Sorry, still bad at this. (SEQUEL) (LAPIDOT HUMAN AU)

Chapter 13

"P-Peridot, please!" Lapis called out in a cracky voice, and she grabbed onto my wrist. I tensed up immediately at the feeling of her fingers wrapping around my arm, but I refused to turn around. "I-I have to go." I repeated, slightly pulling my wrist away. "Peridot, w-wait. Wh-what did I do?! Did I say something?! Wh-why did..." her voice was very shaky, and she tightened her grip on my wrist. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, and slowly turned my head to side glance her. Lapis switched her gaze from me down to her hand on me...then she quickly retracted. "I-I mean uhm...s-sorry heh, c'mon don't go, Peri. What's the rush?" she asked, clearing her throat. She sounded so...desperate. Is she okay?

Lapis took a step back, and folded her hands behind her back - her face was flushed. "I-I'm sorry...y-you...didn't do anything, exactly. It's me. Don't worry about it too much. I realized I'm...late for something." I murmured, and turned back towards the door. I speed walked toward it and swung it open. I took a deep breath, and walked right through. "This late?!" she asked, but I didn't respond, and just let the door close behind me. I ran down the patio stairs, and I rushed to my car. I'm sorry, Lapis. I'm not a coward, I'm not a coward, I'm not a coward, I kept repeating to myself as I entered my car. I kept trying to reassure myself, and come up with justifications for what I just did.

The guilt was eating away at me during the drive out of the yard, but I knew that the tension at that house would have eaten away at me much faster. I was losing sight of the sole purpose I was even in this broken down city for. I couldn't let myself do that. Not now. Not ever. I was staring almost too intensely at the road ahead of me, and I couldn't steady my breathing. My heart was still beating so incredibly fast, it felt like palpitations. My glasses began to fog up, and I groaned loudly. I snatched them off of my face, and rubbed them violently against my blazer as I attempted to keep my eyes on the road.

Stop thinking about it, Peridot. Just stop thinking about it. It's over. It's done with. You already did it. You can't go back now. I barely even got down the road when I realized the horrid mistake that I made. My vision wasn't blurry just because of my fogged up glasses - I was still intoxicated. I was still very well drunk, and I didn't even think twice before getting into my car and driving off. I almost swerved off the road at the thought of getting a DWI and possibly ruining my reputation as a hard worker for my mother's business. I had to pull over and wait it out. I pulled over to the side of the road clumsily, and quickly put the car in park. I rubbed my eyes roughly, grunting as I felt like my entire world was spinning.

C'mon, c'mon, sober up, Peridot. You gotta get home. You're gonna wake up with such a massive hangover in the morning. It's not worth it. I felt tears well up in my eyes, and before I knew it, they were rolling down my cheeks. I tangled my fingers into my slightly disheveled hair, and yanked on it in immense frustration. "I can't just stay pulled over on the side of the road all night." I grunted, resting my head against the steering wheel. I'm gonna be here all night. My heart was still nearly pounding out of my chest, and I couldn't get it to settle. My mind began to wander in the dead silence of night, and the only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat and heavy breathing.

It felt like everything was swaying in slow motion when I opened my eyes, so I just kept them closed. However, I was plagued by the heart-wrenching image of Lapis' hurt expression when I was leaving so abruptly. Why did I do that? I can't even drive home! I barely even made it down the goddamn road...I ever so carefully lifted my head off the steering wheel, and slowly turned it. I looked behind me through the back window, and the beach house was still in sight. I hadn't even gotten that far before I pulled over. This was a disaster, and I felt terrible. My head was throbbing, and it was miserable to open and close my eyes.

I genuinely didn't want to end up sleeping in my car just down the road of the house - if Greg or his son were driving home, they'd surely see me. I was now staring back at the house, and contemplating my decisions. Would it be pathetic to go back? I looked back towards the front, and I couldn't even see the city from where I was at. It'd be more pathetic to risk getting arrested, trying to drive back to the apartment. I took a few deep breaths, trying to rationalize and sort my options - I honestly didn't have many. Though it would be embarrassing to go back to the beach house after how abruptly I left, it would be much worse to try and head back home incredibly drunk. It also wouldn't be too great if Greg or Steven spotted me passed out in a car on their road.