Dangerous Love (girl x girl)

Chapter 50

I nodded gratefully as Isabelle stood and walked from the room. I stared at my fingers mindlessly for several minutes until I heard footsteps ascending the stairs again. I felt myself stiffen instinctively until I saw Isabelle enter the room again. Chase followed behind her, his head hung.

"Ari..."

I suddenly felt a wave of emotions come over me. "No, you have some explaining to do." I had bottled up a lot of emotions and questions inside for quite some time, but only now that Clara was home did I feel the need to push for answers.

Isabelle said quietly that she would leave us be. "Please stay," I said softly. She looked surprised but sat by me.

I turned back to Chase. "I never asked you this, because I guess I was willing to do anything to help my sister." Chase looked confused at first, but I caught a hint of guilt in his expression. "Isabelle is right. Why did you recruit a teenager? What do you have against the Black Phoenix?"

"Tristan Vincenzo and his father are monsters and you know that firsthand." He said quietly, avoiding the question and not making eye contact with me.

"Tell me, Chase!" I could tell he was shocked. This was the first time that I had called him by his name in that tone to his face.

He stared at me for a few moments before reaching to hold his head in his hands. "Look, Arielle, you've accomplished what you wanted. You don't have to do anything for us anymore. I wanted to help you-"

"Oh don't worry, she won't be." Isabelle said in a steely tone.

"If you wanted to help me, you could have done it without involving me. You approached me as a child and recruited me. You didn't have to train me. Why? All these years I've been looking for Clara but I've also been fighting alongside you for a cause that I don't even know. Every time I ask, you say it's not important." I rubbed my eyes in exhaustion.

Chase glazed between me and Isabelle. "Look, Ari, can we do this in private-"

"No," Isabelle interrupted in the same tone.

Chase stared at me, his expression flashing between uncomfortable to stressed to a flash of anger, but it was unclear who the anger was directed at. "Tristan Vincenzo and his family deserve to be brought down. You're not the only one who's lost family and friends to him." He didn't elaborate on that.

"But why me? If you wanted someone to fight for you, I'm sure there had to be better choices than a teenaged girl!" I pointed out, only now understanding why Isabelle had pointed out how preposterous it all seemed. "Even Celine...and the others...you didn't let them join until they were 18..." I began to reason to myself.

"Because I knew you were desperate!" Chase practically spat out. My eyes widened. Isabelle was still for a moment. Then her expression darkened and I swore she could have lunged at him. "I'm not proud of it, Arielle, but I saw myself in you! I knew I was willing to do anything to get what I wanted, and I saw the same in you. I had initially only intended to reach out to your parents, to meet you, to offer my condolences, but when I saw how you handled your sister's disappearance and the strength of your bond-"

"You were watching me." I deadpanned. Chase didn't deny it.

"I know I shouldn't have involved you but you were my best chance. Our best chance-"

"We are not alike," I snapped. "I would never have done the same if the roles were reversed. I would never have used your anger to have you help me fight towards a shared cause if I knew it would potentially get you killed. I especially wouldn't keep my reasons from you."

Perhaps I was being unreasonable here too, but I was suddenly so angry. Chase still hadn't told me what he had been hoping to achieve. Finally, he spoke again. "I promised I'd help you bring your sister home. She's home now. Even if you wanted to help, I wouldn't allow you to anymore."

"Because you feel guilty? About what happened? About all this?" I gestured to myself.

Chase was silent for a long time and when he spoke, I could barely hear him. "Yes." He looked up at me. "Arielle... I never wanted any of this to happen. I know I shouldn't have recruited you. I know I should've forced you to step back and I could have at any point. I'm sorry. I'll see myself out and give you some space."

Neither of us attempted to stop him as he stepped out the door. I managed to hold it together for another minute before bursting into tears in Isabelle's arms once again.

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*edited*

Hi everyone,

I apologize for the long delay in updating. I really have become a lot busier than I could have anticipated.

Lots of love,
-Cindy