Juneau Elicits

III

"I knew it was only a matter of time," she states in that easy way of hers, smoothly stepping to the side to let him walk in. 

He hesitantly takes a few steps forward into her tidy apartment. It's just the kind of place he would expect from her. It's simple, clean, but the decorations and placement of things...chaotic in the way she always was. "You're not...surprised?"

She scoffs, shutting the door behind him and walking to the kitchen a few steps away. "When Si hung up on me the other day, I was confused, because usually, I'm the one that has to hang up, as much as she loves to talk. And at first, I thought it was an accident, but when she never called me back, I texted her, and she just said: 'something came up.' So I texted Tomas, who said: 'V's back!!' "

He doesn't know why he expected her to be surprised. He'd only seen her actually stunned a few times in his life. Once, when Tommy thought a wintertime slip-n-slide would be a fun Christmas break activity. Twice, when she was given a cat for her birthday, even though she expressed how much she wanted a dog, and...when her best friend was killed.

There's silence in her small apartment as she makes some tea, which he finds odd, as she was never the person to do so. She would tell them to help themselves, but she wouldn't be the overly accommodating host. Maybe she's just doing it to avoid looking at him or directly confronting him, but that doesn't seem like her, either.

He suddenly feels so very out of place, a foreigner standing in a friend-turned-stranger's apartment, unsure of what their dynamic will be. 

He decides he's just going to rip off the bandaid, so to speak. 

"Do you blame me?" Vaughn asks quietly, and in the process of reaching for a couple of mugs, she halts, her hand frozen in front of her. 

She grabs two black ones and slowly sets them down on the countertop before she replies. 

"Not completely."

He sucks in a deep breath, lowering his head. He should have known she wouldn't want to see him, wouldn't want-

She turns around, facing him. 

"I don't blame you for what you did, but I do still hold you partially accountable for what happened. What happened..." she trails off, her thoughts clearly drifting, but only for a second before she regains her composure. She straightens, turning, and pours two mugs of tea. "A part of me will never forgive you for the role you played in it, for not telling us what was happening, and for leaving Siara like that. Do you know how many times I spent the nights at her place, crying with her and reassuring her that her big brother would be back soon? Do you know who was picking up the pieces, Vaughn? Me. And Tomas. I was the emotional support, and he was the comedic relief. We all should have coped and gotten through it together, as friends do. But no, because you just left. So yes, I will always remember that. But I can't hate you."

He gently takes his when it is handed to him, hands engulfing the glass. "I...Jasmine, I really am sorry- I fully intend to try to make up for how selfish I was, and I understand if-"

"It's been eight years, and all I want to do now is move on. She wouldn't want any of us this...caught up for almost a decade because of something that boy did."

Anger immediately courses through his veins at the thought of him. But nevertheless, he keeps his voice calm and low, hating to outwardly display anger. His father did that enough for both of them, and he doesn't want to be like him. "Is he...?"

"In prison? No."

Vaughn freezes. "What?"

He watches as her eyes narrow at the wall in front of her, perfectly groomed nails pushing against her mug of tea. She's ice, strong and unbreakable unless you put forth the effort to break down her walls and get to know her. Vaughn had always connected with Jasmine in that way more than any of his other friends, as they had always been the most alike.