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chapter forty-one: forsake the bitter times
{a/n:
they're healing.
commenting and voting are greatly appreciated!! enjoy :)}
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GUY WAS RIGHT.
Guy was right and Adam hated it. He wasn't trying hard enough, and fifteen minutes ago, he wasn't even trying at all. The boy paces around his room anxiously while nibbling on his thumb nail, eyes flickering towards his door every couple of seconds.
He has two options here; go after her or stay and sulk. Obviously, one outweighed the other and he knew what one he 'should' choose.
After a moment, the blonde blows a sharp sigh and takes long, determined strides towards his door, opening it quickly. He rushes down the hallway but slows down once a few feet away from her room. He doesn't want his footsteps sounding desperate.
He leans against the doorframe and lets his knuckles hover in front of the door for a second, suddenly stiff as a statue as he tries to think of what he's going to say.
Finally, biting his lower lip, he gently knocks.
"Come in,"
Vera's putting some clothes into a dresser drawer when he opens it. She looks over at him, expression twitching into -- what Adam sees as disquietude but really is concern -- and he tries not to be hurt by it.
"Hey," He says, sounding nauseous and it makes Vera worried.
"Uh, hi?" She blinks, letting her hand rest on the edge of the drawer, "Is something wrong?"
The boy shakes his head. "Nope."
Vera tilts her head to the side, squinting her eyes as she tries to see through him. "Then...?" She doesn't find the need to say anything else.
"I just wanted to check in -- well, apologize for shooing you out of my room." His self-correction comes with a glint of hurt in his eyes and slight furrow to his brows. He clears his throat, "That's all."
But, he doesn't leave.
"Oh," Her face visibly softens and she's grinning. "Adam, you don't need to apologize. I overstepped, it's okay... honestly, I'm the one who should be apologizing."
Adam presses his body off the frame and takes a couple steps into her room, crossing his arms and cupping his elbows as he didn't know what to do with them. "But, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
Vera's whole face widens with amusement. "Snapped -- oh, you're funny." Her short laugh catches Adam off guard and he doesn't know if he should chuckle along or not.
"You were having a rough time and politely asked me to go, so I did. You don't need to feel bad." She shuts the dresser drawer and walks over to her bed, taking a seat on the edge.
He's tempted to join beside her, but stays hovering by the door. He shrugs, "It's hard for me not to."
"Then that just means you're tender-hearted."
"If you say so." Adam says like it's simple -- as if he wasn't freaking out on the inside. The butterflies in his stomach are going crazy.
Vera licks her lips and slowly shifts on the bed. "Is that all you came in here for?" She asks.
He has to think for a moment.
Well, yeah. As much as he wants to address the elephant in the room, it's too early. They're finally on decent terms again and he doesn't want to take the chance and screw it up again. It wasn't worth it, not when it comes to her.
But then again, what is there to talk about? Hockey? School?
"You said you had a sister, right?" She says, sounding intrigued as she interrupts all his thoughts. But in reality, she's just desperate to make conversation. She doesn't want him running away again.
Adam stares at her, slightly owlish. How'd she remember?
"Yeah," he clears his throat. "Gracelyn."
Vera nods as if she's been in the deepest discussion she's ever had. "Julie told me a little bit about her. She sounds pretty cool."
"She is." The boy smiles and after a second, his eyes glimmer in remembrance. He looks at her almost excitingly. "You'll meet her today. I think she'll be here around noon to help bake some things for Thursday."
Vera perks up, her face brightening. She absolutely loves baking and hasn't had the time to since attending Westbrook. "Maybe I can help her! You know, if she needs it." Her excited reaction fails to be subtle and Adam's almost melting.
"Oh, I'm sure she'll need some." He threads a hand through his hair and glances over his shoulder to the door for a second before looking back with squished features. "I just remembered that Warren needed help him with unloading his truck something," he states, brushing his palm across his forehead as he speaks, dreading the idea of the task.
She tucks a brunette lock of hair behind her ear and brings her heels to the edge of the bed, securing her arms around her knees, then waves a dismissive hand. "Oh, yeah, go do what you need to do."
Adam displays his top teeth on his lower lip, grinning. He inclines his head sharply before turning on his heels and taking a couple steps towards the door. Before leaving, he turns back around, shoulder resting on the frame and hands in pockets. "It was nice talking to you. Like, really nice." His eyes widen slightly with emphasis.
Vera can feel her face heating up. She can't find the strength to open her mouth and respond.
Adam reaches in and grabs the doorknob, giving her one last warm grin before closing the door. Once it clicks shut, he waits a second before shaking his fists, 'Yes!'
Inside the room, Vera lets herself fall back on the bed, unfastening her legs from its arms grasp and laying like a starfish. She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and can't help but giggle when realizing how giddy she was.
AN HOUR LATER, there's an eager knock at the front door. Vera was just coming down the stairs from her bedroom in hopes of finding a glass of water. Her eyes flicker around the alluring foyer, searching for anyone whose willing to answer the door.
After waiting a moment, there was a second knock -- more harsher than the last.
Vera took it upon herself to unlock it.
"Finally, it's fucking freezing- oh. Hello?" A blonde girl was standing there with two large suitcases, one in each hand.
"Uh, hi." Vera starts, watching the girl grow more confused by the second.
Her face was pierced red from the cold and vapor releases her nose as she breathes. She sets down one of her suitcases on the front step and readjusts her black, fur scarf around her neck. "I'm sorry, who are you?" She asks with a tilted head and knitted brows.
Warren's voice calls out from his father's study, which was unknowingly located to Vera's left. "Gracie?" She hears him get up from the chair and looks over at him as he approaches the door.
Adam's older brother puts a hand on the edge of the door and peeks around it, a smile pulling on the corners of his lips as he sees his sister. "I thought I saw your wreck of a car pulling in." He takes a step outside and embraces his sister tightly, whom is rolling her eyes at the tease of her 92' Renault Twingo.
Vera's awkwardly standing there with her hands clasped together. She licks her lips and glances around in hopes of finding some escape. She would try to go to the kitchen and get a glass of water like she initially planned, but the Bank's house was like a maze. It's safer to stay put and wait for guidance.
Gracelyn sighs softly, shutting her tired eyes as she lets go of her brother. "The roads were horrible." She complains.
Warren helps bring in her luggage and motions her inside the house. "That's one thing I haven't missed since leaving." He chuckles and shuts the front door.
When Gracelyn is taking off her coat, she notices Vera again. She narrows her eyes, then looks over at her brother. "Whose this?" Her eyes flash to the brunette again, and this time, she smiles sympathetically.
"Vera." The girl introduces herself. "Uh, Adam invited me over for the week. I hope you don't mind. Your name is Gracelyn, right? He told me all about you -- all good things, I promise." Her chest is aching in embarrassment from how she'd just rambled. She sucks in air through her teeth, looking at Warren for help.
All Gracelyn can think of in the moment is how this is the girl who made Adam drive home in the early morning sobbing. Though it was his fault, something about her just made Gracelyn a little skeptic.
"Yeah, I've heard of you." She hopes her words sound welcoming but they were kind of dry.
Vera doesn't hang onto it though. Instead, she turns to Warren and asks for the direction to the kitchen, which he provides in the way of a treasure map. She quickly gives a, "It was really nice meeting you." before scurrying off, leaving the Banks sister with pressed lips and a slight head-shake.
"Don't do that." Warren states sharply, voice quiet.
Gracelyn gives him a sidelong glance, raising an eyebrow. "Do what?"
"That." He does a crazy gesture all over her face with his index finger, in which she doesn't quite get the point of. "Vera's a sweet girl. I know you told me all the shit that went down between them but I think our little Addy was exaggerating. One of the first things she did was cuddle with Tink -- that's a green flag all in itself."
Gracie looks back down the hallway, where Vera is there standing between two corridors looking confused as ever. She grins a little and calls out, "The right one is to the kitchen."
Vera, startled, glances over her shoulder, displaying a grateful smile. "Thanks!" Then heads down the hall.
"I can't believe I'm trusting you on this." The elder Banks sister scoffs while leaning down to untie her maroon Doc Martin's. She looks up at him for a moment, "You're usually a dumbass when it comes to girls."
Warren grabs onto both of her suitcases and heads for one of the turned-staircases in the main foyer, taking his first few steps up them. "You shouldn't have to trust me. This is Adam's life, he's the one whose making these decisions and we just have to respect them."
ADAM FINDS HIMSELF SITTING on the counter absolutely tearing up the left-over frosting in the steel bowl with a spatula. "Man, coach would murder me if he found out I was eating this crap." He's been going on and on about the nutrition plan the academy had that was set to start the day they come back from fall break, yet he hasn't turned down a single thing either of the girls had offered him in the last couple of hours.
They'd been baking all evening. First, it was only Gracelyn. She was just putting in her first rack of snicker-doodles when Vera came in to wash out her glass. One thing led to another and they were baking a flavor assortment of cupcakes.
"Adam, if you're just going to sit here and disrespect our exquisite delicacies then I'm going to have to kick you out of our kitchen." Gracelyn warns as she reties her apron that had fallen. Vera comes over to help upon noticing her struggle.
"I'm not disrespecting them." His sassy tone makes both of the girls giggle inside, yet they both look up at him with annoyance. "I'm just saying, I shouldn't be eating this. I have to stay fit."
Vera finishes tying his sister's apron and walks over to him, who is coincidentally sitting next to one of the trays of snicker-doodle cookies. She picks one up, turns over to Adam, who is in hopes of her doing something else, but instead, she rams it into his mouth. "Suck it up, it's Thanksgiving. Everyone gets fat this week."
Gracelyn snorts, shaking her head as she resumes pipping out chocolate frosting onto some vanilla cupcakes.
Adam chews on the cookie, eyeing Vera playfully. "Theres aren't even all that good." He jokes with shrugged shoulders.
His sister looks up from her cupcakes. She gives him a look of offense; eyes widened and jaw ajar. "Hey! I made those!" And before the boy had time to defend himself, one of her freshly frosted cupcakes miraculously ends up splattered in the center of his face.
Vera lets out a loud, bubbly laugh.
The boy is thankful that the chocolate frosting was now covering his flushed face. Her laugh never fails to captivate him.
Using his palms to push himself off the edge of the counter, the blonde walks over to the large, granite industrial sink that's implanted into the kitchen island. He cups one of his hands and uses it to push his hair up past his hairline and holds it in place while he uses the other one to rinse off his face.
The chuckles die down and both of the girls continue on with what they were doing. But when Adam dries off his face with a dish towel, Gracelyn walks up beside him.
He peels the towel off and hangs it on the rack, glancing over at her while doing so. "Hm?"
Her gaze travels over to the girl filling up a clear pipping bag with cream cheese frosting. She has her tongue jutted out slightly as she focuses. Adam's eyes follow and his lips automatically spread into a smile.
"Is everything going okay between you two? Like -- she hasn't made you cry-"
"Gracie."
"I'm just wondering." She says gently.
Adam forces himself to rip his eyes away from Vera and looks at his sister. She's standing there with a serious and concerned expression, and he can see that she's nibbling on the inside of her cheek.
When he blinks, his eyes become softer. He places his hand on the rim of the sink and lets his shoulder pop up a bit. "No," he answers, letting his voice drop into a whisper. "she hasn't. Ever since this morning, things have been fine and I'm going to work hard to keep it that way."
Her tight, deadpanned features remain on her face as she lets her eyes flicker between his.
It makes him nervous.
Finally, after a second, she blows out a breath of relief and firmly grabs onto Adam's shoulders. "Oh, thank God!" she says, grinning wide. "She's so awesome."
Adam doesn't waste a second. "Yeah, she is."
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mari speaks!!
don't expect that they're all butterflies and rainbows now. they still haven't talked about 'that' night. and might i warn you, it's going to be kind of a wreck
and you know what's crazy? we're just now reaching the halfway point of this book and it's chapter 40...
also, i'm sorry if i scared u into thinking gracie was going to hate vera. honestly i was going to go that direction but u guys have suffered enough... for now
warren banks is so hot. someone had to say it
thank you all for reading! I hope wherever you are, that you all have a blessed day or night commenting and voting are greatly appreciated! they boost my motivation sm
**not edited
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