CALEIGH | Evansson¹

Chapter 16

Here's chapter sixteen!:))

]|I{•------» CHAPTER SIXTEEN «------•}I|[

"Can I go inside?"

Chris nodded his head before closing the gate and walking into his house with Scarlett fidgeting her hands beside him.

"Is she asleep?" If there was an award for hiding what you feel, Scarlett would've been the winner because the way she asked that question and how she tried keeping her stead up was one of the most unforgettable things she's ever done.

Chris smiled as he glanced at her through his shoulder, "Fast asleep, must've been tired of playing games with her cousins lately. I mean, who wouldn't be? She's the eldest and 5-year-olds were annoying enough to make her feel tired of all the running around the house."

He even put a sarcasm in his tone but he knew that she knew it was his way in keeping everything serene and usual. "Yeah, no doubt, she was knocked out to sleep not just once but countless times when her sister asked her to play hide and seek."

Scarlett almost giggled at the thought of it, but she wasn't at his house for nothing. She went there for something important, she had a purpose and so she took a deep breath and asked him, "how is she?"

Those words alone rendered Chris the thought of Scarlett crying for the past days. He knew her enough that even the single thing that she feels and does becomes visible in his eyes.

"She's doing great. She likes to paint and draw and even sing because from whom did she even get that talent? From her mother also. And I won't deny the fact that she misses her sister every single day. It's just, she's a really good singer, you know? And I now know her favorite song." Chris happily said, his blue eyes dancing under the dim lights of the house.

"Really? What is it?" Scarlett asked giggling.

Chris shrugged his shoulders, "All too well, by uh, Taylor Swift."

Scarlett smiled and looked Chris in the eye and it seemed like she was studying him. God, she wanted to hug him and tell him how sorry she was but it wasn't the right time, because perhaps the thought of embracing him would lead into something they wouldn't like.

She just smiled, though it was the same smile no more. Her eyes were still at their current position but the feeling in her heart was unbearable and so inevitable and if a minute passes, she'd be at the verge of a breakdown.

And she knew the atmosphere isn't good when Chris has his hands inside his pocket or waist. She knew him well enough too.

"How are you? How have you been doing?" And she finally got the courage to ask for it, even though she could feel the tears brimming out of her eyes.

She had no one, nothing, the person she wanted to spend her whole life with wasn't there, wasn't willing to be by her side. And now this man in front of her also seemed like the person who didn't want to see her. She could even feel his direct gaze on her but she didn't care.

"I'm good, doing great as usual." It was his nonchalant answer.

She nodded her head and before she could even think of what she's freaking supposed to say next, Chris asked her the very same question. "How about you?"

The concern was still in his tone, though, it was nothing but a forced affection for Scarlett. "I- uh, I'm good, actually. Just never got some sleep." She even tried putting a sarcasm in her voice but it didn't work, he still wasn't convinced that she has been doing great.

I missed you. I need you. I love you so much that it hurts to witness how different you're treating me now. The back of her head said but she quickly shoved it away.