Crystal Hearts • Book 2 Of The Crystal Trilogy • ⏸

-| 12 / the distance between |-

After Crystal and Lux were done talking, Lux made her niece go to the living room, despite the princess' protests due to Scott being there.

In other words, Lux dragged her from the ankle all the way from the bedroom to the living room.

"Lux, I swear, you're going to regret--", Crystal threatened her from the floor, abruptly stopping once her aunt took a turn from the corridor into the room Alex and Scott were in. Lux dropped Crystal's leg, which fell on the floor with a loud bang. "Ouch!", she grumbled, angrily sitting up and shifting her weight on her elbows.

"Oops...", Lux smirked. The princess gritted her teeth, glaring at her.

"Mom, we're a little low on supplies. Would you mind coming with me to town and help get what we need?", Alex told his mother, giving her a meaningful look and sideways glancing at Scott and Crystal.

"Uh... Sure! I'd love to!", she said, not seeming suspicious at all.

"Can I join you?", Crystal offered, panicking at the thought of being left alone with Scott.

"Sorry, but no. I want to spend some quality time with my mother and you can't really leave Scott alone! You should give him a tour of the area while we're out. The town is a couple of hours away, so we'll be back late in the evening."

"Alex--", Scott started, trying to stop him from leaving.

"No time! Mom, we should get going if we want to be back before dark.", Alex interrupted him, glancing urgently at his mother.

"Right! Goodbye, kids and have fun! Remember not to have too much fun, though, if you know what I mean...", Lux smirked again, winking at Crystal and rushing outside with her son before anyone could stop her.

The princess crossed her arms furiously, glared at Scott and then stormed to her room, looking the door behind her.

Scott sighed and sat down on the couch. Despite appreciating the fact that Alex and his mother were trying to get him and Crystal to make up, he also hated them because he knew that it wasn't the time yet. He didn't even know if the time she'd forgive him would ever come, and he didn't want to rush it. He knew he'd messed up big time and believed that he wasn't worthy of being forgiven.

Crystal, on the other hand, was finding it really hard to keep herself from falling for Scott's act- because that's what she was trying to convince herself it was- again. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, staring at the burn mark on her forearm and thinking about what she was going to do.

Lux insisted that she should give him a second chance, but she couldn't afford to be hurt again. She'd already been through a lot, and didn't think she could take any more pain, both physical and emotional. The fact that she had had all her adventures with Scott only made the experience more painful, because it made her feel as if none of that mattered to him. She couldn't help but keep thinking that he cared so little that he betrayed her even after everything they went through together.

She bit her lip and closed her eyes, choking back a sob but failing to keep a tear or two from rolling down her cheek as she lied down on the bed, grabbing a pillow and clutching it near her stomach as hard as she could and rolling to her side.

Crystal forced herself to stay in her room and away from Scott, because the more she was around him, the easier it felt for her to forgive him and she didn't want to be betrayed by him again.

Meanwhile, Scott decided to at least try and talk to her. He wasn't going to ask for forgiveness again, he just wanted to make the reason behind his betrayal clear. He slowly went to her room and hesitantly knocked on the door, bracing himself for whatever could possibly follow.