Elise answers the door, a frown on her lips. She's dressed in her pyjamas, her dark up in a messy bun. "What?" She snaps at me.
"Can we talk?" I ask.
"You can talk," she says shortly, turning and walking back into her room. I follow, shutting the door softly behind me. She takes a set on her bed and picks up a nail file, running it across the tops of her nails.
Where do I start? There's so much tension between us at this moment, I can practically feel it in the air. I take a deep breath, and begin.
"Elise, what exactly did you feel for Connor?"
She looks up, furrowing her eyebrows. "What did I feel for him?"
I nod, remaining by the door.
"I loved him," she says simply.
"H-how did you know it was love?"
She stops filing her nails and looks at me. "I just knew." She purses her lips. "Which is why it was that much more painful to find out what you did."
"Do you honestly believe what Connor told you?" I ask slowly. "About me?"
"That's obvious, isn't it?" She asks, going back to filing her perfectly manicured nails.
"Connor never loved you."
Elise freezes, slowly looking up at me with anger blazing in her eyes. "What did you just say?"
"I said, Connor never loved you/"
She narrows her eyes. "What makes you think you have the fucking right to say that to me?"
"I just talked to him. I met him at the coffee shop on the corner."
"What the fuck were you doing talking to him in a coffee shop?"
"I needed to clear up some things." The words coming from my mouth are not from regular Alaska. Not at all.
"Clear up? What, did you fuck him in the bathroom or somethimg?"
That's it.
"You know what, Elise?" I ball my hands into fists. "I'm done trying. I'm done trying to mend our bad relationsship here, when all you do is insult me. I'm tired of being accused of something I didn't do, alright? I didn't sleep with Connor. I didn't fuck him in the bathroom of a coffee shop, and I sure as hell know that he didn't love you for shit. And you know why? Because he's a fucking scum bag, Elise, and you're too good for him. So goo ahead, call me a whore again, hell, call me a whore twenty times because I'm leaving tomorrow and when I do, I'm not going to mope over the fact that you hate my guts."
I cross my arms over my chest triumphantly as Elise gapes at me, her nail file falling to the ground. It felt so good to finally say that, to finally have some kind of closure on what happened, even if it wasn't the best closure.
"Anything else you'd like to add?" I ask her.
She swallows, looking down at her lap.
"That's what I thought."
I turn on my heel and walk out of her room, and go into mine instead. I change into my pyjamas and slip into bed.
I once again find myself thinking about Luke. He mentioned once or twice that he had a sister, too. I think her name was Emma. What is she like? How many years are they apart? He hasn't seen her in three years; why? He said she was the reason he didn't find out about his mother's death for six days. Is there bad blood between them, too?
I'm drifting off to sleep when I hear my door creak open and someone make their way into my room.
I jolt up in bed, switching on the lamp on my bedside table.
Elise stands timidly by the door. She looks so young in that moment, her eyes no longer so harsh and spiteful, but slightly sheepish.
"Elise? What do you want, it's two in the--"
"I can't sleep."
"What do you want me to do about it?"
She takes her bottom lip in between her teeth nervously. "Can I sleep in here?"
I stare at her confusedly. Not even three hours ago we were fightinh, and now here she is, asking if she can sleep in my room tonight. It reminds me of Luke and I when we first met; the on and off fighting.
"I guess," I sigh and she pads over to my bed, slipping in next to me. I switch off the light and lay back down, shutting my eyes.
"Remember when we used to jump on Mum and Dad's bed when we'd get our dessert taken away?" Her voice rings through the silence.
"Yeah," I say. "But it was so worth it because their bed was practically a trampoline."
"Yeah," I hear Elise smile in her voice.
"Remember when we'd try to make snowmen when we went to the Snowy Mountains in the Winter, but the snow was all slush from foot traffic so it never worked."
"And we'd get upset and cry so Mum made us hot chocolate and Dad slipped us extra marshmallows."
"And that one time I spilled it on the couch and I was grounded for a month."
"Oh, yeah. Mum was so pissed."
We laugh into the darkness.
"I talked to Connor," Elise says softly. "He explained everything," she whispers.
"Did he, now."
"I'm sorry," she whispers. "I should have listened to my own sister instead of a douchebag like him."
"Yeah. You should have."
"I'm really sorry aout what he did to you, too." Elise's bottom lip quivers. "I guess I've just always wanted to have something you don't, you kone? You had the brains, you got the great education, and now you have this amazing job. You get to write songs for One Direction and Justin Bieber, for god's sake! I don't have any of that. I barely graduated fucking high school. So when I saw.... what I saw, I guess it was just the perfect reason to hate you." Her voice cracks. "I've always been such a shitty sister." A few tears escape her eyes and I reach over to wipe them away, propping myself up on my elbows.
"Hey, don't cry," I say. "It's over now, it's in the past."
She nods and takes a shaky breath. "I know," she says, sitting up. "I love you, Allie."
"I love yo too, El."
She reaches out for me and we embrace tightly, just like we used to when we were younger. It feels so good to have my little sister back. This past year has been such a difficult one without her support, and an empty gap in my chest seems to fill up again.
I know Elise is crying, and I'm crying, but it's okay. Because we're sisters again.
And that's when I realize that none of this would of happened without Luke. That boy saved my relationship with my sister, and for that I am eternally greatful.
He said I could do it, and I did.
-
"Have a safe flight," my mother says, squeezing me in a tight hug.
"I will, Mum," I say as my flight is announced over the loudspeaker. This weekebd was horrible in the beginning, but after speaking to Elise it got considerably better.
"I'll miss you," Elise says in my ear as we hug.
"I'll miss you too," I say. "You should come visit some time, when you're on break from college."
She nods. "Definately."
My father is last to hug me. I squeal as he wraps his arms around me, squeezing me in a tight bear hug.
"I love you, Allie," he says. "Make sure you call us soon."
"I will," I say as I pull away from him, gathering my belogings. "Good, uh... good luck in court next month."
My parents both look to the floor, nodding.
"See you later," they call after me as I turn and hand the woman at the desk my boarding pass. I wave to my family one last time before boarding the plane.
Unfortunately, as soon as the plane takes off, I pass out and sleep for a good five hours. I wake up when the captain turns the seatbelt sign back on for landing.
I run the sleep out of my eyes and turn to look out at the city. I recognise the Sydbey Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House immediately. But everything looks so incredibly small from up here.
When the plane finally lands, I collect my bags and run a hand through my hair.
I search for my car in the lot and slip into it to find that it's bloody freezing. I shiver and blast the heat, turning on the ignition and driving home.
I know my apartment's going to be freezing, and I'm dreading walking in there.
I stumble into my apartment, dragging my bags behind me to discover that it is indeed frigid inside. I race to the thermostat, cranking it high and wrapping a blanket around myself.
By eight thirty, I'm unpacked and showered. I realize I haven't spoken to Luke since Friday night. I slip on my socks and walk across the hall to knock on his door.
I wait a few minutes before knocking again. A muffled 'come in' sounds through the door and I twist the doorknob and enter.
"Luke?" I call when I take in the empty living room.
"I here," he calls.
I follow his voice to his bedroom. He lies on his back, palms presed to his eyes. He wears a grey knit sweater and kis signature ripped, black skinny jeans.
He sighs and sits up, shooting me a tired smile. "Hey, how are you?"
"Fine," I answer slowly. "Everything okay in here?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.
"Yeah, I just have a bitching hangover," he says, pressing his fingers to his temples.
"Why?"
"A client suspected Drew was cheating him for his money so Drew threw him a hige ass party. Nothing new," Luke groans. "Long story short, Michael beat me at beer pong."
I laugh. "You lost at beer pong? Loser."
He looks up at me, a smirk on his lips. "Is that a challenge, Alaska?"
I shrug. "I just got off a five hour flight, I have nothing to lose."
"Maybe some other time when I don't have a knife stabbing into my brain," Luke says. "How was it with your sister, by the way?" He asks, looking up at me.
"We actually made up last night," I say, sitting beside Luke on the bed when he gestures for me to. "I think things are pretty okay now," I smile.
"That's great, Alaska," Luke says. He pauses. "I ran out of Advil, do you have any?"
"I have Pamprin?"
"What the hell is Pamprin?"
"It's sort of like Advil, I guess."
"It'll do," Luke says, standing up.
"I don't know," I say. "Do your symptoms include moodiness, bloating, abdominal cramps, extreme hunger? Perhaps a heavy flow?"
"What the hell, no--" Luke widens his eyes and shuts his eyes. "Oh."
I throw my head back in fits of laughter whilst Luke just rolls his eyes at me.
"You--you-" I double over in laughter.
"Shut up, Alaska."
I continue to laugh Luke sits back down and puts his head in his hands, a smile gracing his lips.
My laughter finally ceases and Luke looks up, his blue eyes glinting with humor. "Hey, want to go somewhere?"
"Where?"
"Somewhere cool."
"I don't know."
"Come on, let's go. It'll be efun." Luke stands up and grabs his car keys.
"I'm kind of tired--"
"And I have a fucking hangover. Now let's go."
"What if your plan is to kill me?"
"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead."
"Likewise."
I laugh, and Luke shakes his head as he looks at the ground, trying to hold back a huge smile.
He stands up. "Wel, I'm going. You can come with me if you want, or go and take your Pamprin."
"Hey!" I rise from the couch and smack his shoulder playfully.
"Might want to tak a double dosage. Your moodiness is hitting extreme levels, today."
"I'm not the one who lost at beer pong."
"Michael's good, okay!?"
"Excuses,"
Luke rolls his eyes. "Are you going to come with me or not?"
I sigh. "Fine, I'll come with you."
"Good choice, Allie." He smirks and leads me out of his apartment.