✅🎊✂️ Hypnosis Won't Take Me There!! [alternative cut]

Chapter 523: My Most Embarrassing Secret

"I remember that," Chastaine said quietly, not wanting to interrupt the narrative. But Adi looked up at him and froze for an instant, a new fear on her face. When she didn't say anything else he continued, but the more he tried to get her mind onto a different track the more he was sure that she wasn't taking in what he said. "You wanted so badly to let your friends know you were safe, even if you knew why you couldn't. I could see it tearing you apart, from the first time we met."

"Crap," she answered, and all around the table she could see friends getting ready to defend her honour. Toni was ready to fight, and her Mom too. Even Belle seemed a little agitated. But she quickly tried to stop them worrying. "No, don't get upset. I just... I got carried away with the story, and I didn't think."

"You never told me before what you'd been thinking about me before we met," Chastaine explained, more for the benefit of the people who hadn't realised than for Adi. "You were thinking I was some stalker, maybe even a creepy stalker. Because I never really introduced myself, just expected you to know me after your discussions with Dean."

"Well you said you were my friend, but you didn't give a name. I should have been able to figure it out. I mean, there's less than a hundred people ever responded to my reviews, and maybe single figures who've stuck around for a conversation or sent me a real message. I mean, a message that wasn't asking for nudes, anyway. I should have known you were one of them."

"You didn't have many clues. But we've talked now, you know what kind of person I am. I've told you my screen name, and that's about as intimate as you can get. You trust me now, don't you?"

"You know I do. But I'm so embarrassed I thought all those things. Like, I wouldn't listen to you and I was always getting in my own way. Confirmation bias gone mad, once I thought you might be some stalker, I only considered how the things you'd said might make stalking me worse. I never imagined that you might be a real person... I mean, like a person who really cares. Until you made me face it."

"It's an easy mistake to make," he tried to brush it off, clearly seeing that Adi was bothered by her earlier distrust than he was. As she recounted their first meeting, she had said exactly what she'd been thinking about him, and that was the kind of thing that most friends would find it hard to laugh off. "No, really. When you're posting in public, and people comment. You don't know if you'll ever hear from them again, you don't remember the names. What seems like a real friendship from one side could just be forced politeness on the other. You can't read people's emotions online, so it's harder than you think to know who someone is. Or you might not remember names; someone might send you a dozen messages showing sympathy, support, or praise without you realising it's the same person each time. So there's no shame in missing a detail, and nothing to feel bad about because you reached a conclusion from the evidence you had."

"I guess..."

"Anyone would have thought the same," Dean reassured her. "I really should have told you his Crit Mass name. But he was so emphatic about being Chastaine rather than his first name, I kind of assumed he'd share his real name with anyone he chatted with. So it's my fault really."

"Anyway, where were we up to?" Nyx pushed the conversation in a new direction, not wanting Adi to dwell any longer on mistakes that had already been forgiven. "You were in a hotel, right. How long did you stay there before coming here?"

"I think that might have to wait a bit," Adi pointed past Belle's shoulder, to where the evening crowd was starting to file into the pizza place. "I bet this place will be crowded soon enough, people close enough to overhear and I bet the old guy won't want us taking up a booth all night without a meal."

"We could go back to your room," Dean suggested. "There's not space in the lounge for so many people, but we could pull extra seats into the nursery. Or we can wait for another day if you prefer. I mean, it's only the journey home now, and some of the detraining and retraining if your friends really want to know."

"I don't think we've got anything left to worry about," Nyx agreed. "We're not going to drag you away now. And the academic year starts soon, so you should be looking forward to university life. No sense interrupting your life and moving all of your belongings twice in a week, is there?"

"Yeah. But it's going to be dark by the time you all get home, so maybe we'd better finish sharing memories the next time you can make it up. I mean, I'd kind of like to show you all the nursery. I'm impressed by how much effort they put into it, that somebody cared that much about me. I mean, a nursery isn't what I want, don't get me wrong. But it's clear how hard you were trying, and it really isn't that bad."

"That's not what you said the first time I showed you pictures of it," Chastaine smirked. And after that cryptic comment he and Adi couldn't resist detailing that little episode while they walked back to Nyx's car. For once there were no interruptions or half-joking comments to interrupt the flow of memories, and it was soon time for Nyx to drive away, with Toni and Belle in the back of the car.

"Can't wait to hear the rest of your adventures, Babe," Toni called out as the car started to pull away. "And you reminded me about something, thanks. I'll have a surprise for you when we meet again."

Author's Note: In the print and Kindle versions of this book this chapter is slightly different, leading into a recap from Chastaine's point of view. I've omitted the 'deleted scenes' from this version, but include them as a bonus in the for sale versions. If you've been supporting me and helping to promote this book, or following me on Patreon, then you can get a copy of these extra chapters just by sending me a message. Thank you.