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T h e H o l l o w s I n
O U R F R E E D O M
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Tears welled up in Sky's eyes. "When were you going to tell me?" She asked, getting over her shock moments later.
I had frozen out of guilt and surprise. How did we let it slip so easily?
Jace was stunned to silence, so I decided to step forward. "We were waiting for Elle to do it."
Tears streaming from her eyes, she spat, "that's a bad excuse."
I didn't know what to tell her, so I remained silent. I was surprised that Jace wasn't using his therapist ways to calm her down—she was, after all, his client.
"Who knew?" She asked. I swallowed. "Who knew, Alexi?" She asked again, growing angry with me.
"Me," I glanced over at Jace, "and Jace." Sky watched me, eyes digging holes in my chest.
"I know there's more, Lexi."
My heart stopped. She wouldn't make me do it. I can't break her heart like this.
"Elle." Sky rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. The tears never stopped, I think she knew what was coming.
Closing my eyes to stop the regret from blinding me, I said, "Jameson."
I heard her catch her breath, and opened my eyes to see her trembling. I stepped forward to help her, to do something, but she retreated, leaving and slamming the bathroom door behind her.
Frozen in our spots, neither Jace nor I knew what to do.
"We should give her space." I whispered, turning around to wipe frantically at my damp eyes.
"How?" He asked.
"Well I'm going for a shower. You can join if you want."
Unfortunately, Jace didn't. He instead sat on the side, waiting for me to finish. When I had done, I appeared in front of him wrapped in a towel.
"I didn't look." Jace assured me as he handed me another towel. I think he knew by now that I liked to twist the hell out of my hair then throw it up into some turban.
He watched as I tried different methods of drying my near black hair naturally. "I don't want to go in there." He said. I stared at him, feeling the exact same way that he did.
But I sucked it up. "Come on." With that, I span around and opened the bathroom door. I gave Jace one last encouraging smile before entering the room, seeing Sky wrapped up in duvets and covers. I hope she hasn't taken them all.
She must've heard us come in, because soon she said, "you guys deserve each other—in hell." I wasn't sure if she actually knew I liked him; maybe she was just angry and saying whatever she thought would hurt the most. It didn't really hurt, though, since I already knew I was going to hell.
We both ignored her, and I beelined straight for the suitcases, pulling out my pyjamas.
"Can you get mine, please?" He asked quietly, "I want to shower too." I smiled up at him before nodding.
I presented him with joggers and a tank top, raising my eyebrow. I think in that moment, he would've took whatever he could to get away from this situation.
Once he left, I scoured for my pyjamas, pulling them out and quickly changing. No one could really see me anyway—especially since Sky had already drawn the blinds, and she was now submerged in her bed.
I wanted to say something; the silence would split us. And we were supposed to be a team.
"I'm sorry, Sky; it wasn't my secret to tell, but I should've told you." I told her quietly, watching the bed shift slightly. But she didn't respond.
I sighed, bending down to rifle through my cosmetics, pulling out my moisturiser.
As I applied some to my literally thirsty face, I added, "I guess part of it was protecting you, from this—the truth. But also from the fact that I didn't think she even cared about you, never mind be a good mother. But, I don't know, she gave me some pretty good advice the other day; she's supportive. Maybe if you two talked, you could sort it out." I hoped she hadn't fallen asleep, and that she was actually listening to me. I was telling the truth, for once, and I actually wanted her to hear it.
When she didn't respond, I threw the moisturiser back into the bag, getting angry. "Just feel lucky that you've got two parents; some of us didn't even get one good pair." With that, I stomped over to the double bed that Jace and I would be sharing, slumping onto it and searching for the remote to the television—and I wasn't exactly quiet when doing so.
I settled on some reality show, in which they were debating about school dress codes. If only my problems were that simple.
Jace soon emerged from the bathroom, clean and in the outfit I had chosen. And when I saw him, I think it was noticeable that I did a double-take. The tank top displayed chiselled muscles; which I wasn't sure that I'd ever known he had. It was loose, meaning I'd never see whatever number pack he had, sadly.
As I drew my eyes away from his arms and rose them, I saw his gorgeous face. It was probably his best feature; I don't know why. He smiled at me, slight dimples coming forward as he did so, his Northern Lights eyes shimmering.
I think I melted into the bed, which I was sad wasn't him.
He took notice of Sky, who had probably suffocated in her bed, as he walked over to the bed. I silently offered to scoot over, but he dismissed it and walked around to the other side, joining me on the bed.
"What are we watching?" He asked, glancing at the screen.
I shrugged, "God knows, something about school; they lost me after that." I heard Jace snicker at that, but I didn't want to look at him for fear of jumping on him and kissing the life out of him.
Ahem.
Instead, I decided to get up and pull our suitcases over to us—easier access. I sorted through my cosmetic bag, pulling out my hair treatment gel item of hair thing that I use sometimes. It's complicated.
Standing up by the tv, I dissembled my turban, shaking out my hair. I could feel Jace watching me, which made me kind of giddy inside.
Once done pointlessly shaking out my hair, I applied the hair treatment gel item of hair thing to my hair, feeling my top ride up a few times.
"What is that?" Jace asked, still watching me as I finished up, putting the lid back on the product.
I threw it back into my cosmetic bag, "some hair thing—it's why my hair is so gorgeous, wouldn't you agree?" I asked. I think it was one of the only times I had felt particularly flirty around Jace—which was a good thing.
Jace watched me as I joined him on the bed again. "I don't think you need some product to make your hair nice—your hair looks good anyway."
I froze, and I think my spirit floated up to heaven, spinning in a spiral of misted surprise.
I turned around to look at him and his gorgeous face. Can I kiss you?
Jace cleared his throat. "Is Sky asleep?" The spiral collapsed, heaven cracked and my spirit didn't come tumbling down. It was sucked into a blackhole.
I looked away. "I'm guessing so," I said sourly, my attention on the television. "Otherwise she's hearing everything being said."
Jace hummed, and I saw him nod from the corner of my eye.
Always Sky.
Sky is always on his mind.
I blinked away tears.
There's always someone else that they care about more than you.
More than me.
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Here's the thing
You're Alexi Abbot
So stfu, curl your hair, grab a black leather jacket, put on your black high-heeled stiletto boots and show every goddamn man in the world what he's missing out on
Y'all women better be taking this advice here ^^ let's all vibe it like Alexi Abbot 😈🥀💥 (except, pls, let's not base our life on men, more specifically, very hot therapists who are in love with your best friends. Pls??)
Questioning
Thoughts on Sky's reaction??
Jace..standing outside Lexi's shower ???
Was Lexi right to keep the secret??
Shipping Lexi and Jace ?
Or feeling the sting of unrequited love??
FABULOUS SONGS
Songs that played when I was writing this chapter (in order):
Daydream - Ruelle
Rival - Ruelle
Count the Saints - Foxes
Fighter Plane - Ellie Goulding
Carry You - Ruelle ft. Fleurie (OKAY ACTUAL QUEENS)
Orion's Belt - Sabrina Claudio
Hello - Adele (once you get over the fact that it was overdone, it's good, okay)
Hothouse - 78violet
Take Me - Aly & AJ
I Know - Aly & AJ
Promises - Aly & AJ
The Distance - Aly & AJ
END OF FABULOUS SONGS
Date written:
31/03/18 (happy Easter my loves)
01/04/18 (my April fools is myself)
02/04/18
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Next update: Monday
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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE SPOILER:
Keeping secrets that aren't yours to keep will often come back to bite you.
But can Alexi stand up to the pedestal and take her crown in time to silence the objections?