The North Star | COMPLETED ✔️

Chapter 57 ~ Drinking Before Noon

Early upload! I spent some time listening to different songs today to try and find the perfect one, and I think the one above fits pretty well with where Jessie is right now. Hope you enjoy! 🤗🤗❤️❤️

Chapter 57

Alcohol helped to knock me out, but the next morning came too soon.

It wasn't until the group sacrificed Lexy, forcing the poor girl to come and check that I wasn't dead, that I finally got out of bed. For an hour, I made my way around the kitchen like a zombie, ignoring each sympathetic and wary look from those crunched inside the two main rooms.

Blankets and pillows were scattered everywhere, from the kitchen floor to the living room couch, making it apparent that the other bedroom was off limits to more than just Bard.

While they all offered hungover Jessie a wide berth, the minute I became somewhat lucid, Zeke cornered me.

I sat at the kitchen table, leaned over a cup of coffee, contemplating my next move, when he took the seat beside me.

"An idea," he said, resting his own mug in front of him. "I talked to Bard last night. He's agreed to stay away and keep to the woods if you stay here where it's safe."

I opened my mouth to tell him it wouldn't work, but the look I received made me close it.

"Don't be stupid. It's dangerous out there, and Bard's right. This is the soundest plan to end it. After it's done, when it's safe again, he plans to stay here and let you have the motorhome to yourself."

Any response I might have had lodged inside my throat. The way he'd said it...

It was really over. Just like that, over before it had even truly begun.

It hurt. It hurt so fucking much.

I had nowhere to go– no prospects of a life outside of the blessing that was the shop. Could I be there, in that motorhome? Could I wake up in his bed and sit at that kitchen table without thinking about him every time?

I took a sip of my coffee, and the image of that blinding smile conjured into my mind's eye. It wouldn't matter where I went, I'd still think about him. Maybe, my heart was fighting to find an excuse not to leave. Maybe, my subconscious just wouldn't accept this change of events. Maybe, I was an idiot that just couldn't leave when it was so obvious that this was over, but I found myself nodding agreement. "Alright."

Zeke smiled. "That's real great, Jessie. We'll get it all worked out." He gripped my shoulder, then stood. "I put the art supplies on your bed, and I think the girls want to spend some time with you, but they're too afraid to approach."

"Is she still here?" My voice came out hoarse, a combination of the hangover and my current mood.

Zeke paused. "I drove her home last night."

I nodded. "I'm just gonna keep to myself today."

He stood there for a long time, and I kept my gaze on the steam rising from my cup.

After what felt like an eternity, he said, "The boy's a mess, girl. He's drunk himself into a stupor."

I held my hand up. "Don't." He was a mess. He'd drunk himself into a stupor. At least, I knew he cared, but it didn't change anything. Bard couldn't see me. Bard saw the same shit the world did.

Zeke stood another moment, looking like he wanted to say more, but he eventually gave up and walked away.

My chest hurt.

I sat there for a while, trying not to think about him, not to worry about him, but it was proving impossible. This was going to be hard. I was right in the beginning. I should have stayed strong. I knew from the start I wouldn't forget him so easily, and now it was too late. I'd never get over this.