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Dirty Little Secret

twentyfive

It wasn't until Thursday morning that I turned my phone on again. It froze from the number of text messages and calls that I missed during the two days that I was absent from the world. I scrolled through the texts; most of them were from Tate, a few were from Eric, Courtney and Allie, and I received two from Aliyah and Sophia, but the most surprising text of all was from my father.

I scrolled through the missed calls next and they were all from the same people, including my father. I checked the voice mail next.

"Corinne, please call me so we can talk."

"Seriously Cori, answer your phone."

"Cori answer your damn phone."


Most of Tate's voice mails were like this. They started out sweet and concerned then the sweet was replaced with anger.

"So Tate came up to me today and asked if I've talked to you and I knew where you were and I was like 'uh no, freak. Why are you so obsessed with her?' and he was like 'bio project.' and then stalked off. I think he asked Eric and Courtney about you too. I don't know why you're friends with him. Anyways, I just thought I'd give you a heads up because he's at like code yellow of the psycho stalker scale. So call me back, love you!"

I rolled my eyes as Allie's squeaky voice came through the speaker.

Finally I get to the two most recent voice mails that were from Tate and my dad. I click on Tate's first and his voice begins to play.

"Look I know you're upset about everything but I'm really, really worried. If you don't call me back I'm going to tell your dad what happened. Call me Cori, please."

I feel the whole world tilt on its axis and my brain goes fuzzy as I click play on the last and final voice mail.

"Corinne, you're lab partner has come to me with some news. I need you to call me back. This is your father."

I look at the phone after a long pause but the voice mail was still playing. I pressed the phone back up to my ear just in time to hear my dad say "Don't do anything stupid. I love you."

I replayed the last few seconds. "Don't do anything stupid. I love you."

"Don't do anything stupid. I love you."

My dad just said that he loved me. Never in my life have I heard that. I quickly turn my car on and rush to my house.

I see Tate's car along with both of my parents, and a cop car parked in my driveway. I pull in and turn the car off.

As soon as I walk through the front door the voices coming from the living room stops.

My dad and Tate are sitting on the couch across from a balding officer. My mother was crying, fixing herself a drink and on the phone. All eyes were on me as I walked through the threshold and entered the living room.

"Oh my god, she's alive," My mom told whoever she was on the phone with before hanging up and rushing to my side. "Are you okay? I was so worried about you."

I feel her pull me into her for a strange hug. This is all foreign to me, my parents concern for my whereabouts.

"I'm fine, I was at Spencer's," i explain.

"Spencer who?" The officer asks.

"Oh it's a spa and retreat. Excellent cucumber water and they have the most amazing volcano ash scrubs. It makes you look five years younger," my mom raves.

"Why didn't you tell anyone you were leaving, Cori? We were worried about you?" My dad asks, standing from the couch and walking towards me.

"No one cared before. I haven't talked, let alone see, either one of you in like a month. You only become concerned with Tate opened his big mouth about things he had no right to tell anyone," I say firmly, staring directly at Tate.

"He was just worried about his classmate. He told me that you guys were working on a project and you were invited to a party by a friend and when you were there a guy tried to do horrible things to you. Is that true?"

"If I say no will this all go away?" I ask the officer.

"I suppose it will but I think that you should tell the truth. We don't want anyone to get away with this. He could do it again and you don't want that to happen."

I take a moment to think, my eyes still locked with Tate's. I could tell that he was hurt and confused and just wanted to make sure I was okay. He had all of the right intentions but that still didn't make it right that he contacted my parents who got the police involved. I didn't want anyone to know about this, I didn't want anyone's pity.

"No, none of this happened. I let him, it was completely consensual."

"Well then, I'll report back to the department. If you change your mind, don't hesitate to call me," He says handing me a business card.

I take a look at it before handing it back to him, "I won't be changing my mind."

He gave a soft smile before muttering something to my dad as they walked to the front door together. When my dad came back he said, "You don't have to be ashamed Cori, no one will be judging you. We just want to make sure you are okay. We love you," I felt him kiss my head before retreating somewhere in the house.

My mom had left with him without so much as a 'at least you're okay'. It's just Tate and I in the room now.

"I didn't know what else to do. You just called and said you were breaking up with me and then you vanish for four days. I thought you-"

"Louis came back for revenge? Or that I killed myself? No Tate, I'm fine. Who else knows about this? Why did you talk to my friends?"

"I just said that we had to finish our project but you hadn't been to school so I asked them when you planned on returning but when they said that they didn't know where you were, I got concerned and I worried."

"It wasn't your job to worry about me," I sneer.

"Yes it was, I'm your boyfriend."

"No you're not. Not anymore, I broke up with you."

"And why did you?" I shrugged my shoulders at his question. "That isn't an answer."

"You were going to break up with me anyways, so I was just beating you to the punch."

"When was I going to break up with you?"

"You were all distant and you were talking to me after the whole fight we had then this shit happened and I knew that it would just be a matter of time before you realize that I'm crazy and break up with me."

Tate let out a heavy laugh before getting off of the couch and walking towards me. "Why would I break up with the most amazing girl on the planet?"

"Uh, because I'm crazy or emotional or I always blow things out of proportion or I make up lunatic scenarios in my head about things that aren't real. Take your pick."

"Okay, all girls are like that. Every single one them. I've been with enough of them to understand that you need a survival guide, a dictionary, and a how to video on how to be in a relationship with girls. I know why some guys are gay. They are terrified of dating you because the second you're out of the friendzone, bam! You're strapped into a rollercoaster, going a mile a minute while trying to hang on for dear life. All girls say that guys are hard to understand but women don't even speak English, seriously!"

Tate makes me smile. It was true, majority of girls were like that.

"I know that you're mad that I called your parents but I was worried about you, you worry about the people you love, and I really do love you," Tate said taking my face into his hands.

I look up into his eyes and see the familiar caring and fun loving boy I saw before I blew everything out of the water. "You do?"

"Yes, I do."

"Yes it again," I whisper, grinning from ear to ear.

"I. Love. You," Tate says in between kisses.

I missed his kisses. I missed the gentle touch of his calloused hands. I missed the butterflies that fluttered in the pit of my stomach each time he looked at me, or said my name.

"Why were you distancing yourself though?" I frown into his kisses. "You became so guarded and more closed off from the world than normal."

"I had just told you that I was the reason my brother died and how I think that I'm the reason why my dad didn't fight the cancer the second time around. How would you feel after that? I'm sure you wouldn't feel all rainbows and sunshine."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Now will you come home with me?"

I smile once more. Tate was willing to take me back after my dramatic outbursts. I knew at that moment I had found the guy of my dreams.
♠ ♠ ♠
Aw, cute ending for the chapter. There is more in store for Cori and Tate, so don't get comfortable with their relationship just yet.

But yeah, I've decided that I since my profile is like super vague and it just says that I'm a hippie redneck, so if you want to know anything about me just leave a comment and I'll answer it in the next Author's note.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, lol.

Later Alligator.
xox.