𝑇𝐻𝑅𝐸𝐸 𝐷𝐸𝑀𝑂𝑁𝑆

x 53 x

x LAURA x

"So your mother's a lawyer?"

"Yeah," Demon was driving Maury and I to her home. We didn't know what to do with Dior, so we locked her in the laundry room Maury had been in back at my place.

"I had to tell her, um, you were my girlfriend to convince her to do the case free and immediately," Khloe explained.

"Didn't you just pop out with Devana this morning? Does ya mother know you're a hoe?" I eyed her.

Maury laughed from the backseat but Demon only blushed in embarrassment. "She'll get your mother straight. You guys can stay at my place for the time being. Have whatever you wan-

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Somebody has to be there when Devana wakes up."

"I don't trust you not to hurt her. She just needs to go to fucking jail," I snap.

"Unfortunately, that won't happen. Not with who her parents are. Best case scenario for us: Her parents move her away and we never hear from the Tellman's again. But that might be a bit much to hope for. Devana has a future ahead of her with her dad being a basketball coach and her being a star."

"Don't you hold more influence in Northwest? Isn't that why you were the leader of the trio? You were the richest, then Devana, then Synara?"

"I can see what I can do," Demon said tightly.

"Yeah...see that," Maury mumbled.

I shot her a look.

"I just don't know what to believe anymore," I whispered to myself. I sighed, keeping an image of Synara laughing at me out of the front of my mind.

Demon pulled into the driveway, swiftly parking her car. "I'm leaving a key with you, in case you need to go out and can't get back in," she tells me.

Maury found her a nice spot on the couch after ransacking her fridge and found something to watch. I followed Demon upstairs where she offered her shower and some clothes of her's in case I wanted to change. "You really should go to the hospital for that," she suggested. "I'm not leaving my sister," I said firmly. "And I need to make sure that my mother gets out of jail."

"At least let me clean it," she offered.

"Fine."

She handed me a shirt relatively my size and some pants. Her room smelled like her and I hope she could tell that it irritated me. I found my way to the bathroom, not bothering to close the door as I stripped out of my clothing. It was still a bit humid in here from someone else's previous shower, and the open doorway was offering me some sort of cooler air.

"Can you forgive me, Laura? For causing you all of this pain?"

"I ask myself that everyday now," I responded dully.

I didn't bother looking at her as I stepped out of my underwear and struggled to take off my bra. I must have pulled something in my arm amidst all of the chaos with Devana.

I felt her against my back. Her cool hands on my waist, partially on my back, as she used the other to help me take off my bra. "Thanks," I said quietly, looking down at my feet as my bra fell from her hands.

"I picked the wrong one. I knew that I would," she admitted. She wrapped her arms around me from behind, and our eyes met in the mirror. Me, naked. Her, in her clothing. "I'm your second choice, aren't I?" I ask, my eyes staring into her reflection.

"Yes," she admitted, shame in her voice. "But you were always the right one."

"But you never could see that," I added.

"I don't deserve you."

I moved away from her, walking to the shower.

"I never deserved you. Maybe that was the lesson all along?"

"Or maybe there was no lesson. No clue that Synara could have left behind for Devana. No love for a Southwest girl like me- no hope," I finished.

"And no mercy for a demon," she whispered.

I rubbed the soap against my skin. It smelled like something I'd use for a bubble bath as a kid. The suds travelled across my skin, but irritated the leg that had been punctured.

Demon moved the soap across her skin too. The towel traveling across her breasts. The water from the shower soaking her face.

Nothing serious. No relationship. Just us.

I can work with this, I tell myself. I can work with this until we fall into something more comfortable.

She lifted up her arm and cleaned herself off, turning to the side and unintentionally giving me a view of her ass. "When's your mother coming home?"

"Soon. I hope Dior hasn't woken up yet," she grimaced. She had decided to detour and stay with me for awhile. It feels weird to say that I appreciate that.

"Me too."

She pulled me closer by the waist and brought me against her chest. "I miss you. Even though...

"Even though," I repeated, letting my words trail off like hers. We were kissing again, but it all felt wrong.

She's done this with Devana.

She's slept with Devana.

She chose Devana.

I pulled back, hurt heavy in my heart, and turned away from her. It felt like she had cheated on me, even though we hadn't been together. Dior had robbed me of an opportunity that could have been mine. For love that probably would have went to me instead of her.

Now I really feel like I had her seconds.

That balloon release was supposed to be my moment to hopefully let go of all these flashbacks of Syn. All of this torment from the memory of Syn. Dior robbed me of that too. Robbed me of the ability to be there for Demon, when I knew she needed me the most, when I wanted to be there for her.

Nothing will ever be the same for both of us anymore. And it sucks. But damn, did Dior really have to do all of this?

I can't fall in love again. Not with this new Demon. Not with the one who's a bit more kind and who's protective of those she cares about. The one who has a newer grief, but a shining heart. The one who's pushing through her depression and her anger.

Her guilt.

What if someone else comes along and I come in second again? I'm the type of bitch who should always come in first.

I know my worth.

But do I?

I know that I deserve better.

But do I?

I know with all my heart that Demon loves me.

But...do I?

"I'll give you the space and the time that you need."

But how long would that be? No, Laura. This is just high school. So what if my life is tangled up. There will always be other fish in the sea. I've loved before and I'll love again, just how Devana moved on from Synara. But something tells me that being with Khloe would be a different experience.

One for the better.

Would I be willing to take that chance again?