apartment 23 // mitchel cave

7

mitchel's p.o.v.

it absolutely broke me to see angeline curled up in the bathroom sobbing her eyes out. it really put into perspective how terrible this situation is. oh how i would give anything to give that james guy a piece of my mind...

after finding her on the floor in the bathroom, everything seemed different. it was almost as if something switched on in her brain and she had fully comprehended every shitty thing that had happened between her and james the last few months. her personality had changed so much within a few hours; she was no longer the girl who complimented me on my cooking and actually cared to joke around and laugh with me. she simply remained silent most of the time and sulked around. she didn't seem to want to eat much or go outside much either. she seemed so destroyed and it absolutely shattered me.

clinton and christian seemed concerned for her as well. although she had unintentionally avoided verbal contact with them, they knew she was having a rough time dealing with everything. i had informed them of what had happened just so they would understand why she was so distant and they both expressed how sorry they were for her. a few times they tried to get me to get her to come out and talk to them but she declined. she'd grown dependent on me, so i guess she wasn't comfortable being around multiple people at once. plus, i understood she needed to be eased back into normal life. this was all understandable for me.

i had even become somewhat secluded off from everyone else. i had put so much time and effort into making sure angeline was safe that i completely forgot about myself and my own needs. she was above all at this point, even though i really held no romantic ties to her. i didn't need any ties. i just needed to help.

the boys often urged me to come out with them to random clubs or bars but i always argued that angeline needed me, even though she insisted that i go and have fun once and while. she said that she shouldn't be the one holding me back, when i reality it was me. i was doing this all to myself.

despite how much i had resented leaving angeline's side, clinton and christian managed to convince me to go out with them to a club. i asked for angeline's permission and if she was comfortable being alone for a few hours, of course, and she told me she didn't mind. she claimed me needed some alone time anyways and that she needed to learn how to cope my herself; she couldn't depend on me for everything. i understood that, and took this as my opportunity to let go a little bit with the others.

i spent most of the day with angeline until the boys decided that they were ready to go out. after a short drive, we all stepped out of the uber they had called to drive us to the club.

"don't look so happy mitchel." christian said, appearing beside me as we weaved through traffic.

"i'd much rather be home to be honest." i said, shrugging.

"come on, man. you need to just relax for a bit. drink a little, dance a little. she needs her space too." he said to me as we walked through the door to the club.

any other time i would have been ecstatic to contaminate my liver with booze, but tonight was different. my anxiety felt like it was peaking and i was overall kinda ticked off. something did not feel right.

we eventually made it to the bar after pushing through dozens upon dozens of people. we all took a seat with me sitting down on a barstool on the end. i watched at people danced on the floor, kinda zoning out for a bit to the point where i didn't even realize clinton had been calling my name.

"earth to mitchel?" clinton asked, waving a hand in front of my face.

"hmm?" i hummed in response, snapping out of my daze.