Sorry for the long(ish) wait! Hope you enjoy <3
Angelina Jolie as Seth's mother ^^^^
34. Arya
I balance my phone in my clammy hands as I stare at the tiny blue airplane lit up on the screen. I am tempted to just press it, deactivate airplane mode and check if Seth finally called. I had been up all night, texting, leaving voice messages and trying to reach him via phone call but he just wouldn't answer. No matter how many times I tried to repeat Sam's calming words in my mind, they couldn't calm me down any longer. What if there actually is something going on. What if he's cheating on me? It's not hard for someone like him to find someone better.
As I lay awake last night, I saw Seth in my mind's eye. With every twist and turn, there he was; Seth with a tiny blonde wrapped around him naked, tangled in a mess of sheets, Seth making out with some gorgeous but barely dressed club-goer, Seth... Seth... Seth... and it was always him being too distracted to answer my calls.
At night those insecurities couldn't be held back by the strongest minds.
Now I am sat on a plane, counting down the minutes until arrival. I know Sam's waiting for me and I know that whatever he has to tell me has to be bad. He wouldn't make such a fuss about it otherwise. He called me this morning just before my plane departed but I declined the phone call and listened to his voice message later. He tried to play it cool but I could hear the tension clear in his voice.
Whatever it is, it's probably not as bad as being ignored by your boyfriend.
Once the plane lands, I unhook the safety belt and jump from my seat. My overhead luggage hits another passenger in the head as I pull it down but I am already squeezing myself towards the exit. Earning myself annoyed looks, I storm past an elderly couple and out of the plane.
Tedious minutes pass as I make my way back into the airport, through security and finally, finally reach the arrivals. I immediately spot Sam as he stands waiting for me. He's looking around for me as I approach him. Once his eyes settle on me, a grin spreads across his face. I only manage a pathetic little half smile.
"There you are," he greets, wrapping his arms around my body and squeezing tightly.
"Here I am." My voice is raspy and I only now realize how tired I really am.
"Come on, let's get you home. You look like you haven't slept."
"Because I haven't," I stifle a yawn behind my hand as Sam takes my luggage from me.
We head towards the parking garage. I resemble a zombie more than a human being now as I noisily drag my feet towards Sam's car. He chuckles as he stores my bag in the trunk and slips into the driver's seat.
"I might have to make a phone call. You don't look like you're up for this today." I shoot Sam a look that could kill. "Alright, calm down. What's wrong anyway? Sleep deprivation is one thing, you looking like you're about to burst into tears is another."
I try to keep my face impassive but my wobbly bottom lip betrays me. Taking a deep breath in, I choke down the tears. If I start crying now, I may not stop until I get to see Seth again. Whenever that may be. God, this is bad. This is really bad. I need to get it together!
Sam gives me time to compose myself.
"It's Seth," I finally say. Sam rolls his eyes and scoffs.
"What has he done now?"
"Nothing! That's the problem. I still haven't heard from him. It has almost been two days now. This is not like him and..."
"You're worried?"
I sigh and nod my head. "Wouldn't you be? The rational part of me says not to worry but the irrational, insecure part of me keeps making up these scenarios where..."
"Stop," Sam interrupts. "You want rational? Listen to me. We don't know if something happened to him so there's no point in freaking out. I'll take you home with me now. We can call his house phone then if you like and check if anyone there knows where he is. If that doesn't work, we'll try to find his hotel. Even if it means I'll have to be your chauffeur all night. I'll do it."
I think about that for a moment. If it comes down to it, I probably would take Sam up on that offer. I would most likely feel like the most dependent, obsessive girlfriend of the century but it doesn't matter. I have a bad feeling and I'd rather find out first hand what's going on.
"Thank you, Sam."
"No problem at all." As he stares ahead at the road, I notice his forehead creasing up.
"Now that I unloaded my emotional junk on you, how about you do the same? I can handle it." I assure him but when he glances at me, taking his eyes off the road for a split second, I can see that his own insecurities are gnawing at him.
"I'm not sure you can, honestly. Seth didn't." This time Sam keeps his eyes straight forward.
"Wait... Seth knows? Come on Sam!" Maybe Sam's confession has something to do with the fact that Seth is ignoring me. By the guilty look on my cousin's face, I bet it actually does!
"He wasn't supposed to find out before you."
"Just tell me Samuel!"
Sam scoffs and I cross my arms in front of my chest.
"You'll see soon enough. I'd rather wait until we're home."
The car ride home is filled with an insufferably painful silence. All I want to do is squeeze Sam's confession out of him right there and then but I know it's useless. He is even more stubborn than I am and there's no way to get past that when he has his mind made up.
I resist the urge to call Seth once more, knowing the outcome already and then we arrive at Sam's apartment. Sam all but sprints from the car to collect my luggage from the trunk. Whatever awaits me in that apartment is definitely not going to be pleasant.
Following Sam into the building, dread builds inside me. Sam can't look at me as he shoves his key into the lock and unlocks the door. The door swings open and I can see Sam's shoulders lift and drop as he takes a deep breath. I brace myself for what's to come and follow him into the apartment.
To my surprise, the apartment is empty and looks the exact same as it did when I left. It has only been a couple of days so I don't know what exactly I expected. But then Sam calls out and I hear movement coming from Sam's bedroom. Turning towards him, I furrow my brow.
"Who is in there?" I question but when I get my answer, I am stunned.
A strangled laugh escapes me when my question is answered by Leena appearing from the bedroom. Dressed in a Victoria's Secret nightgown and sporting perfect silky hair only slightly tousled she joins Sam's side, wrapping an arm around his waist. I tear my eyes away from her tiny frame to redirect my glare at Sam.
The way Leena looks up at my cousin makes it all very clear. Now it even makes sense how she knew where to drop Seth off when he got drunk at the club! Mutual friends? Yeah, right! She's sleeping with my cousin and didn't have the decency to tell me about it!
"You can't be serious." I choke out.
"Listen, Arya, I'm sure this looks worse than it is."
"Does it? Because to me this looks like you're dating the girl whose whole purpose used to be to make my life horrible!" I honestly can't believe my eyes right now. The memory of Sam completely losing it over the fact that Seth and I were friends flashes in front of my eyes. He made me feel like I betrayed him so deeply that he could never forgive me. And now... Now he does the exact same thing!
I try to breathe, to calm down and get rational but feel like I don't have one rational bone in my body.
"Arya," my name coming from Leena's perfectly moisturized lips has my anger flaring. "I've changed. I promise, I have." As I stare at her, I try to find maliciousness in her eyes but draw a blank. She actually looks genuine. The hatred and hardness in her eyes is gone and has been replaced with something that could resemble gentility.
"I thought we were okay after graduation. I apologized for everything I did. I behaved like... like a bitch, I know." Her voice is so full of regret, I have to try really hard to stay angry at her. She looks so tiny, standing there at my cousin's side.
Still, I scoff and cross my arms in front of my chest.
"The point is I'm not that girl anymore. Look, everyone left after high school ended and I was lost, okay? I had to figure things out for myself and I was forced to get a fucking grip. I did, you know. I got a job and everything but I was still alone. If it weren't for Sam..." She stops and Sam drapes his arm across her shoulders, making her look even smaller than she is.
Letting my hands drop to my side, I really take in what's in front of me. Sam looks like he's terrified of what I might do and Leena looks like a completely different person from the girl I met in high school.
Who am I to judge their relationship? If I want to move forward, I have to leave the past in the past. If anyone knows how confusing it can be to fall for someone like Leena, it would be me. Sam felt like he couldn't even tell me about her because he was probably scared that I'd blow up at him. I'm not going to do that. Not when there are way too many thoughts overwhelming me as it is. He can date whoever he wants. As long as he's happy, I am happy.
"Please, Arya, don't freak out," Sam begs, stepping away from Leena's side and coming towards me. He puts his hands on my upper arms, staring down at me intensely. I can see in his eyes that Leena means more to him than he can explain right now and I need to trust that. He knows what he's doing.
I shake my head and put on a smile. "Don't worry. I don't mind."
"What?" Sam steps back shocked and I almost giggle at his expression.
"It's fine. I mean, I'm a bit shocked to say the least and I'm not quite sure if I like this but I'm not going to judge you for it. As long as you're happy and... well don't expect us to become best friends. That's all I'm saying." I stifle a yawn and notice the tiny hint of a smile and the gratefulness on Leena's face.
"Thank you." Sam breathes, engulfing me in a hug. I can almost feel the tension disappearing from his body.
"Don't thank me. You're a grown-up. You don't need my permission," I assure Sam with a smile and pat his shoulder. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a boyfriend to find."
"What?" Leena asks, looking confused. "You still haven't heard from him? Sam told me..."
"I haven't heard from him." I confirm, taking out my phone again. Still nothing.
"That's a bad sign," Leena mutters, earning herself a glare from both me and my cousin. "Hey, I'm just saying. When I was with him, something bad always followed a period of silence."
"Yeah, like a break-up," I snap but then the truth of my words hits me like a ton of bricks. I turn to Sam. "You don't think he's breaking up with me, do you?"
"No way, girl," Leena pipes up again, picking up one of Sam's hoodies off the couch and pulling it on over her nightgown. "That boy is absolutely crazy about you. It's like you've brainwashed him into never letting you go. I'm pretty sure there are only two people he cares about. One of those being his sister. The other one is so obviously you."
I watch her as she pulls on a pair of jeans and slings her hair up into a ponytail. Even if I can't stand her sometimes, she has a way of making me feel at least a tiny bit better. She knows Seth. Maybe she has some insight.
"I just... I don't get it," I say to her. "One second he's telling me how much he loves me, the next he ignores me completely."
"Leena, can you call his house phone and ask if he's there or if they at least know what hotel he's staying in?" Sam asks and Leena immediately hurries off back into the bedroom, nodding determinedly.
I sink down into the couch, feeling useless. Sam paces back and forth behind me and I'm trying not to have a break down. That bad feeling that I had when I left for New York is coming back and I just can't shake it. My goodbye felt too final. I should have known something was wrong! Although Seth didn't give me any signs...
Leena's talking in the bedroom puts me on edge. Especially because I can't make out a word that she's saying. Her voice is hushed and quiet. Only when she steps back out of the room and Sam stops his pacing, I jump up. Leena blows out a breath and is already heading towards the front door, pulling on a pair of boots and a coat.
"We need to get to the hospital right now."
Everything after that happens in a blur. I am stuck in my mind, incapable of moving my body. Sam ushers both Leena and me out of the apartment and back into his car. It's a miracle that I don't fall on my way there as my feet feel like they've been transformed into blocks of cement. My fingers tremble so hard that I can't even put on my own seatbelt.
As we rush towards the hospital, a thousand different scenarios run through my mind. Leena managed to get Lilly, the Smith's maid, to tell her that Seth has been in the hospital for a couple days now... and it sounded bad. I can't help but imagine him lying there, all alone. I torture myself with images of him. Did he get into a fight? Did he have an accident? My worst fears all return to the front of my mind and I am panicking. My chest feels closed up and I can barely breathe.
I hear Leena and Sam talking in the front of the car but their words don't reach me. It sounds like they're under water.
Finally we get to the hospital. My body comes back to life and I jump from the car before Sam gets the chance to cut the engine. He's running after me as I sprint into the large building and towards the front desk.
"Seth Smith," I demand out of breath, grabbing onto the desk to steady myself.
The lady behind the front desk looks up, turns towards her computer and starts typing. I am about to rip out my hair when she turns back to face me with a solemn expression. I must look crazy to her but I don't care. I need to find out what happened to him!
"I am sorry. Mr. Smith wouldn't allow visitors."
"What?" I gasp and a few tears spill from my eyes. Surely Seth would let me see him.
"His father," Sam mutters under his breath. "Did Seth's father decide this?"
The nurse nods with a sad smile and something inside me bursts.
"I have to see him!" I shout, panicking. "You have to let me see him. I don't care what his father wants! He doesn't know anything! I'm sure Seth wants me there! He wants me there!"
"I'm sorry, Ms. There's nothing I can do about this. I have strict orders..."
"This is ridiculous! Seth is an adult. He decides who gets to visit him and who doesn't!"
Once more the nurse checks her computer and shakes her head when looking back at me. I am close to jumping across the desk and smacking that pitiful frown off her face! What the nurse says next wipes out all signs of anger and replaces it with shock.
"I'm afraid he isn't capable of making such choices himself at the moment."
I stumble away from her desk, barely able to breathe when Sam wraps his arms around me from behind. He holds me to his chest and Leena walks up to the front desk. My stomach churns and I want to throw up. One image after the next of Seth in a coma, Seth half dead and alone flashes in front of my eyes and I am now full-on sobbing.
"Listen to me, I will fucking tear this hospital apart if you won't at least tell us what is going on with him. I don't care what it'll take. Get his father down here, for fuck's sake!" Leena yells as I cling to Sam.
"Leena, calm down. We'll find a way," Sam calls across to her and the nurse gives him a thankful look. "The Smith's maid said that Seth's mother is here right now, right?"
Leena joins us, hands on her hips and fuming. "Right."
"Do you think we could convince her to let Arya see him... or at least explain what happened?" Sam suggests, squeezing me tight. It sounds like a good idea but with Seth's mother you can't ever know.
"It's worth a try... But how are we going to find her? This hospital is huge!"
That's when the nurse clears her throat. We turn to see her on the phone but she's pointing at something. My eyes widen when I see her and I tear myself out of Sam's embrace. She spots me soon after, her whole body tense. As I approach her, I realize how tired she looks. Seth's mother, no matter in what condition, always looks put together. Now, her usually bright eyes look dull paired with dark circles underneath them. Her hair is a mess and she's dressed in a simple t-shirt and sweatpants.
She clears her throat before I can say anything and I see tears glistening in her eyes.
"Come on, I'll take you to him."
*******
I know, I know, still no Sarya. Next chapter, I promise! What do you think is going on with Seth? What do you think about Sam and Leena and Arya's reaction to their relationship??
Also (if you're interested) I've done an interview here on wattpad. Check the external link if you're interested :) I'd love it if you could comment and vote on that as soon as you're done here ;)
LOVE YOU GUYS!!! <3 <3 <3