light.

believe

•lia•

luke looked in shock when i finished telling him everything. i knew he wasn't expecting everything to be as bad as it was. he was about to say something when there was a small knock on the kitchen door. when the door opened calum and mali both stood there and judging by their faces, they heard everything.

"luke," mali started, "can i talk to emmy for a moment?"

i froze at mali's words. but luke just nodded and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the room, calum close behind him. i tried not to notice the look of hurt on calum's face when luke kissed my cheek.

"if i ask you a question will you tell me the truth?" mali asked.

"mali, the only lie i have ever told you and calum was about my dad," i sighed.

"why did you never tell us, em?"

i looked away from her for a moment. i tried my best to keep what happened in my home a secret. i never told mali or calum and i made sure neither of them saw my back or even came over to my house when there was a chance my dad would be home.

my dad didn't get arrested until weeks after i broke it off with the both of them. and i couldn't even imagine how they reacted when they found out.

"i was scared," i whispered. "my dad, he would beat me whenever he could. and he made sure to prove the point that if i ever told anyone that he would do much worse than take a whip to my back."

"emmy," mali sympathized but i just continued talking.

"i know that you would always get angry at me for doing drugs and not telling you why. when things would get too much with my dad, i would turn to drugs because they would take away the pain."

mali was standing in silence. i had no idea what she was thinking so i just kept talking. i wasn't sure why, but i couldn't just stand in silence with her.

"i swear on my life that when i went to that party, i planned on staying sober. and i would never cheat on calum nor would i betray your trust by cheating on him with your boyfriend. and the worst part is, even to this day, i have no idea what happened that night after i remember losing control of myself. i do not remember kissing noah, if i did."

mali still stayed quiet. and i had nothing else to say. even if i did lie, there was no reason for me to still be lying. i already lost mali and calum.

"i believe you," she whispered. my eyes widened t her words as i watched a tear roll down her cheek. "i'm sorry i didn't believe you before."

before i knew it, mali had me in a bone crushing hug. we were both crying by then, whispering how sorry we were to one another.

i was in complete shock. i never believed that i would ever see mali again, let alone make up with her. and i couldn't be more thankful for luke going to so much trouble to get us all in the same place again.

"i'm so sorry, emmy. i should have believed you. and i never should have interfered with you and calum. i know how much you two loved each other," she told me.

"i know that you're sorry. i forgave you a long time ago for what happened. i knew why you didn't believe me and i accepted that years ago," i explained to her but she still had a look of guilt on her face. but i knew that we both were glad to have each other again.

mali was my best friend. she knew me better than anyone and i knew her. she made me a better person.