proposed to her earlier. Very randomly.”
Becky’s mouth hung open in amazement, her eyes growing ever wider by the second, making Paul feel really shy- but a proud shy.
“You’re joking!” She cried.
He laughed lightly. “No- I’m not.”
“You’re engaged?!!”
“Well, yeah. I mean she hasn’t got a ring or anything yet- I guess we’ll be getting that soon.”
“Oh my God!” Becky slapped her hands onto her face, looking completely stunned. She couldn’t take it in at all… her best friend was marrying… PAUL!
Paul shifted, embarrassed, but forced himself to keep his head up at her even though thoughts of Lib were beginning to come into his mind, and he wanted to go and see her.
“So… so… oh my God I don’t believe this,” Becky shook her head in amazement.
“It is pretty incredible,” Paul agreed.
She turned to look at him. “Why did you propose?!”
Paul let out a little laugh, wondering why himself! But he knew the real reason why he’d done it, why that little question had slipped out after he’d kissed her… wow, that kiss! “Because I love her,” he replied simply. “I really love her, I’ve always loved her, and I just want to be with her for the rest of my life.”
Becky looked at him in astonishment, but a warm smile beginning to spread over her face- she looked really, really happy. For the first time in ages, she had a genuine smile on her face.
“I always knew you did,” she grinned. “Come on, we have to go see her!” She said suddenly, and jumped off the sofa.
Paul got up slowly too, hardly believing his luck. “You’re going to see her?!”
“Ahuh,” Becky said, leading the way. “My best friend is getting married!” And she strolled off into the hallway.
Paul stood there a moment, a little fazed, wondering how on earth he’d changed her around… but shrugging, he followed her- bemused; but happy and relieved at the same time.
Maybe things would be okay now after all…