Matt turned his face to the wall and gritted his teeth against the pain in his heart. Why was she lying to him again? She kept smiling and craning her neck to try to see his face, but he couldn't look at her yet. He was hurt and angry and he didn't know if he wanted to walk away or if he wanted to stay and try to believe one more lie. One last lie.

"Is everything alright, Baby?" Her soft voice always had the power to cut him down to nothing. Barely aware he was doing it, Matt turned his head back to look at her face. He didn't want to smile at her, but his love for her always gave him away. He smiled and looked so deep into her deceitful eyes and he hoped he might be able to find the tiniest amount of truth there. But there was none.

"Do you want me to stay with you tonight, Matt?" Her touch was gentle as she slid her hand into the soft curls near his temple and he laid his hand on top of hers, eager for one more touch. But her eyes were already glassy and her cheeks were already too pink. She had been drinking again and she was too far into it to even see his disappointment.

"I won't leave again, baby. I promise." Her speech was slurred and Matt tried not to get angry but it was taking everything he had in him to not scream in frustration. There had been too many lies and too many broken promises and he knew it was already over. But he had loved her for so long that there was no way he could just turn off his feelings for her in an instant.

"Yes." Matt answered and rested a hand on her flushed cheek. "Stay with me tonight and we'll just talk." He knew what her response would be even as he spoke the words but he wanted to at least pretend one more time that she was still the sweet girl he fell in love with.

"I don't want to just talk, Matt. You know how much I love the way you touch me." She leaned in and slid a sloppy kiss on his cheek and Matt grabbed her chin and let his forehead rest on hers. His bright blue eyes looked into hers and he could almost believe that it would be alright. But it was clear it could never be the way it was before.

"Not tonight, sweetheart. I just want to hold you and talk to you tonight. Can we do that?" Matt's voice cracked slightly with emotion and she jerked her head away, anger flashing in her eyes.
"You still don't forgive me for what I did! I told you it was just that one time!" She threw the bold lie at him and tried to stand, but off balance, she started to tumble. Matt grabbed her arm gently and steered her back down next to him on the couch.

How many days had he sat on that couch with her, talking about their future, with her laughing at his silly jokes? There were so many days that he had lost count. He had taught her to carve small animals out of wood on that same couch. She wasn't very good but he loved to watch her long fingers working to shape to small figures. That was a long time and so many hurts ago.

She had told him that she loved him and at the time he knew that to be true. But too many nights away from him had left her lonely and sad. Living in the bush would be too hard for her, she had said so many times. Matt made the long trip to see her as often as he could, but for her, it was never enough. So she looked for ways to fill the emptiness.

When Matt first saw them together, he had backed away and walked silently back to her apartment to wait for her. His head was down and his bush hat was pulled low over his eyes, but you still recognized him. You called out to him from where you sat on your front porch, your coffee cup clutched in one hand. Matt looked up and gave you a slight smile and a wave and continued walking until he was out of sight.

Stumbling slightly as she finally walked through the door, her face registered first shock at seeing Matt there, and then a look he didn't recognize came over her face. That was when she told him the first lie.

"Matt, sweetie! I was looking all over for you tonight!" She reached for him and he let her hold him because his heart was too broken to do anything else. He put on a fake smile and asked about her day and hoped she would tell him the truth and tell him she was sorry. But she smiled her fake smile back at him and the painful arrow dug so far into his heart he wasn't sure he would be able to breathe.

Now, as he felt her hands touching him in ways that he had always desired, his body refused to respond. The love was still there, but the desire was gone, replaced by a hard cold stone. He moved her hands away and stood up, pulling on his brown jacket and pressing his hat down on his head. There were no more smiles in him, fake or otherwise, and no jokes or funny lines escaped his lips.

"Come on, Matt. Don't go yet. I love you." She lied.

Matt took one last look at the woman he thought he knew and walked out door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Part one is based on the song, "Lie To Me" by Jonny Lang.

Lie to me and tell me everything is all right
Lie to me and tell me that you'll stay here tonight
Tell me that you'll never leave
Oh, and I'll just try to make believe
That everything, everything you're telling me is true
Come on baby won't you just lie to me, go ahead and lie to me
Lie to me, it doesn't matter anymore
It could never be, the way it was before
If I can't hold on to you
Leave me something I can hold onto
For just a little while won't you, won't you let me be
Oh, anyone can see
That you love him more than me
But right now baby let me pretend
That our love will never end
Lie to me, go ahead and lie to me