This could be the end
Or it's just the beginning
unedited.
✝ Chapter Twenty Four | 6 Minutes ✝
I knew it was wrong.
I knew that West was nothing but bad news. I knew he would toy with my heart just like before. I didn't know what made me believe that he wouldn't, but a part of me knew that I hadn't completely gotten over West. That was evident. I told myself countless times that I was done with that asshole, but it obviously wasn't true because I was actually kissing him back.
I didn't want to. My mind kept telling me to stop, but my body just didn't want to comply. It was as if my insides knew I had been yearning for this moment for a whole year. To be honest, I've wanted to kiss those lips ever since I saw them two days ago.
I knew that made me a bad person. I was dating Jack. I actually liked Jack, a lot. So why was I giving in to West, the boy who had tore my heart in two and stomped on it, crushing it to pieces? Why was I giving him the satisfaction?
He broke away from the kiss only seconds later but still gazed into my eyes with his intense deep umber orbs. The sunlight seemed to hit his tanned skin in the perfect angle, making him glow. He let out heavy breaths as his thumb traced the outline of my bottom lip. "I know you miss me too," he spoke in a low tone.
I was unable to speak. The words sat at the tip of my tongue but I didn't know how to say them. What could I say? How could I say that I betrayed my boyfriend? How could I say that I went against everything I believed in? West was the cheater. Not me.
"I do," I admitted just as the corners of my lips tugged into the faintest of smiles. Lately, I've been questioning why I had even fallen for the guy in the first place. He was easy on the eyes, maybe. Smart with his words, definitely. But he was manipulative, possessive and a bit on the crazy side. "I miss you constantly putting me down and patronizing me. I miss your big ego and I still can't believe that I fell for you!" I placed my hands on his hard chest and shoved him away with all my strength.
He only stumbled backward a little while staring back at me with wild, dark eyes. "Lex..."
I held a finger up to his lips, silencing him. "Don't call me that."
West sighed, but gave a side smile while taking small steps backwards. He ran a hand through his slick, wet, dark hair, flexing his muscles in the process before holding up his hands to show he meant no harm. "You're angry," he stated.
I stared up at him in disbelief, shaking my head slightly. My arms involuntarily folded against my chest as I took a more defensive stance. "I have a boyfriend, West, and I'm perfectly happy with him."
His thick brows pulled together. "So, you have a boyfriend but you let me kiss you?"
I poked the inside of my cheek with my tongue in an attempt to put my anger at bay. "What do you want, West? I'm tired of your stupid games."
His gaze shifted towards the slightly cloudy sky as he pondered in deep thought. Finally returning his eyes to mine, he said, "Six minutes. Just give me six minutes and I promise I can change your mind about me. That's all I want."
I could feel my jaw growing slack, getting rid of any evidence I had of standing my ground. I was weak - a trait that always seemed to surface when I was around him. "Fine," I sighed heavily. "Talk."
His head cocked to the right, giving me a questioning look. "I don't want to use my six minutes now. You see," He glanced down to his bare torso, then back at me, "I'm half naked. How about we meet here when the sun sets? That way we'll have the lake to ourselves."
"Five hours from now?" I raised a brow.
"I know it's a stretch but I'd really like that."
"All right," I gave in with a defeated sigh.
He gave me a slight nod before turning around and jogging down the gentle slope, heading straight for the water. When he became a blimp in the distance, I released yet another sigh and dragged myself back to my cabin. All I could do was hope that I had the strength to remain strong.
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"You were totally crushing on him!"
I suppressed a groan as I fell back onto the nearest bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. It hadn't even been a minute since I stepped into the cabin and Henri was already pressuring me with questions.
He obviously didn't know the real story behind West and I didn't plan to tell him. Recalling the event when my life turned upside down would put me in a very emotional mood, and no one saw me in an emotional mood. No one.
"When's Dad coming back?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
Henri shrugged carelessly just as he plopped down beside me and tucked his feet under his bottom. "Dunno," he said with haste with his almost-black eyes staring intently at me. "So, are you going to tell me what happened between you and pretty boy?"
I sent him a sideways glare. "Something tells me you already know."
He wiggled his brows teasingly. "You kissed him!" He nearly squealed, squirming slightly in his seated position. "Now, don't get me wrong. Jack is quite the hunk, but West is just ... No words! And he's totally into you! And you're totally into him!"
"Would you shut up?" My voice cut through the air, causing a silence to dawn on us.
Henri stared back at me in surprise.
"I don't like West and I really wish you'd stop insisting that I do. He's a jerk. A cold hearted jerk. I don't care about him one bit and if you ever say that again, I will punch you so hard that your dead daddy will feel it."
I wanted to take it back as soon as I said it but when I looked over to Henri, his eyes were glistening with tears. He bit down on his bottom lip, but it didn't stop it from quivering.
"Henri, I'm-"
"Pizza's here!" I heard my dad's strong masculine voice slice through the crisp air. Sure enough, he held three boxes of pizza in one had and held the trap door open with the other.
Carla stood behind him, peeking over his shoulder with a bright smile on her face.
Henri scrambled out of bed hastily and rushed over to them. He flashed them a quick smile - which I wasn't sure was genuine or not - before rudely grabbing a box and popping it open. "Thank you."
I wanted to apologize but I knew now was not the time. Henri was a generally forgiving person, so I wasn't too consumed with the thought of being on the outs for too long. In a matter of hours, we would be able to kiss and makeup without any recollection of what we were fighting about.
A few hours breezed by. To pass the time and attempt to start some family bonding, Carla made us play games. Henri kept up his silent treatment throughout the duration of the day, putting me into a shittier move than I already was. I already had to deal with Adam and Stephanie turning against me. I didn't want the only person who actually believed in me to turn against me too.
As soon as the sun began to set, I rummaged through my luggage in search of something pretty, yet decent to wear. I settled on a plain white dress with laced frills on the bottom and thin straps. My hair was still wavy from my date with Jack, so I didn't have to do much in that area. Instead, I swiped two coats of mascara over my eyelashes and headed straight for the door.
Henri's voice stopped me in my tracks. "Where are you going?" He asked in a slightly bitter tone as he glanced up from the book he was reading.
The room had been eerily silent ever since Dad and Carla left again to have their evening picnic. They illustrated the roles of a couple in a Nicholas Sparks book - always so desperately in love and never having fights like normal people do.
"Uh, out?" I responded with a lifted brow.
"Out where?" Henri questioned again.
We both knew he was already aware of the answer to that question. "Look, Henri. I'm sorry for saying that stuff about your dad. It was low, I know. I'm a total bitch for saying it and-"
"Oh, yeah. You are a total bitch."
I was taken aback. "Okay, that was supposed to be the part where you say 'Oh no, Lexi. You're not a bitch!'"
He slipped a finger between the pages of his book and flipped it shut. "But then that would be lying."
I raised my hands in surrender. "Okay, you got me. I win the award for worst person of the year."
A small smile played at his lips. He tried so hard to fight it but he failed miserably, making me smile too. "Don't do anything stupid, Lex," he warned. "You'll regret it nine months from now."
I rolled my eyes. "Bye, Henri." My smile only grew wider as I burst through the trap door and welcomed the warm breeze, feeling happy that I hadn't completely turned Henri away. Based on my observations, Henri was here to stay and that was the only good part about my dad marrying Carla.
My attention shifted to the horizon before me. The sun glowed with a bright yellow surrounded by beams of orange light as it descended the horizon. It truly was a breathtaking sight.
"You look wonderful," I heard a familiar voice say as soon as I walked outside.
Turning my attention away from the sunset, I focused on the boy standing just a few feet away from me with a pair of denim jeans and a casual buttoned down shirt. His best accessory, his smile, shone brightly on his face.
"Thank you," I said, avoiding eye contact. "You look good, too."
Once I was at his side, West began to take long, slow steps. "I guess my six minutes starts now, huh?"
I nodded as I followed his slow advances down the shore. "And counting."
"Okay, well, this has already been said a million times before but ... I really miss you. I realize how much of a jerk I've been for using you back in high school. But now that I've gotten to see the real world, I'm-"
"How is that by the way?" I questioned, desperately wanting to waste more time. "College. Is it fun?"
He thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "It's okay. Lots of work."
"I can imagine."
"Anyway," he cleared his throat. "I wanted to give you something a long time ago. It was supposed to be for your sixteenth birthday, but we broke up and you wanted nothing to do with me."
"For perfectly good reasons," I added.
West breathed out a long exhale. "I really wish I had more time to do this and make this perfect, but I only have six minutes so..." He dug a hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a small rectangular box. He ran his fingers along the edges in contemplation before finally popping it open, revealing a bracelet with sparkling red stones encrusted around the band and a small letter W in the center.
I bit back a gasp. "West."
"My mom gave this to me," he explained briefly. "I know I've never told you this, but she died in Afghanistan a couple years back when she was in the military."
My brows knitted together. "What do you mean? You told me your mother was in the military. You didn't say that she-"
"I know, and that was mainly to stop you from thinking that I'm a charity case or some sob story." His voice faltered slightly as he glanced down at the bracelet. "I've added some changes to it. The stones are new. They're rubies, your birthstone. I thought it'd make a good birthday present to say I'm sorry."
I opened my mouth to speak but the words didn't come out. I was completely speechless. I knew there were reasons why I loved West in te first place. He was unpredictable but sweet at times and it was those traits that made me forget about all the bad ones. "You didn't have to."
"I wanted to," he insisted. "It would have been nice to use my six minutes to talk about other things but I wanted to give you the gift instead of having it collect dust in my closet."
I curved my lips into a coy smile. "Thank you, West. It's beautiful."
He removed the bracelet from it's secured place in the box and gently grabbed my hand. "Do you mind?"
I shook my head.
Continuing with his intention, West wrapped the bracelet around my wrist and clasped the ends. "It looks great on you," he commented with a sweet smile.
Staring down at the twinkling rubies, I shook my head in disbelief. "Thank you, again. I love it."
West reached out suddenly and pushed a stray wisp of hair behind my ear. It was a simple gesture, yet intimate in a way that I never imagined it to be. He gazed down at me through his long dark lashes and caressed the side of my face with his hand, slowly inching closer with each second that passed.
My eyes fluttered shut and I wanted nothing more than to close to gap between us and forgive him for the year of trauma he caused me. I wanted to forget about that night and start over with him. I wanted to be his again.
"Lexi?"
I felt my heart drop to my knees at the sound of that sweet velvety voice. My eyes snapped open and it seemed as though reality was dawning on me. I had been caught up in a dream, a fantasy if you will.
But this was real life.
"Who's he?" West asked in a bored bitter tone.
Slowly, I brought my eyes to the pair of icy blue ones who stood not far away from his. His lips were glued shut and his eyes were wide in terror at the unfolding scene. Every second that I looked at him, the more the guilt caught up to me. And worst of all, he was holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand.
Jack shook his head in disbelief. "Her ex-boyfriend."
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A/N: Okay, before y'all get angry with me. This has been a long time in the making and there was no way around this. And just to point out, Lexi doesn't actually like West. She fell hard for him when they were dating and it has caused her a lot of torment over the past year so now she has a hard time coming to terms with exactly how she feels about West. Not only was he her first boyfriend who made her feel special, he was also the boy who broke her heart.
So you can hate on Lexi all you want. Just know that for once, it's not always the boys doing the heartbreaking.
I wrote this on my phone and it was a pain in the ass, so would you mind ... I don't know .. Voting and commenting to show your appreciation? Yeah, thanks!
Question of the chapter : Are you still feeling shifty about west? I don't know guys, he's kinda hot.
Thank you guys so much for being patient and waiting for this update and I love you guys SOOO SOOO SOOO much for supporting this story. You're awesome.
Until next time,
Lara <3