Alexander's P.O.V:
I pick up my coffee cup from the counter and place the money in the woman's chubby little hand before I turn my back towards her and walk away. I ignore all the stares which I get from woman who wink and smile at me. It's an everyday thing, i'm used to it by now.
I make my way up the stairs instead of taking the lift before I make it into the quiet hallway. My kids stay seated but they're not alone this time, they have my bestfriend Emily with them.
I swallow the lump down in my throat and push down the emotions. I can't let my kids see me get emotional. Emily stands up at the sight of me and walks towards me, making me stop in the middle of the hallway.
"I am so sorry." She sigh and wraps her arms around me.
"For being a bitch to me earlier on or for the loss of Karla?" I ask as I wrap my arm around her.
"Both." She mumbles. "Karla was so young." I hear her say.
"She was." I mumble.
"And she had to kids too." I hear her add.
"She did." I mumble. Emily pulls away and lets out a sigh. I watch her wrap her jacket around her tiny figure as she look back at the kids and then at me.
"Are you okay?" She asks.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I shrug and drink from my cup.
"Your friend just died." She states.
"She wasn't my friend. She was Tessa's friend." I say and watch her sigh.
"Don't do that." She shakes her head.
"I'm not doing anything." I shrug.
"Your bottling up your emotions, Alex." She whispers.
"I'm not." I tut and drink from my cup again.
"Yes Alex. You are." She says. "And you know what happened last time you did that." She says. I got drunk, beat some guy up, got into a car crash and arrested. Oh and I beat Emilys last boyfriend up.
"I need to check on my baby sister." I tell her.
"Whilst your looking after her, please look after yourself-" She starts but I cut her off.
"Harry will you behave!" I scream as I watch him run around and throw things at his sister, making Harry jump up. Emily sighs and shakes her head.
"I'm taking the kids to my place. They can stay with me for how ever long you want them to stay." Emily says, making me look down at her.
"Thanks." I nod. Emily nods slowly before she turns to face my kids and calls them. I watch them slowly stands up before they walk towards us.
Marshall walks into the hallway and slowly stops walking. Emilys eyes go wide as she stares at Marshall the same time my daughter Jessica gasps. Marshall clears his throat and looks at us awkwardly before he carries on walking.
"Emily." I clear my throat. "This is my brother in law, Marshall." I say and gestures towards him. Marshall nods at Emily as she just stare at him in shock.
I kiss my kids goodbye and watch them walk away with Emily as I stand next to Marshall. They wave at me, making me force a smile on my lips before they turn the corner and dissappear.
"How is she?" I ask.
"She's....Quiet." Marshall answers. I let out a sigh and turn towards the door before I gesture for Marshall to lead the way. Marshall stays quiet and pushes the door open and walks in before I follow him in.
Nick stands up against the wall as he stares at Karla, his eyes red from all the crying. My eyes drift away from him and then at my little sister who's suprised us all.
We expected Tessa to have some sort of break down but no. This whole time Tessa has been quiet and....Emotionless. She's been sitting in her chair for the last three hours and just staring at Karla. The nurses came to take the body away but Tessa refused to let her go. She said she wanted Chris to be here before they take her away.
"Take a seat, Nicklaus." I gesture towards the chair. God knows how long he's been standing there. "Nicklaus?" I call him again. "Nick." I say louder as I walk towards him. I stop right infront of him and watch him stare at me blankly. "You must be tired. Sit down." I say slowly and gesture towards the chair again.
"I don't want to." He croaks and clears his throat, making me sigh.
"Any news on where Chris is?" I ask Tessa but get nothing out of her.
"No." Marshall says, making me glance at him before I look away again. "He hasn't returned our calls." Marshall adds.
"He can see Karla at the morgue. We can't keep the body-" I start and stop talking at the sound of my sister's voice.
"We are not moving her until Chris comes." She whispers, making me drop my gaze down to the floor.
"Tessa. We can't keep her here." I say and watch Tessa shake her head.
"We aren't doing anything until Christopher gets here." She says, making me sigh.
***
"Anything?" Liam raises his brow, making me shake my head in response. "You have got to be fucking kidding me." He throws his hands up in the air as I reach for my jacket and pull it on before I start to fix my tie.
"Where on earth have they gone!" Leonardo hisses.
"You think he knows?" Micheal asks. "Do you think Chris knows about Karla?" He rephrases the question.
"I doubt it." Andrew sighs.
"Try calling Jacob." I hear Jay say to me and clench my jaw. I hate the bastard. I ignore my little brother and keep my gaze fixed on the lady behind the reception. She's been eyeing all of us for the last couple of minutes.
"I have." Micheal states. "He isn't answering my calls, just like Chris isn't." He adds.
"Jakes probably getting drunk somewhere." I mumble.
"Now is not the time to bash your brother." Jay says.
"Fuck off back to England Jay." I say and clear my throat. "You barley saw Karla." I state. "Why are you even here." I add.
"Karla was a good friend." Jay states, making me turn around to face him. "And Tessa needs me." He shrugs. "Just like she needed you when she was 18 and you believed Gayle over-" Jay shouts but gets cut off.
"Let's not bring up the past!" Liam cuts in. Jay balls his hands up into fist and I watch him clench his jaw as he looks away from me. I smirk lightly and turn my back towards him.
"It's time to move on from the past....brother. Tessa has forgiven me for that. Besides, you act like you care for Tessa yet you didn't even show up for Gayle's trial." I state.
"I would have only got beaten up and kicked out into the cold by you....Again." He shrugs.
"You're lucky I haven't done that yet." I clear my throat. "But if I hear you talking to me again then-" I start and get cut off.
"¡Cállate ya!" Andrew shouts, making us both go quiet. "Tessa's bestfriend just died!" He says. "And she hasn't even cried yet." He states. "Can't you see that there is something wrong with our sister? She has been through so much and now her bestfriend is gone. We need to stop fighting and stick together and we need to support our sister!" He adds through gritted teeth.
{Translation: Be quiet already!}
"What's with all the shouting?" I turn around to face Nick. "You're going to upset her." He adds, clearly referring to Tessa.
"How is she doing?" I ask.
"She hasn't moved an inch....Or...Or said a word." Nick says, making me turn away from him.
"You go get yourself something to eat-" Leonardo starts but Nick cuts in quickly.
"I'm not hungry." He says.
"Nick. You can't stay in that room all day." Micheal says.
"I'm not leaving that room until Chris gets here." He shrugs.
"Go get yourself something to eat or grab a drink. Take a quick ciggrete break. Just go get some fresh air." Andrew says, making Nick shake his head.
"I got this." I say and place my hand on Nicks shoulder. "Let's go." I say and watch him shake his head. Just when i'm about to speak, a figure in the distance catches my eyes. I look away from Nick and at the woman in the dark blue dress. The same woman I bumped into last night, just before I found Karla dead. "You again." I say and watch her smile at me. "What are you doing here?" I ask.
Who is she? How does she know Karla?
"Rose." Jay says. "When did your flight land" He asks. I watch him walk towards the woman before he takes her hand in his and locks their finger together.
No...Please don't tell me-
"Just this morning sweetheart. There was a delay at Heathrow." She replys and kisses my stupid little brothers cheek.
Damn it, she's hot t- Wait...She was here last night...How did she come from London to LA?
"You must be tired." He says and just when he's about to speak, Rose cuts in.
"I slept through the whole journey." She says. "I am wide awake." She states.
What a fucking liar!
"I see." Jay mumbles. Rose glances at me and quickly looks back at Jay.
"How is Tessa?" She asks.
"Nick. Let's go for a smoke." I nudge him and watch him nod. He finally look's up and stops in his tracks.
"You again." Nick whispers. I watch Rose look up at Nick the same time Jay turns to face us. "Why the fuck are you even here?" He says through gritted teeth.
"I-" Rose starts but Nick cuts in.
"Karla was scared to leave her damn house or her husband and kids alone because of what you might have done!" He yells.
"Nick. Come on." Liam says and places his hand on his shoulder. "Let's go. It's been a long...Long day." He says as I pull at Nicks arm. We manage to pull him away and walk towards the door.
"She is one sick bitch!" Nick screams as he turns to face Rose.
"Nick!" Liam yells as I push open the door.
"She should be fucking arrested!" Nick screams. "You come near us again and I will make sure-" Nick starts but I quickly close the door and push him away.
Nicklaus P.O.V:
"Karla." I inhale in deeply and toss in my sleep. "Karla." The name reaches my ears in a whisper. "Karla....Wake up. Please wake up." My eyes shoot open and I quickly sit up.
I blink a couple of times and rub my eyes with my palms before I sit up. I let my eyes adjust to the dark room before I look at the chair that Tessa is on-Was on.
Where the hell is she gone?
Damn it, I fell asleep! I flip open my phone and read the time. 1:30am. Where could have Tessa gone at this time. She's probably alone since Marshall and Iris went to Tessa's home to sleep and her brothers left to get some rest. It was just me and Tessa.
"Karla." I hear Tessa whisper.
I wasn't dreaming?
"Tess." I call her and stand up.
"She's gone." Tessa says, her voice heavy with emotions. She hasn't said a word since yesterday.
I walk over to the door and switch on the light before I turn to face Tessa who's sitting on the floor next to Karla's body. I walk towards her and place my hand on her shoulder.
"Let's go sit back down on the chair." I say and watch her shake her head. The thing the shocks me most is that she still hasn't cried. I haven't seen a single tear.
"She's freezing." She states. "Where's Christopher?" I ask.
"We don't know." I say and watch her look up at me.
"He has to be here." Tessa states. "We can't leave Karla here. Call a nurse. They have to take her away." She says.
"We can wait-" I start and get cut off.
"She's dead!" Tessa snaps. "Nick, Karla is dead!" She states. I watch her as I push my emotions down. "We can't wait any longer. Call the nurse. Please." She adds and stands up.
I let out a sigh and rise up from the ground before I press the emergency button. A few seconds later, a male nurse appears.
"Yes sir?" He says.
"Could you take her-Karla away." I say and watch him nod. We wait a couple of minutes before he brings a few other nurses. Tessa and I walk towards the corner of the room and watch them take our best friend and sister away. "She'll be missed by so many." I whisper to Tessa as I wrap my arm around her and place a kiss on her temple.
"Yeah." Tessa whispers and nods lightly.
I get ready for Tessa to have a break down or cry and scream at the nurse to leave her there as they push her bed out but instead she stares at Karla blankly. Once they leave, Tessa grabs her belongings and sets them aside before she starts to clear the room.
"We can clear Karla's things tomorrow. You don't have to do this now." I say and watch her shake her head.
"We should have cleared this room out a long time ago." I hear her say quietly. I let out a sigh and watch her grab all of Karla's belongings and place them in a white bag. I stand up straight and walk towards her before I grab another white bag and gather all of Karla's things and help Tessa.