let me down slowly - wilbur soot

chapter 78- trust

"you won't find him where you think"

i turn to aubrey, who is absolutely beaming. her dark brown eyes are now glowing, and the blue, purple, and green lights from the stage are reflecting through them, turning her eyes into an array of colors. she sings the lyrics happily, swaying slightly as she records the performance through her phone.

you won't find him down on sunset

or at a party in the hills

at the bottom of the bottle

or when you're tripping on some pills

when you saw him in a dream you were just sixteen

packed a bag and ran away

and it's a crying shame you came all this way

cause you won't find jesus in LA

and it's a crying shame you came all this way

cause you won't find jesus in LA

alec is an amazing performer, his voice soothing in every way possible. his melodies can calm even the most tense person in the room.

but you know what's even more beautiful?

her.

the way she sings the music, even if it is a little off-key. the way her bright, white teeth are never covered because she's smiling the whole time. the way her dyed-red hair (she dyed it red last week! it suits her so well) falls perfectly below her shoulders. and the way she blows strands away when they fall in front of her face.

she's perfect.

and she's finally mine.

the show continues, alec playing a few more songs that i don't know very well, but aubrey knows all the lyrics to. since she's singing a lot, i figure her throat must be getting dry, so i look around for a place to get water.

"i'm gonna buy us some waters," i attempt to shout over the loud voices and music. aubrey gets the message, looking up and nodding, and i make my way through the crowd.

i walk up to a concession stand that sells (outrageously expensive) water bottles, and coincidentally, the teenage girl working there knows me. her jaw drops on the floor as she asks for a picture, offering me free water in exchange for it. i laugh, agreeing to the deal, and take a picture. after complimenting her blue-dyed hair- which nearly makes her faint- i walk back to the crowd of people.

i look around for a little bit, trying to find a girl with dark red hair and a black dress in the crowd.

i end up finding her, but she's not alone.

the blonde hair wasn't a hallucination. carter is here, chatting it up with aubrey.

how the hell did he even get here? what are the odds?

i don't know what comes over me, but i have the urge to knock him out. he hurt her, severely damaged her self-esteem, and he has the nerve to show up and talk to her?

i try to convince myself that fighting him is a terrible idea, but my brain and body don't like to cooperate. so i find myself moving towards carter, anger boiling down to my fists.

i make my way over to the two people, hand aubrey the waters, and swiftly grab carter by the collar of his shirt.

"wilbur!" aubrey pleads as i tug on the boy's shirt. he winces slightly.

"why the FUCK are you here?" i ask, ignoring aubrey tugging at my arm, trying to force me to put him down.

"it was a coincidence!" he shouts. "i swear!"