Oh My...

52.) Selfish

Lindsay walked me home that morning.

Well, it was actually late afternoon, but since we had both just woken up we were considering it morning. I was still drunk from the night before and was mulling over how I was going to explain the news. Especially to Marshall; this was going to be hard.

We stood in front of my house for a minute. The sun was breaking though thick white clouds as wind sped passed us. It was colder than it was last night--I wouldn't have been surprised if it snowed later.

I puffed out a sigh that came out as a small cloud. "Here I go."

"Want me to wait here?" Lindsay asked, poking out her bottom lip.

I shook my head. "Nah, this'll probably take a while. And I have to see my boyfriend after."

She paused. "How do you think he'll take it?" She asked nervously.

"Badly." I turned around and sauntered towards the front door.

Inside, Claire was on the couch while the shower screamed down the hall. I looked at my aunt as she stared intently at the at the TV screen. "Where'd you go last night?" She asked flatly.

"Lindsay's." I replied simply, sitting beside her casually.

"What happened to your eye?"

I met Claire's tired gaze. "I think I'm moving out."

She laughed slightly. "Goin' in with your boyfriend?" She sounded like she didn't quite believe me.

"Across the country."

The smirk fell from her lips. She was silent for five agonizing seconds. "Why?"

"I'm going to Cali with Lindsay. She'll pay now and I'll work off what I owe. I think getting out would be the best thing for me, don't you agree?"

Claire frowned. "It's a big change, can you handle that?"

"I think I can manage."

We didn't say much of anything after that. I took the conversation as a sign that Claire was okay with my decision. Now was just the challenge of telling Bree. When I heard the shower slam off, I sucked in a breath. "How do you think she'll take it?"

"Badly." Claire answered honestly. "A main reason she came was because she knew she would have you."

I groaned and held my head in my hands. "You could've at least lied to me."

Claire turned off the TV. "Why do you want to move?" She demanded, her voice holding more emotion than I heard from her all week. "What does Cali have that we don't?"

"Are you serious?" I laughed, staring at her hard. "New opportunity? No toxic memories? The sun?"

"It's not always cloudy here." She scoffed.

I looked down and gnawed on my bottom lip. "You don't want me to go." I vocalized.

"You can do whatever you want," she returned solemnly. "You're a big girl."

"But you don't like it?"

Claire put her head down and exhaled a big sigh. "I want you to be happy." She finally decided to say.

"But only here?" I pressed.

Bree came trotting down the hall dressed in sweatpants and one of Claire's old t-shirts. Her black hair was tied in a ball on top of her head, and she was wearing a smile. "Hey, where'd you go last night?" She asked me.

"Alex has news." Claire announced, switching the TV back on.

I shot her daggers while Bree stared at me quizzicality. "What's going on?"