Cambridge (Part III)

Delia’s P.O.V.

It was nearly two weeks later when I saw Rachel for the first time since Spain. I was running late for a lecture and all but crashed into her on my way. She quickly began apologising, before looking up and meeting my eye. As soon as she realised it was me, she quickly began walking away. I had only a few seconds to decide – follow her or make it to my lecture?

I hurriedly began to run after her, calling her name as I did. It didn’t take long to catch up with her, although she continued walking, pointedly ignoring me.

“Rachel, please. Come on, at least give me a chance to explain,” I begged, stepping in front of her, halting her walk.

“Explain? There’s nothing to explain. I thought we were friends, but clearly we weren’t,” she said shortly, attempting to step around me.

“Rachel, please, five minutes and then I won’t bother you again,” I asked softly, again blocking her path.

She rolled her eyes, seeming to think about it for a few seconds. “Look Delia, I don’t see the point honestly, I get it, you’re sorry, it was a mistake, whatever, but it’s not going to change the fact that you betrayed me,” she said quickly, glancing down rather than meeting my eye.

“It wasn’t a mistake,” I answered, immediately regretting it when her eyes widened dramatically.

“What?”

“I mean, of course the whole behind your back thing was a huge mistake, it shouldn’t have happened, but being with Ashton wasn’t a mistake, at least not for me,” I explained quickly. She raised her eyebrows as an indication to continue.

“I really like him, Rachel. I think that there’s a chance that I love him,” I added.

She seemed momentarily shocked, before crossing her arms over her chest.

“So you think you might love him, whatever, he was still my boyfriend and you were my friend. Regardless of how you feel, you don’t sleep with your friends boyfriends. If you and Ashton had feelings for each other, you should have just told me. I wouldn’t have liked it but I would’ve understood,” She began ranting, looking more and more upset by the minute.

As she was ranting, I saw Louis walking over towards us, looking rather panicked.

“You had absolutely no respect for our relationship, at all,” she exclaimed angrily, just as Louis stopped next to her.

“Woah, you guys okay, here?” he asked quickly. However, his arrival had sparked an idea for me.

“Look, I knew you were serious about Ashton, but I also suspected you still had feelings for Louis and I thought that maybe he could make you happy, happier than Ashton was making you,” I told her quickly.

Louis’ eyes widened and he looked suddenly very uncomfortable, while Rachel looked even more furious if anything.

“Oh so you slept with my boyfriend to make me happy?!” she demanded. “As if! You didn’t care what I wanted, or what would make me happy, all you cared about was yourself! If you had any respect for my relationship-“

“Respect for you relationship? Why should I have respect for your relationship with Ashton when you had no respect for your relationship with Louis?” I yelled, suddenly angry at the whole situation.

When both Louis and Rachel looked confused, I continued. “What, you don’t think Ashton told me about how you two ‘fell in love’, when you were still with Louis!”

“I didn’t start dating Ashton until months after Louis and I broke up-“

“Yes, yes, officially you didn’t cheat on Louis, but come on Rachel, even before Louis slept with Eleanor, you were spending all your time with Ashton. He told me about your little rock-climbing date, and about how you spent the night in his bed, when you and Louis were still together. And about how he kissed you when you were still with Louis, after the fight he and Louis had that ended in the whole Eleanor thing, and rather than chase after your boyfriend, you stayed at Ashton’s and made sure that he was okay, not Louis’ “ I ranted, keeping my eyes locked on Rachel’s.

“He may have cheated on you, but aside from that, he was the one that actually had some respect for your relationship. You were cheating on him in every way except physically,” I finished, finally looking to Louis, his expression unreadable.

“I should go,” he was the first one to talk, his voice coming out hoarse, exposing his hurt. I hadn’t thought about how he would react to my harsh words. After all, he didn’t realise just how uncommitted Rachel had been when they were dating.

“Louis, wait, I-“ Rachel began, reaching out a hand, as if to grab him, but he had already begun walking away.

“Look, I’m sorry for what I did to you, sleeping with your boyfriend was way out of line, and if I could go back and do it differently, I would, because I miss being your friend. But seriously Rachel, you blame Louis for the end of you relationship with him but you need to take some responsibility too, things aren’t always black and white, just like the situation with Ashton and I,” I said softly, hoping to get something from her.

After a few seconds of silence she sighed softly. “Your five minutes are up,” her voice was gentle, sounding as if she were about to cry as she turned and walked away, leaving me standing alone.

Notes

Okay so if there's anyone out there still interested in reading, please leave us a comment so we know whether or not to continue on with this story!

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