Chapter 21: Deal Over?

"Sean, what was that all about?!" Dell stormed through the corridor of their apartment building. After Sean suddenly left, Dell had profusely apologized to Raph and had taken William up on his offer to drive her to her apartment building, where she found Sean at his door. She had asked William to just drop her off and had refused his offer to accompany her. She needed to handle this herself.

"What was what all about?" He asked.

"What's with you?!" She said, angrily, as she inserted herself between him and his door so he couldn't just leave without her finishing giving him a piece of her mind. "Raph was being nice to you!"

"Was he, now? Was that how it looked like to you?" His voice was level but she could feel an undercurrent of rage.

"What, was there some man thing that happened between the two of you during your few seconds of interaction that I wasn't aware of?"

"Very perceptive."

"Are you trying to be funny?"

"Not at all." He tried to get at his doorknob, key in hand. But Dell kept blocking it from him. "Do you mind?"

"Yes, I do mind! We're not yet done talking."

"You're mad at me for not texting real-time. You're mad at me for walking out on your crush. I think I got the gist of it." He tried pushing her to the side but she held her ground.

"You're not even pretending to be remorseful."

"That's because I'm not."

"You're being moody! Snap out of it!"

Sean suddenly slammed his arms on the door behind Dell, effectively pinning her between them. Though the slamming wasn't particularly strong, the fact that it was a metal door made the sound it made loud enough to effectively render her silent. That and the fact that Sean was looking her straight in the eyes again, but this time with a very angry expression.

"This deal is only good for you," he said in a low voice. "I'm not getting anything out of it. I'm not enjoying any of it."

She wanted to say something, but no words wanted to come out. Partly because this was a side of Sean she had never seen before. But also because she had never really stopped to think if her rules and requests were one-sided and only good for her. And she felt a little guilty that the thought hardly even crossed her mind... Still, if it had bothered him, he should have just said so instead of--

"I want out," he said. And with that, he left.

Dell was too stunned to do anything. Part of her wanted to go after him. Part of her wanted to scream at him, that she could find others to do this plan with. But all she ended up doing was sink to her knees on the floor with her heart beating wildly within her.

She could feel her nose tickle and her eyes start to sting. Oh, no, she was going to cry. Just as her vision started to blur with the onset of tears, she saw a hand extended before her. Did Sean come back? She looked up to the figure standing before her.

"Come," William said, kindly. "Let's get you sorted out."

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