The Story of us

Chapter 28: Some things are better unsaid

Boston, Massachusetts

I woke up the next morning with a heavy head and an even heavier heart. My hangover wasn't all that bad since I hadn't really drunk that much the night prior–I could only imagine how bad Harry's would be–but it felt like I was being weighed down with all of the unresolved questions (and feelings) I still had for Harry. Part of me was mad at myself for allowing him to kiss me on the cheek last night when I now knew very well that he was getting married to my sister in a week and a half. But the other half couldn't stop revisiting the moment over and over again in my head, despite a tiny voice repeating over and over again that it had been wrong. I knew that it was wrong, but had I really been the one at fault here? He was the one who had kissed me–but I had been the one who had let him get away with it, without even forcing him to deliberate on why he had kept such a big secret from me.

However, now that I was completely sober, I wasn't so sure if I still wanted to know the reason why. I knew that nothing he said could possibly change the situation. That is, until I remembered his final words to me last night, the only glimpse I had received so far as to why he had been lying about any of this in the first place: "The only reason why I needed that ride to Boston in the first place is so that I could come back here and end it."

For the rest of the morning, I couldn't get his words out of my brain. Not while I was brushing my teeth, or taking a shower, or eating breakfast, or even while I was taking my turn to walk our dog, Sandy. Even though he had been drunk, I still couldn't let go of the lurking suspicion that he had been being genuine. But if he had been being serious about coming back to end things with Brielle, why hadn't he done so already? After witnessing their fight yesterday, that had given me another reason as to why I believed they were better apart (before that, my only one had been 'because I love him'), so was it really that hard for him to let go of her?

Judging by the way he was barely even able to say no to her majority of the time, my bet was on the fact that it was.

"Lexi?" 

I jerked my head up and glanced over at the source of the voice. It was my younger sister, Ella, standing in my doorway with a hesitant expression on her face. For a second, I thought that she might have somehow found out about Harry and me, and panic quickly began to wash over me, but my heartbeat slowed down when all she said was, "Mom, Brielle, and I are going out to pick up the cake for tonight. Do you wanna come?"

I didn't even know what 'tonight' was, but what I did know was that I didn't want to be involved in it. "No," I told her stiffly. It wasn't that I was necessarily annoyed by her, but it was more like I had no energy to engage in a conversation with anybody right now. My entire body felt like it had been drained.

She shrugged and was about to exit my room, but before she could shut the door, her eyes zeroed in on an envelope peeking out from underneath a jewelry box on my dresser. I craned my neck, trying to see what she was looking at, and I could feel my blood go cold when I saw her pull out the envelope with the words 'for Lexi' written in Harry's familiar loopy scrawl on it.

"Ooh, what's this?" Ella giggled excitedly, turning the envelope over in her hands. "Who sent you a letter, Lexi? How romantic."

I jumped out of my bed faster than I originally thought was possible, and immediately snatched the envelope out of her hands. "Give that to me," I snapped, pulling it close to my chest, but at the same time holding it at a safe distance away from my heart. It was a balancing act, just like how things were with Harry.

"Did Alec send it to you?" Ella continued. "That's funny, cause I never really took him for the romantic type. I don't think that any of us did, but–"