вlood & peтalѕ [ ĸoтlc - тιana ]

ch. xxi

*hyperventilates* this...,book.....is....almost.....at.....1K......reads......

You guys are all so so so so so awesome! *group virtual huggies*

AND MY MOM ASKS ME WHY IM SO MOTIVATED TO WRITE STUFF THAT IM NOT EVEN GETTING GRADED FOR.

 "W-what?" As soon as Biana's beautiful face contorted with horror and confusion, Linh knew she'd messed up.

"I....Uh...." Panicking internally now, she frantically searched for something she could use to play off her outburst,

Nothing came to mind.

"I'msosorrybutIhavetogonow,seeyoulater!" And with that, she clicked the device off and threw it in the general direction of her bed.

Judging from the crash she then heard, it had missed. 

Groaning, Linh got up from the comfy chair she'd been (on Tiergan's orders) trying to catch some sleep and staggered over to the bed, flopping face down on it. She steadfastly ignored the indignant buzzing of her Imparter, from where it lay face down on the floor, determined not to talk to Biana lest she accidentally let something else slip.

Thankfully, she wasn't in the same room as Tam anymore (also Tiergan's idea). He'd had Linh switch to a separate, smaller room of her own, to give Tam some now much-needed-privacy.

Speaking of Tam: what would he say if he knew what she'd done? Truth to be told, he wouldn't be angry, but he'd definitely not be a hundred percent okay with it. And she understood that genuinely.

Linh groaned again into her pillow. How long had it been since she'd spoken to Biana, again? She didn't remember anymore. She'd lost track of how much time she'd spent with a facefull of pillow.

That was when someone cleared their throat very loudly from the doorway. "A-hem."

Linh lifted her head ever so slightly off the pillow to see who it was, then mentally screeched with horror and buried her face back into the soft material.

The person sighed and walked over to the bed, their heels making a loud clickety-clack noise against the bare floor. "Linh...."

"No."

"Yes." The voice now held a subtle steel to it. "You do not drop those kinds of bombshells on people and then just SWITCH OFF THE IMPARTER!"

Lin sat up so fast the top of her head nearly slammed into Biana's chin. "Why do you care, anyway? Or are you here just for the tea?"

A glimmer of hurt flickered in Biana's jewel-like eyes. "Did you really think I'd be like that?"

A bitter laugh escaped Linh, shocking even herself. "Two weeks ago, I didn't think you'd date Keefe. Looks like you've got a way of proving me wrong."

Biana's perfect teeth ground together, before she blew out a breath. "I really don't want to fight over.....I don't even know what we're fighting over. So can you please explain what you meant by 'Tam's dying and it's my fault'?"

Linh tucked her legs into her chest and wrapped her arms around them, forming a Linh-ball. "It's....not really my thing to talk about."

"You still told Dex," she argued. "I'm not stupid. Obviously, Dex knows what's wrong with Tam, if he's making elixirs for him. And since Tam definitely wouldn't have told him, it's pretty obvious that you did. And if you could tell Dex, why not me?" Her features softened slightly. "You can trust me, Linh. You know that, right? And the fact that you said it was my fault isn't really helpful." She paused to take a breath. "So....will you trust me?"

Linh wanted to say yes. She legitimately wanted to.

But her heart, still full of anger and indignation on Tam's behalf, had her head shaking no.

Biana blinked hard. "I.....please. You don't understand what this means to me."

"I honestly don't," Linh agreed. "So why don't you make me?"

Biana bowed her head and her dark hair fell forward, partially shielding her face. But it still wasn't enough. Linh could still very clearly see the tear that fell when Biana whispered "because Keefe and I just broke up."

What d'you people think now, huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? *nudge nudge nudge wink wink wink*

Still wanna kill me? (Probably, yeah.)

Music time! *triumphant trumpet 'music'*