Accomplice《Lilix》

PART 17: Break

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He'd purposely woken up before his mom. Despite the quiet that came with the crack of dawn, it didn't take long before he regretted waking up so early.
Sleep hadn't helped his situation at all. Still ringing inside his head were the words of his cousin.

"I'm sorry."

"You're not the only one who's lost someone important."

Felix ran a hand through his hair, attempting to get the words in his brain to be quiet. When he snapped out of it, he realized he'd subconsciously returned to the same corridor he walked down yesterday. The tall door at the end of the hallway instantly forced the events to replay in his head.

I shouldn't be here, he told himself. Still, his feet were planted in the same spot, refusing to move.

It didn't help when a light tap on his shoulder nearly made him jump out of his skin. He quickly turned around, ready to come up with an excuse for why he was there, and almost collided with Lila. In comparison to his tired, angry daze, she seemed perfectly awake and ready to tell him off. It only took her a second to recover from her surprise before she was giving him looks.

"There you are!" she said, not bothering to hide her annoyance. "I didn't see you at all after you left yesterday. Do you think I wouldn't realize you were avoiding me? What were you even--"

Felix didn't stop to let her finish her sentence. He simply kept his eyes to the ground and walked past her. Whatever she wanted to say, he wasn't in the mood for it. He hoped the least she could do was understand that.

He realized he hoped for too much when she grabbed his hand, stopping him in his tracks.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" she asked.

He pulled out of her grasp and glared at her. 

"Nothing's wrong."

Lila narrowed her eyes at that. "And you say I'm the liar." She stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "So, Vanily, what's the problem?"

He let out a frustrated sigh. Why was she even up so early? If she wouldn't go away on her own, then nothing he said would make her leave. She crossed her arms, waiting for him to answer.

"Seriously, it's nothing," Felix said under his breath.

His tone didn't faze her whatsoever. In fact, it just seemed to make her more curious. "If that was supposed to make me feel bad, you did a horrible job," she said bluntly.

"That's not what I--"

"I'm messing with you," she interrupted. "You should be used to that by now."

As usual, her smile was teasing. He found himself a bit more relaxed when he saw it. Finally, he answered. "Family stuff."

Lila looked him up and down, as if she was deciding whether that was good enough. After a while, she shrugged. "Hm. Okay." She turned around and started heading back the way they came.

Felix raised an eyebrow. "You...you don't seem that interested," he said, falling into step with her. "But now that I think about it, you've always seemed less interested. When it comes to the Agrestes anyway. Do you not like Adrien anymore?"

"Excuse me?" Lila glanced at him, waiting for him to explain.

"Your crush on my cousin," Felix reminded her. "Did you just forget about it the moment we met?"