Week 6: Fragile
Busted
Gwen could not stand to be in the same room as him let alone look at him. As soon as Drew left, she went to the kitchen. She had been hiding in her room for the last few hours, not wanting to face Tyler. Even when he knocked on her door, she refused to come out, although the idea of opening it just to tell him off did cross her mind. Now hunger was gnawing at her stomach and she could not ignore it any longer.
Gwen was standing with the fridge door open, welcoming the cool air against her skin. She grabbed the bowl of potato salad and she was searching for some stuff to make a sandwich. That was when she felt him right behind her, closer than she anticipated.
"I missed you," he whispered in her ear.
"You didn't seem to be missing me too much," she responded coldly. She closed the fridge and moved to the counter top to get her food together.
She did not look at him at first. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the confusion on his face as he ran his hand through his hair.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the producers gave us a little twist this week and showed us twenty seconds of uninterrupted footage from The Suite," she responded nonchalantly, like she was telling him the weather instead of calling him out on his shit.
"What did you see?"
"I saw you and Quinn with your tongues down each other's throats. She was in lingerie, so it left little to the imagination as to what happened next."
Tyler grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face him. He looked mortified and concerned.
"Gwen, it's not what it looked like. I pushed her away."
"Oh yea. You pushed her away so you could stick your cock into her," she continued with a cool tone. Deep down she was angry and hurt, but she was not going to let him see that. She did not want him to know that he was deep under her skin.
Tyler leaned closer to her with a reassuring look in his eye.
"No. That didn't happen."
"I'm sure it didn't."
"I did not sleep with Quinn."
"Not this week, but that's because I wasn't you." Quinn's bubbly voice had cut into their argument. Gwen turned to see little Quinn perched on one of the bar stools, giving an evil smirk.
"What?" Gwen asked, her emotions finally reaching the surface.
"Let me give you the breakdown. Tyler and I have slept together in The Suite, but that was way back in week one. He didn't sleep with me this time because he's been fucking you hasn't he?"
Gwen glared at Tyler, anger in her eyes.
"I didn't tell her anything."
"So it's true?" Jeremy asked.
Gwen looked around and noticed the entire house was now listening to the conversation.
"Go ahead. Tell them. Share with the rest of the house exactly what you told Quinn." She was trying to keep herself calm, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.
Tyler reached for her, but she pushed him away and started to walk towards the stairs.
"I didn't tell her anything," he explained, chasing after her. "I respected your privacy."
"Which is why the entire fucking house knows," she yelled.
Gwen snapped and turned around, catching him off guard. Tyler remained silent, pleading with his eyes for forgiveness. She stared at him in complete disbelief of his betrayal. How could he do this to her?
"See Jeremy, you had nothing to worry about," muttered Quinn. "She doesn't care about her boyfriend. She probably enjoyed you grabbing her."
"None of this means I liked being molested."
Quinn hopped off the stool and sauntered over to Gwen, her smug smile still playing across her face.
"It's funny, you act all innocent and sweet, but really you're just a big slut. I wonder what Jessie has to think about all this."
"My relationship is none of your concern, Quinn," Gwen threatened.
She chuckled.
"Well, now it is all America's concern."
"Quinn, enough," Tyler snapped. She gave Gwen one last victorious look before backing away. Tyler turned back to Gwen and took her hand in his.
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't waste my time." She yanked her hand out of his grasp and ran upstairs to her room.
Her secret was out now. Everyone in the house knew and there was no doubt, the cameras had also picked up their spat, which would most likely be airing on the next episode as well as streaming live online. Everyone in America knew that she had cheated on Jessie and this was how he was going to find out. He was not going to get the privacy or the complete explanation of why she did it. Instead, he was going to get the media treatment, where everything was twisted and speculated. He would not know what was real and what was created for a more dramatic story. It was not fair to him, but she had no one to blame but herself.
Confession
Jessie did not know why he was even bothering to watch anymore or why he was putting himself through this pain. The last few days had been devastating for him. He did not go to work, calling out sick. He avoided talking to anyone, with the only calls he took were from his family and Gwen's. They were mortified at what he had told them and what they had seen. It was not like her to behave like this.
Jessie stared at the computer screen; his appearance was disheveled and he looked as sick as he felt. He did not care at this point; he just wanted answers.
"Is it true? Did you sleep with him?" Zoey asked, lounging on her bed across from Gwen.
"Yes," Gwen responded, looking down in shame at her bed sheets.
The confirmation was like a knife to Jessie's heart. A small part of him hoped that it was all a nightmare and that he had not seen Gwen and Tyler enjoying each other's bodies. Now that his fear was a reality, his stomach lurched and his heart ached. Why? What had he done to deserve this? Was loving her not enough?
"How many times did you sleep with him?"
"Twice," Gwen confessed, her gaze not moving from her blue comforter.
The pain washed over him anew. He knew of the time in her room a few nights ago, but he had not been sure if they slept together in The Suite. Jessie recalled how happy Tyler was returning to the house. He was sure that Tyler would move on after he had Gwen, but it seemed that Tyler was not done playing with her and wanted to satisfy his appetite even more.
This had been Jessie's greatest fear with Gwen leaving for the game. He knew Gwen was a great woman. She as loving, kind, carrying, funny, and sweet, but her downside was her impulsive behavior. She liked doing things just because and even though Jessie would beg her to see reason, she would not once her mind was set. This must have been another one of her stupid decisions. If she had given it a moment of thought, she might not have done it.
Either way, she had made her own bed with this one and she had to deal with the consequences. Jessie was not going to let her blame him because he knew he had done nothing wrong. How could he when he was not on the show, the show she signed up for? He did not know exactly what he would do when she came back. He still loved her. He had hoped to marry her after the show. Now how could he?
Just watching Gwen sitting there was breaking his heart. She looked ashamed, but that was probably because she was caught. If Quinn had not said something, was she just going to come home and act as if nothing had happened? He could not bear to look at her or think of what she would have done.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Zoey asked after some time.
"Because Jessie would have found out. I was going to tell him in private, after the show." Jessie looked up at the screen, as Gwen spoke. "I made a stupid mistake, but he needed to hear it from me. Not like this."
"How was it?"
"ZOEY!"
"Sorry, sorry," she said, waving off the question. "So what are you going to do now? I take it Jessie knows."
Gwen flopped back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling.
"I guess all I can say is I'm sorry for now. I never intended to hurt him. I made a mistake and I at least want to explain myself after all this is said and done."
Jessie wanted to be mad, but he could not. She seemed genuine. Gwen was not the type of person to do something out of spite. Maybe she did intend to keep this all private to protect him. Jessie knew how insistent Tyler was and how he had probably pressured Gwen for weeks. She had probably said no a thousand times before caving to him in The Suite. The second time was after Hattie had been evicted. He could have blackmailed her or played off her emotional state to get her to sleep with him that time. He was the type of guy who would do something that manipulative.