little talks [short au]

// b r a v e // [t w o]

The next morning she expected strong arms holding her close, pulling her back down when she tries to get back up but that didn't happen. She woke up alone wrapped in her covers. She pulled the covers off her body and got out of bed. After leaving the park last night she had headed back home and found the lights to be on. She quietly sneaked up the ladder and in through her bedroom window. It brought back memories of when they first started to date and he would sneak up the ladder into her bedroom at nights and they would talk throughout the night until they fell asleep. She would wake up early to see him leaving but not without giving her a few kisses of course.

She sighed and pulled off her sweatshirt leaving her in his shirt. She walked down the stairs thinking of an excuse. But she didn't see her parents downstairs. She smelt a wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen. Thinking it was her mother waking up early she headed to the kitchen. But it wasn't her mother.

It was Alice. Her sister who had left for college when she was 15. She and Alice had been really close. But they grew apart considering they hadn't seen each other in 4/5 years. When they both caught each other's eyes the tears came upon them. They ran to each other tears cascading down their rosy cheeks. Alice didn't look much different than her sister. Alice had the same blonde locks despite the fact hers was more curly and shorter than her sisters. She also had the same blood red natural lips. She was also short, their family was full of tall people. Her father had been 6'5 when 20 and their mother had been 6'1 when 20. Her brother had been older and had left to continue with his own family and he had been 6'6 when 20. The two sisters shared their shortness. They were different from the rest of the family.

The rest of the family had dark brown locks and light lips. The sisters were different. But good different. Chantal had always shared her insecurities and faults with her sister. They were more than sisters. They could turn to each other for anything. They both needed someone like that and found each other. Alice could tell when something was off with Chantal. With her being home instead of with Liam she knew something had happened between them. She sat Chantal down with breakfast and had her talk through with everything that happened. Alice understood what she was going through.

She had gone through this with her fiancée before. After the brutal fight she had stayed with her best friend since she had been living in America at the time of it. Truth was her fiancée had been under stress, he was going to propose when some girls had dropped the bomb Alice was cheating on him. Turns out those girls had been going to college with Alice and wanted her and her fiancée to break up. Didn't work though. Even though it took time, Alice and Ryan bumped into each other at college. It had broke Alice's heart even more to know that Ryan didn't even send her a phone call or text or just know about how she was doing. She was wondering if it had even affected him. Was this the end of their relationship? Chantal had been talking with Alice when it all happened and she had told Alice two simple words that helped everything.

"Be brave." Chantal had said. She had felt her sister's pain even if she couldn't relate at the time, she felt pain for her own sister. Alice took the advice and decided to "be brave". She didn't let Ryan know all that was getting to her. But what she didn't know was Ryan couldn't see through her act and it was breaking him to know she was completely okay with the situation. Two weeks later Ryan had asked her to meet him at the place where they had first met, Valentino Park. Where Chantal and Liam had also met. Everything was pieced together.

Ryan had proposed there. Alice wanted the wedding to be at a time where she had Chantal with her. She wanted Chantal at the wedding because well, she was her sister. The wedding was planned for this year. As she all explained this to Chantal, Alice realized that maybe the same thing would happen with Chantal and Liam. But this had happened to Alice only 6-7 months ago. Chantal didn't know if this would happen to her or not but she chose not to believe it. She headed up the stairs deciding to sleep on the thoughts.

Alice knew what her sister was going through and wished she could help somehow but she couldn't. As Chantal trudged up the stairs, Alice grabbed her phone and car keys. She drove off to Liam's house. She knocked on the door, but no one answered. The door opened by itself and Alice stepped in. Liam was always high up on safety so why was the door unlocked? She stepped over the vodka bottles on the floor.

That was one thing she knew that Chantal and Liam shared. Whenever they were stressed, upset/tired, needed a break from everything, they drank. They drank a lot. She made her way up the stairs into the bedroom. There she saw Liam hunched over the toilet vomiting. In his hand was a vodka bottle and some others behind him. She dropped her bag and hurried over to him.

"Liam? It's me Alice, Chantal's sister." Liam's eyes widened when he took her in. The tears fell down his cheeks at the mention of Chantal. 

"Is she okay?" Liam asked, eyes hopeful.

"Yeah she's okay. She's back home. She's sleeping right now so I came over to see how you're holding up. I saw her at Valentino park yesterday Liam. She misses you. She may not show it but she really does miss you. So come on. Get your ass in that shower and get yourself cleaned up so we can head back to Chantal." As she gets up she drags him with her. He gets up and grabs some clean clothes. Alice grab the vodka and beer bottles off the floor and throw them out. She picks up the glass shards from the picture frame and throw those out too.

She straightens everything up and grabs her bag. It's time to get everything right between Chantal and Liam. She has to get everything right between them.