Falling For Him

Chapter 35

Important A/N at the end :)

BETH

"Thank you so much for coming over to help darling, I really appreciate it"

I looked at Alice and gave her a warm smile, "I'm here whenever you need me". She smiled back at me before placing her hand on my arm gently and giving it a light squeeze.

Earlier today, she came over and asked if I could help her run some errands as she needed to get them done urgently, and I agreed without thinking twice because of how stressed out she seemed. I had plans to spend the day with Jazz and Parker and I ended up cancelling on them.

I can only imagine what they must be thinking - that I'm avoiding them so I don't have to talk about what went down between Sam and I. But there wasn't much to tell them since we hadn't really spoken since that phone call two nights ago. A small part of me wished that I'd bump into him when Alice asked me come over, but I dismissed it as me just being concerned for him as a friend.

Nothing more.

"My niece is getting married next month and she wanted me to get some stuff done for her last minute. We're actually going to meet her in a few minutes, that's if I can manage to get these shoes on and actually get in the car" She huffed as she struggled to close the clasp of her shoe, making me giggle.

I was looking forward to spending some time with Alice, purely because the last few days have been so tense and dramatic and I felt that maybe I could get away from all that for a little while.

Maybe.

As we pulled into the parking lot, I furrowed my eyebrows when I noticed the store.

"If she's getting married next month, shouldn't she already have a dress?" The car stopped outside of bridal store and Alice grabbed her purse before turning to me with a sigh.

"She got her wedding dress a few months ago but soon after she found out she's pregnant so of course she needs to get a dress she can fit in" she chuckled and shook her head "Now come on, let's go inside"

As we walked into the shop, my eyes immediately went to the girl with light brown hair standing by the counter with a hand over her growing bump. Alice leaned in slightly with a motherly smile on her face, "that's her".

"Amber!" she called out, making the brunette spin around and her eyes light up when she spotted her aunt.

"Oh aunt Alice!" she rushed forward and threw her arms around Alice's small figure with the biggest smile on her face "I missed you so much! Mom was so nervous about me flying out, even though I'm only 5 months along, that it made me feel nervous myself. This little girl didn't help either, I was so nauseous the whole time" She babbled on as they broke apart from their hug and she rubbed her bump.

"Well I'm glad you made it here in one piece" Alice joked "Oh, this is Elizabeth, Sam's friend and our neighbour". I suddenly became nervous, and just gave her a small smile. Amber, however, squealed before pulling me in for a hug, her bump pressing into my abdomen.

"Elizabeth huh? Can't believe I'm finally getting to meet you! I'm not joking when I say I've heard a lot about you in the past few years" she tutted and released me from her hold, leaving me confused.

Why and how has she heard a lot about me? I don't even know her.

Seeing the look of confusion on my face, she explained "Sam was staying with us when you got to know him years ago. Aunt Alice had planned to move to another city with her now husband but Sam was having trouble saying goodbye to his friends so he stayed with us until he finished the school year. He used to come home from the park and constantly talk about you and another friend he had and as a fifteen year old at the time, I used to hate it" She laughed but a wave of sadness went through me.

The other friend was Trevor. I wonder how he would've reacted to seeing Sam again after all these years.

Would he have been the same all these years? Always putting me first and making sure I was safe.

To think we were only 10 years old.

"Hey, are you alright?" Amber furrowed her eyebrows, looking at me intently. I nodded and smiled, "never better"

Turns out, I could be better. Much better.

We've been here for almost 2 hours and there is not a single dress in this store that Amber likes. She's been quite tense and easily irritable, most likely because of the pregnancy. Maybe that's why Alice wanted me to come along, so she wouldn't have to deal with this on her own. Every time Amber had an outburst, Alice looked at me with slight wide eyes and rolled her eyes while smiling.

"So I'm guessing Sam has caught you up with everything by now" She stared at me with her motherly gaze and I swallowed, "Yeah when we went to the fair. I can't believe I didn't realise on my own, I felt so stupid in that moment and still do if I'm being honest"

She smiled, "He told us to not tell you anything even though we had never met you before, only he had. I remember when he had to leave, he was devastated. He kept saying how he wanted to write to you guys or contact you and quickly realised he had nothing to be able to contact you, no number or address. When my husband brought him home, he didn't even say hi to me, just went straight to his room and sulked for days before he finally decided to get out and make new friends to stop feeling so lonely"

"I think that's enough for today, what do you think aunt Alice?" Amber questioned suddenly, making me jump in my seat as I was thinking about what Alice had just said. Alice nodded and stood from her seat to put her arm around Amber as she spoke, "of course. We can always try again tomorrow".

"Yeah we can go to another shop tomorrow, we might have better luck elsewhere" I agreed, which made Alice laugh.

"Oh honey, you don't need to join us tomorrow, I've probably stressed you out more than necessary today" She chuckled and Amber cracked a smile as well. I shook my head in disagreement, "no trust me, I have gone through worse before".

That was true. Shopping with Jazz is hell, in simple words. She always walks around the mall twice incase there was something she missed the first time, and I always come home with sore feet and a headache - that is enough of a reason for Parker and I to avoid going shopping with Jazz.

"Well, today has been fun. Let's get some food now, if you're up for it Beth?" Amber asked as we got into the car. My eyes lit up at the mention of food and I eagerly agreed, making both Alice and Amber laugh at me.

Can't say no to food, can I?

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Hey guys, it's been a while huh?

I've seen all your comments and private messages asking me to update and I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to finally do so, even though it isn't the most exciting chapter. University is no joke, there is so much pressure to do well, many deadlines to meet and it does take a toll sometimes, but of course I'm grateful for being able to get to this chapter in life.

So I guess what I wanted to say is that this book will have slow updates until the academic year ends for me in June. It isn't ideal for you guys reading but I really hope you won't mind. Of course I will try my best to update whenever I can but the likelihood is that it will be updated slowly. I'm so so grateful for you all for reading and engaging with this book, it makes me so happy seeing people enjoy my work.

That being said, I have updated chapter 36 as well for you guys to enjoy until I get the chance to update again.

Much love ❤️