Puppet

Alice stood staring at the door the sound of it slamming still echoing in her ears. She turned to face Chris who simply glared back in her direction.

"What was he talking about?" Alice asked in a harsh whisper.
"I don't know what you mean," Chris said the arrogance returning once again to his voice.
"Don't you dare lie to me Christopher," Alice shouted as she strode towards him.
"He never had feelings for you. I made him enter so that Ryan would lose," he declared smirking.
"Why are you smiling then? Clearly it didn't work because if he never cared for me then I can honestly choose Ryan," Alice said looking in Ryan's direction.
"That's the thing. You can't definitively choose Ryan because although Josh didn't have feelings for you he sure does now. Why do you think he would abuse me for biting you? If he was on my side wouldn't he relish in your misery," Chris said looking into Alice's eyes, watching the togs begin to turn.
"Why do you hate me so much?" She whispered suddenly confused by her predicament.
"I don't hate you my dear. I love you and that is why I will make you miserable for the rest of your life," Chris said as he pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Why?" She whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Leaning in Chris placed his lips next to her ear before whispering, "Because you didn't choose me." With that he pushed away from her and walked down the stairs the sound of his feet unheard by those in the house. Alice looked around for some sort of clarity, some sort of reasoning but none of the other men seemed to understand what was happening. It was Ryan who finally approached her placing his hand around her waist and guiding her towards his bedroom.

"Don't let him get to you," Ryan whispered as he kissed her neck from behind.
"How can I not he's playing with my life? I only have a few days before I decide the rest of my eternity," Alice said as she turned to face him placing her arms around his neck.
"This is absolute torture," he said as Alice skimmed her lips against his neck.
"How do you think I feel?" She whispered in his ear as a smirk appeared on her face. Without a moments hesitation Ryan pulled her into a kiss his arms wrapping around her waist. Alice threaded her hands through his hair. She pulled away from the kiss grabbing Ryan by his shirt and pulled him towards the bed. Pushing him down Ryan laughed as he looked into her eyes as she trailed them along his body. She straddled his hips and kissed a line along his collarbone until she reunited with his lips.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you," Alice whispered as she trailed her finger along his jaw.
"You let us kidnap you and it is I who does not deserve you," he said gripping her waist and rolling her over so he was now on top. Alice laughed as he tickled her sides and she couldn't remember a time when she had felt so free and genuinely happy. She looked up at Ryan whose face began to drop as he moved his hand to remove the hair from the side of her neck.

"I can't believe I let him hurt you," he whispered no longer making eye contact.
"It's not your fault," she said as she placed her hands on the side of his face forcing him to look at her, "Don't blame yourself for that sadistic bastard. He did this to me and it was his own fault that I didn't choose him," she said as she leant up and kissed the top of his chest left uncovered by his shirt. He leant down and continued his kiss from before nothing in the world could stop them and their feelings for each other. They were both left startled when they saw Josh standing in the doorway a pained expression on his face.

"I guess this means you've already chosen," he said as he turned and walked out of the room. She didn't know what came over her but Alice pulled herself from under Ryan and bounded down the staircase after Josh surprised that she was able to get to him.

"What do you want?" He asked as she placed her hand around his arm.
"I don't know," she replied meekly.
"That's not good enough. I told you that I couldn't get heart broken and that wasn't a lie. I fell for you so fast I didn't realise it was possible to love someone so much and as quickly as I love you," he stated maintaining eye contact with the girl in front of him.
"Why didn't you tell me about Chris?" She asked weakly.
"Don't you remember I did tell you, I told you that Chris wanted me to enter, I told you he wanted to make it difficult for you. If I didn't enter Brandon would have and who knows what he could have tricked you into doing. I couldn't let him do that to you," he said pained. She placed her hands around his neck pulling him into a hug. Josh's hands came to rest around her waist and he saw from the corner of his eye Chris standing in the doorway smirking.

"I'm so confused," Alice whispered.
"I know and I'm so sorry," Josh replied as he glared at Chris.