The Bad Boy's Princess

Ch. 27 - A Beautiful Nightmare

Jace Vanderbilt, you were officially the world's biggest idiot. Today was supposed to be a sweet last day before winter break started, to end with a date with Avery. Yet I fucked everything up, history repeated itself once again. I was a fucking moron.

Scottie called me yesterday, saying she was taking pain killers again for her migraines and she needed me there just in case old habits died hard and she might overdose. Being an idiot I was, I went to her house to watch over her until she fell asleep.

But instead, I got talked into staying longer than I had wanted to and it didn't fucking help that my phone was dead. I couldn't even call Avery to let her know where I was and what I was doing. She was probably waiting for me at her place.

"Scottie, I really have to go."

"You can't leave... Jace, please don't go. I'm terrified of what I might do to myself. I have been a fucking train wreck without you. To think that I would have you when I came home..." She was doing it again, the usual guilt scene that made me stay with her night after night.

Scottie has always been beautiful, the kind of beautiful that was full of sadness, pain, and emptiness. Her brown eyes were swelled with tears while her black hair was a mess from all the times she kept Trying to pull her hair out from stress. She was the definition of a beautiful nightmare.

I knew she was going through some fucked up shit, but Scottie seemed to always be going through something.

But this time, I couldn't stay.

"Scottie... Avery is waiting for me. We can talk later. Get some rest."

"Fine, go." She was crying. "You didn't even bother to ask me how I was doing or what happened back there in the U.K. that made my parents allowed me to come back home."

It was true that I was curious how the Callahan's finally decided to let her come back when they sent her away to put out the bad press fire. Something drastic must have happened that they even sacrificed their image to let her come home.

"What happened?"

"I was raped and got pregnant last year." She was laughing, but it was so eerie that it made my skin crawl. "Who would have thought I, out of all people, would end up wallowing in my own pool of pity and suicidal thoughts. I finally understood what my mom went through."

"Scottie..." I exhaled. Goddamn it... I couldn't fucking leave her like this. No one deserved to be alone going through some fucked up shit like that, not even Scottie.

"Do you know how many times I thought about just ending my life so it would just make everything easier for everyone. I didn't see that light at the end of the tunnel anymore, Jace. That was when I realized you're that light for me, and without you, it's all just darkness..." She was crying even harder now. "Please don't leave me..."

I knelt down on the soft carpet beside her and pulled her into my arms. "It's okay, Scottie. You're alright. Everything will be okay."

And that was how I royally screwed myself.

I fell asleep on the couch in her apartment after she finally slept and when I woke up, Scottie was gone. I had missed school and practice. Fucking great.

And it wasn't until I went home that I realized my scarf that Avery made me was gone. When I finally turned my phone on, I saw Avery's messages and listened to her voicemail. I could hear the sadness in her voice, and my heart stopped. She stayed up waiting for me...

God, I kept letting her down and I was out of excuses this time.

I got a text from Charles saying I should let Avery have some time to herself.