𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶

Always and forever

Chapter Seven: 💜

(Esme)

"Out of order?" I questioned gazing at the owner of the arcade, as we both stood in-front of  the zoltar wishing machine. He gripped his toolbox tight and nodded.

"Out of order, ma'am. Some kids must have broken it"

I scoffed. "But you can fix it, can't you?"

He narrowed his dark eyes at me, obviously confused. "Ma'am. Why are you so angry about this kid's game? It's old and probably on its way out"

"No, no. I need it to work"

"There's another arcade across the street-"

"No!" I interrupted frustratedly, "I need this one"

His astonished face dropped. I must have been so rude towards him. "I'm sorry. Forgive me for my outrageous attitude, I'm having a hard time"

He nodded. "I get it. Don't worry. I can'r guarantee I'm going to save this old thing. Perhaps drop by tomorrow?"

"Yes, thank you" I said, hurrying out of the arcade as quickly as I could. Now I was being ridiculous. The source of my problems was now broken- how else was I supposed to get him out of my mind?

My selfishness and realization had bought me to an understanding of what I had to do. Insert a coin and only wish that I could erase Caden from my memory. He was, only, a figment of everybody's imagination, he was no real man.

But that girl. Erica? They were friends now. He had someone worth living for. I couldn't just wish him away. That'd be another selfish act of me; it would be like ending a life.

If I could just remove him from my life, I'd be okay. That was my only reasonable idea. What else could I do?

(Caden)

"You've been on that balcony for hours, Caden" Erica complained, calling me from the lounge. "Get inside, you're letting in the cold air"

"Just a moment" I said, staring out. I'd probably been out there long enough to get used to the frosted, crisp winter breeze. Erica obviously was not.

"Now" she grumbled. I sighed, lifting myself off the ground and indoors, closing the doors behind me. My knees collapsed, making me fall tiredly onto the couch and close my eyes almost instantly.

"I'm exhausted" I yawned.

"I can tell. Go to bed" she laughed under her breath, pacing around the room. "Or just sleep there, it's up to you really"

I rolled onto my back and opened my eyes, lookimg over at Erica, who was now closing the velvet curtains. When she turned, she paused. "What're you looking at?"

My head shook. "I was just thinking, about how we got into this position"

"What do you mean?"

"You know. Like how did I get here?"

She sighed heavily. "You met a girl, loved her, fell out of love and now you're here. That's how, Caden"

She was right, I suppose. But there was still that part about 'meeting her' I didn't understand. I couldn't recall ever meeting Esme. I suppose I just, knew her?

"Yeah" I agreed, closing my eyes once again and slowly falling out of being awake. Before I fell asleep, I heard Erica's voice quietly speak.

"Goodnight"

Hey everyone! I'm so so sorry for being so inactive, I've honestly been so busy. However, I do want to reassure everyone that whenever I get free time, I'm always sitting down and taking some time to update stories. Anyway, another thing. Im sorry for the chapters of 'Lost without you' being so short. They vary from 500-700 words whereas the original chapters were well over 900+ words. I feel like I can distribute the story alot easier with shorter chapters ;) Thankyou all!