58| THINGS GO DOWNHILL

Riley groaned and dragged her hand along her face. It was already a day after the incident already and Frema was currently in Riley's house after she had dropped her kids off in school.

"I just can't believe she also sent you pictures and videos. What the hell is this bitch trying to prove? She's doing too much at this point." Riley spat, whilst pacing about her living room. Frema said nothing, just sat on the couch with her face buried in her palms.

"Now, I hate to say—I told you so, so I'm not going to say that. I'm going to say instead, I'm so sorry this happened and I cannot even be mad because I also am a cheat. I'm just like Eron." Riley said regretfully. Frema scoffed.

"Do not dare compare yourself to Eron. You didn't get the man pregnant, it was only a kiss." Frema interrupted angrily. Riley sighed and kept pacing. "You're messing with my vision, Riles, sit down." Frema groaned and Riley finally took a seat beside her friend.

"I don't even know what to say to comfort you right now." Riley muttered, her eyebrows drawing together in worry.

"Well, I'll tell you what I want you to say," Frema said and turned her body to face her. "Cuss at me, Riley—that's what I came here for, anyways. I came to be reminded of how much of an idiot I was, believing that such a man had magically up and changed his ways. I was such a fool and I need you to say it to me, as cruelly as you can."

Riley was quiet for the first five seconds and then she burst out laughing, clutching her stomach while at it. When she began to hit her thigh too, Frema turned away from her and leaned against the couch with a sigh, refusing to laugh at her misfortune with Riley.

After more seconds of catching her breath, Riley finally looked up and started to talk, "I'm sorry, I swear to God, I'm so freaking sorry for laughing at you."

"What goes around comes around." Frema stated stiffly. Riley burst out laughing again.

"Sorry! Oh my God, what is wrong with me? Okay, I'm so sorry, Frems, you sounded so solemn, I couldn't hold it in." She giggled again before continuing, "You want me to cuss at you? Well, I would have. I mean, you know it would have been my utmost pleasure to cuss at you until eternity, but right now I just want to hold you. I want to make sure you're okay because I'm not, myself. I cannot judge you because you fell in love. I did, too and I also realized that everyone makes mistakes. You made a mistake by getting back together with him, but I'm glad the truth came out before you could get married to that serial cheat."

Frema shrugged. "What can I say? My brother's smart ass genes finally rubbing off on you." She murmured and Riley laughed.

"May I remind you that I graduated with a distinction and—" She started but Frema cut her off with a cough,

"Yeah, yeah, nobody likes a proud bitch." She said jealously. Riley rolled her eyes with a small smile playing on her thin lips.

"Now, can I get that hug?" Riley asked and Frema moved into her friend's arms immediately. Her eyes closed as soon as they made contact and her mind drifted to everything—her supposed marriage, her kids, Kayla, the pregnancy... She thought about it all and whilst she did, she could hear her world crumbling again; for the umpteenth time. Once again, she had allowed Eron Castile into her life to give her false hope, only to send it crashing down again in painful pieces. A tear dropped on her shirt at the same time hers dropped on Riley's shirt and they chuckled sadly, before allowing themselves to sob in each other's embrace.

"After all these years, I'm so glad I still have you to give me the comfort I need when things go haywire like this. You're an asshole, but you're my asshole, Riley." Frema muttered, amidst sobs. Riley giggled into Frema's right shoulder.

"I'll never get tired of babysitting your ass, Frems, even as annoying as it gets, I'll still be here for you, always." Riley said.

"Always." Frema echoed.

"Okay, okay, enough with the drama." Arsen's pained voice filled the room. Both women pulled apart and turned to him as he walked into the room, not bothering to wipe off the tears. He didn't ask about it. Instead, he went to sit on a chair opposite them and took out an envelope from the dark brown cigar pants he had on. Next, he took out a pair of glasses and fitted them on, looking up at Riley to see if he'd catch her laughing at how ridiculous he looked in the newly acquired prescribed lens.

"What's that?" Frema asked and Arsen cleared his throat, looking over the paper once before handing it to Riley.

"Baby, don't panic." He muttered softly. It was obviously a wrong move, because the statement caused Riley to begin to panic—her forehead creasing with worry as she opened the envelope. Frema craned her neck to see the content of the envelope and the moment the letter was opened and they went through the details, Riley yelped and the paper fell off her hand.

"Stomach cancer?" Frema shrieked.

Arsen stood up and went to his wife's side, pulling her to his chest as soon as he sat beside her.

"It's.. at the last stage." Frema stated weakly as she read through the discarded paper again.

"Great. I'm going to die." Riley proclaimed.

"Shut up, Riles, you're not going to—" Frema started but Riley shot up from her seat right away.

"Don't lie to me! Don't fucking sugarcoat things, because I don't want that right now. I don't want any of that! I knew, okay? I mean, I didn't exactly know, but I guessed. My grandma showed these type of symptoms as well and she passed on because of it, I started showing exact symptoms and I was afraid to go to the hospital because I guess I knew what I'd find. I'm going to die and you'll be without a bestfriend, Arsen, without his cheating wife—feel free to marry someone else, if you need to, and Halsey without a mom. My life's going great, by the way." Riley snapped, holding back her tears with so much determination. Arsen stood up and tried to hold her but she flinched, moving away. In a warning tone, he spoke,

"Riley."

"Don't act like you're not pleased. Like this isn't what you've wanted all along. This is my punishment, perhaps." Riley accused, shaking with unshed tears. Arsen's jaw clenched and unclenched severally, alongside his fists, until he was able to keep his temper in check and then, he moved closer to her again but stopped when she kept moving backwards.

"You will not die, baby. Listen to me, I know it's not enough reassurance but I've got you. I'll do everything, anything, to make sure you survive this, because as you already know, I cannot live without you and—" Riley chose that moment to lunge at her bucket and pour every single meal in her body into the small plastic. Frema sniffed from her chair, after Riley had dropped the bucket and the couple turned to face her.

"I'm sorry, I know I should be strong for you, but..." She trailed off and then buried her face in her palms whilst sobbing. Arsen did not know how exactly he was supposed to feel, seeing his baby sister cry in front of his sick wife like that. How then was his wife supposed to feel?

"Frema—" He started but Riley cut in,

"Eron got a bitch pregnant, babe, be nice."

The room went ghost quiet at once and Arsen's features turned to steel. In the time period, Frema faced down and let more tears slip down her cheeks. Riley stood there, lost in her own thoughts.

"What the fuck is she saying, Fremantle?" Arsen barked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"What you heard." Frema answered in a bored tone. "Go ahead and yell at me, I deserve it, but please.. please, no power play between you two. I saw that time you went to confront him on the internet and to be honest, it was hands down the most embarrassing thing I've ever watched. So please, just yell at me and leave it be. I don't even have it in me to care about my relationship problems any more, my bestfriend is sick and I want to be here for her as much as I can."

"You're such an idiot." Arsen stated with no emotion in his voice.

"I know." Frema said bitterly.

"Eron Castile is lucky that I do not have the time for him right now. So damn lucky. Would have been a fucking bloodbath." He muttered and finally approached Riley without her running away.

"Hey." He murmured, holding her chin between his thumb and index finger.

"Hi." She murmured back and he placed a chaste kiss on her lips, then assured her,

"We're in this together, my love. I promise."