The Royal Crush

27

George didn't have anything to say to that. Alexa was crying in earnest now.

"I knew it would destroy you, that's why I didn't tell you. I'm so sorry Chloe."

"Congratu-fucking-lations, you've destroyed me," I seethed, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Chloe please," Alexa sobbed and clutched my hand. I flinched back, pulling my hand from hers.

Cedric was gone in a flash and a second later, Adrian cried out in pain as Cedric punched him. Caleb, who was closest to them, dragged Cedric away from Adrian.

"What the fuck, dude?" Caleb shouted.

"Let me go, Eaton," Cedric hissed. "This bastard cheated on my sister with her best friend. I'm going to kill him!"

"What?" Caleb looked over at us, at the seething Vivi, shocked Dylan, guilty George, crying Alexa and heartbroken me. He let go of Cedric and looked at Adrian.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Caleb shouted and punched him.

Oh great. Now Adrian was being pulped by both Cedric and Caleb.

"Stop!" Alexa screamed and ran over to them. "Cedric, stop it, you'll kill him!"

Oh wow. Now she was defending Adrian. George too went and tried to pry them apart, but got punched by Cedric instead.

"You knew!" Cedric shouted at George. "You fucking knew and you kept quiet!"

I looked at Keith. "Keith, I want to go home."

Keith nodded. Just then, Dylan launched himself at me and hugged me hard. I couldn't help the sob that escaped me as I hugged him. He knew that what I wanted was not for him to beat anyone up, but to be held.

"It's okay," he whispered into my hair. "You'll be okay."

I nodded and stepped back. "Thank you. Tell Frank that I left."

"I'm coming with you," Vivi said and came with me and Keith to my car. I was grateful. I didn't know if being alone was best for me right now.

I was quiet on the ride home, sitting with my knees drawn to my chest. My thoughts were jumbled and all over the place. I knew I would forgive Alexa eventually but I didn't know if I could ever forget. I always trusted my friends, they were among the few people I trusted. And now Alexa had taken that away.

When we reached home, I headed straight to my room. Vivi came up moments later, with a tub of ice cream. We sat on my bed, leaning against the headboard. I rested my head on her shoulder and took a big spoonful of ice cream.

"What are you going to do?" Vivi asked softly.

I shrugged weakly. "What's there to do? I don't know if I can look at her in the same way again. Or him."

"Me neither," said Vivi. "I'm going to kill Winters."

"Pretty sure your boyfriend is doing that right now."

She chuckled. "True. I don't know how you're staying so calm. I would've freaked out."

"I'm done hurting over what he did. I already spent a lot of time crying over his sorry ass, I'm not doing it again. The only reason I'm so hurt is because it's Alexa. It could've been anyone else, anyone, and I wouldn't have cared."

Vivi side-hugged me. "Aw, I'm so sorry for you."

We stayed there for quite some time, Vivi stroking my hair till I drifted off.

A knock on my door startled me awake. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. It was almost midnight. The ice-cream tub was gone and Vivi was sound asleep next to me.

The door opened and Cedric's head peered inside. "Chloe?"

"Yeah."

He walked in and smiled at the sight of Vivi before looking at me in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," I said tiredly.

"Caleb's outside, he wants to talk to you. If you don't want to, I'll tell him to go."

Caleb? What did he want? Was he trying to pull another prank?

I got up. "I'll talk to him."

Cedric nodded. "Okay. I'll be in my room."

I went downstairs and saw Caleb waiting in the hall.

He looked up when he saw me. "Hey."

"If this is another prank, save it, please. This is not the time."

He shook his head. "No, I just want to talk to you, if that's okay."

I nodded and pulled my cardigan tighter. "Okay. Let's take a walk."

We headed to the backyard, walking slowly on the trail. I heard a rumble and looked up at the sky; it was definitely going to rain tonight.

"I'm sorry about Alexa," Caleb said. "Are you okay?"

"I will be," I said for what felt like the hundredth time.

He nodded and we walked in silence. His presence next to me was doing strange things to my hormones and I was too tired to deal with my aching heart.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Um- I'm sorry. For... everything."

"Me too."

"I just need to know one thing," he said tensely. "I like you... a lot. I care for you and I want to spend all my time with you. I just need to know if you feel the same."

Oh dear lord. Oh my god, okay, calm down. Calm down and give a coherent  answer. That's it, just open your mouth and tell yes.

We'd stopped walking and he was looking at me with eyes full of emotion. I opened my mouth to answer and tasted the first raindrop. Another fell on Caleb's nose and we looked up to see the skies open up.

I looked into his captivating green eyes, looking at me like he never wanted to let me go.

"I... like you a lot too," I said softly.

A smile lit up his face as he stepped closer to me, water dripping from his hair. My clothes were soaked and my woollen cardigan weighed down on my shoulders but I didn't move.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," I whispered.

It was raining. If he didn't kiss me now, I would punch him.

His fingers pushed back a wet strand of my hair and trailed down my cheek, running across my lips. My stomach exploded with butterflies.

I shivered. "Just kiss me already."

He smiled and leaned down, bringing his sweet, sweet lips to mine. The world melted away and it was just him and me, the rain falling on us like blessings from the heavens. His hand cupped my cheek and his arm circled my waist, pulling me close. I looped my arms around his neck, running my fingers through his wet hair. And when he opened his sweet mouth, I lost myself in him.

○○♡○○