Remembering Smiles

Chapter 24 -

Hola! 

If you haven't checked out "Observing Devotion" yet, (a short love story) PLEASE do!! It's literally 1 page and a half and I hope it touched your heart<3

That's all I kind of have to say, so thanks for sticking by me and supporting my work, you guys are freeeken amazing!

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***Layla's Point of View***

I woke up to ice cold water breaking my warm shell. My skin instantly grew chills as my wet, cold clothes clung to my tired body. With gritted teeth and blue lips, I glared at my brother who was on the floor laughing.

"Triston! How the hell do you think this is funny?" I growled.

"You're the one who wouldn't get up!" Triston answered through gasps of air.

"Whatever." I mumbed while pushing him out of my room.

It was Monday, I had to go see Allen, and to to make it worse- I just got a bucket of cold water dumped on me.

"Whoa, wouldn't get up?" Raina chuckled as I made my way to the bathroom.

Ignoring her comment, I jumped into a warm shower so my teeth would stop chattering. Once I finished, I stepped out and towel dried my hair. Since I was to lazy to care about my appearence, I threw my damp hair into a bun and only brushed on some mascara. I pulled on my fitted hoodie and ripped jeans before lugging myself downstairs.

"Good morning sweetie." My mom pecked me on my cheek. By now she probably figured Allen and I had hit a bump in our relationship, but she hasn't said anything.

"Morning mom, you leaving?" I wondered.

"Yeah, I'm actually running late- love you guys!" She called through the house before running out.

While glancing at the clock on the wall, I noticed I was running late myself.

"Raina! Triston! Let's go." I screamed as I heard footsteps come rushing down the stairs.

Normally, Allen would be here to keep me on schedule. It still hurt to think about him, but at least he wouldn't be going to school today. According to Camile,  Tabby ordered him to rest today. I just hope I will be allowed to see him.

I drove down the familiar course to Raina's school and dropped her off. Then, I went down the road into the highschool. Before turning the engine off, I looked at the time.

"We have five minutes. Do you think we can make it?" I aksed Triston.

He quickly nodded and barged out of the car as I did the same. Somehow, I managed to get inside my homeroom before the bell rang.

I slumped into an empty desk and let the time go by. During my classes, I couldn't tell if I wanted the time to speed up or slow down since my surprise meeting with Allen was coming closer. Endless possibilites of his reaction bounced around in my head.

After all, I did blow up in his face. He didn't have to take me back. However, he fought those two guys for me. That showed he cared, right? A strong pinch of guilt made my palms sweat. How could he do that for me? More importantly, how did I push a guy like that away? I was wrong about him.

The bell rang and a wave of students enetered the halls as they made their way to lunch. Unfortunatly, this meant I had less time to organize my thoughts. Well maybe I could-

"Hey Layla!" Greeted Francesca, linking my arm with hers.

"Hi." I almost whispered.

She cocked her head with question, but neither of us talked about my gloomy mood. Instead, we walked to lunch where we took out usual seats. Allen's seat, of course, remained empty. My whole lunch was simply staring at his empty chair- sending a hole in my heart.

 "You can do it." Comforted Camile, rubbing my shoulder. Lunch had finished and we were both heading to our next class together.

"I don't know. What if he hates me? I can't blame him if he did." I sighed, completely lost in my fristration.

"Shut up Layla!" She snorted, lightly hitting me on my shoulder.

Ignoring her outburst, we turned into the classroom. Sliding into our chairs, we barely made eye contact. It wasn't like we were mad at eachother, but we had a silent conflict going on. 

The class flew by as butterflies soared through my stomach. Unsure whether it was good or bad anxiousness, I tried to focus on the lessons. My attempts failed incredibly, but soon enough I was sitting in my car. 

Unfortunatly, I couldn't move. However, my mind was the complete opposite as it roamed around, thinking of every possibilty. What would I even say to him? I had just tore out his heart and stepped on it, there were no words to fix that.

Shaking my head, I started the car and drove out of the now empty parking lot. Triston and Raina were going home with friends today, just as I had asked, so I could go straight to Allen's. My best bet was to just wing it. If I did that, my words would come straight from the heart and hopefully have all the more meaning. I just wanted him to be mine again.

Over the past few days that we haven't been together, more memories had come back. When that happened, I could really see Allen being my boyfriend before everything, and that made me crave him even more.

Slowly, my car finally made its way into the neighborhood where Allen lived. I became eager and started to step on the pedal. There was only a few meters between Allen and I, and I covered that distance in record timing.

Here I was, in his driveway. No other cars were around, showing that hopefully Allen was home alone. At this point, I was really clueless on what I was going to do. I wasn't even sure if I would be able to contain myself once I saw him. All I would want to do is wrap my arms around him.

Enough. I thought, making myself get out of the car.

My whole body was shaking, but I had forced myself to keep moving. Allen was on the other side of that door and I was going to get him. 

I walked up his front steps and took one last breath before knocking. Normally, I should've just rang the door bell, but I was to much of a chicken to make so much noise.

Why had I come here?

I shifted uncomfertably as no one was coming and slowly turned around to go to my car, my heart sinking down to the ground. Screw that, I felt like I didn't even have a heart anymore. My whole body was empty and echoed with heartbreak.

Then, I stopped as I heard a light squeak come behind me. My first responce was to turn around, but I knew what was behind me. It made me just stand there, my back facing the man I loved. The one I had come to win back.

With every last drop of courage I had, I turned around to meet Allen's eyes. His gaze made me hold my breath as I felt like I saw right through him. There was concern, confusion, and sadness. It broke my heart and in my mind, I was hugging him right now. However, I couldn't do that. All of my rights with him were gone as he was no longer mine. If I could even get back our friendship I would be overjoyed.

"A-Allen." Was all I could choke out, tears welding up into my eyes.

He was pale and tired. Obvious bags were hanging from under his eyes and he almost looked dead, though his eyes were full of painful emotions. Allen carried around a tired slouch and his hair showed that he had been sleeping.

"Come in." He whispered, leaning to the side.

I slowly made my way inside of his house, not knowing what I was possibly going to say.

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Sorry, it's oober short, but please still give me feedback<3