This is book 2 in the "Beautiful Destruction" series. You MUST READ "Theirs to Claim" first in order to understand this one.
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When I was ten, my father told me that all of my dreams would one day come true. Naively, I believed him.
I may have gr...
A/N: Hey, I hope everyone's having a great day!! I just wanted to let you guys know that I will now be including the exact times each chapter will be releasing on my Instagram due to some prior confusion in relation to time differences. If you go to my highlights and click on the "UPDATES" section, you'll be able to see countdowns there whenever I post my usual chapter aesthetics each week <3
Also, I'm really tired right now so I'm not too sure how well my editing skills just were, so my apologies if there are a few more mistakes than usual. I plan to hopefully go through it again in the morning to fix up anything that's needed!! Enjoy the rest of your day/nights, and thank you all for reading ♡
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Chapter 14 : Hailey Saturday, November 26th, 2022
"Madelyn, no." I shake my head as my grip tightens around her hand, my cheeks feeling damp from all of the tears I've cried.
My best friend's fingers feel warm against mine as she holds me and I her, both of us slightly shaking and most certainly overwhelmed by all of this. My heart seized control of my body, as I inhaled through my nose, trying to stop from breaking down so we could actually talk.
So much has happened, so much has changed, but at the same time, sitting here with her right now felt like every bit of normal I needed. Even though I didn't know what to say, somehow just being here made things feel just a little bit better.
"I've messed a lot of things up lately." Madelyn sniffles as more tears of hers fall at the admission, my heart aching because I know for a fact she couldn't have done too much bad. Not enough to warrant the obvious guilt she's experiencing right now.
The fact alone that she's here is all of the proof I need, because it's clear just by looking at her that sacrifices have been made to get here.
For the last handful of months, I began to worry that it would be a body Xavier, Caleb, and Alec found instead of the woman who was special to all of us in all of our own ways. While this Madelyn isn't the same one who was torn away from me a year ago, it was still her.
I was still me, even with a breakup that continues to tear me apart.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask gently as I reposition my legs on the couch, my one knee bent to rest my chin against it. Even that was shaking, though, my hand still gripped tight around Madelyn's.
I was almost too afraid to let go.
Her eyes looked so much more green than usual with her tears coating her lashes, her face appearing so tired that her body was on the edge of emotional exhaustion. I knew it because I was too, the only thing good about my life right now being her presence at my side.
Madelyn blinked up at me as she shifted slightly closer, leaning her head to the side so that her temple could rest against my couch cushion.
It was so crazy to see her back here, even as different as she seems.
