Never Had A Chance

4.0 It would've been you.

3 years ago.

CLARISSA AMELIA DRAKE'S POV:

Staring my reflection down in the mirror, I all but threw an object at it. While I knew I was attractive, every taunt from high school still haunted me. Reminding me that I wasn't enough, and like always, I stuffed those feelings of self-loathing deep down. Grabbing my dark red lipstick off the bathroom counter, I headed downstairs to join the rest of my family.

I could hear the chatter from the floor below the second I opened my door. My breath caught in my throat as my nerves began to eat away at me. Family functions always meant that everyone around me would get praised, and I would get told to do better. The fear of being the family punching bag almost paralyzing. Staring at the staircase, I leaned against the wall opposite of it. Watching everyone from above, trying to convince myself that I was safe.

"Hey." Nearly jumping out of my skin, I quickly turned to look where the voice had come from. Seeing my 5 ft 11 brother standing in the shadows with his monkey suit on, I relaxed. "Hiding out already?"

"Was coming back a good idea?" I could feel the tension in my shoulders, and I hadn't even been downstairs. My brother had been my best friend over the last three years. He was the first to apologize to me after the fallout; Kaiden was the first to make an effort to repair our relationship. I was only standing in this house because he had literally begged me.

"Of course," like the older brother he used to be, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and leaned against the wall with me. "We'll go downstairs, greet our parents, and head down to the grill. We'll laugh, and it will be like the last few years haven't happened. I promise you this, no one here is going to make you feel less than."

I stayed quiet for a moment before nodding my head, taking his outstretched hand in mine. I followed him down over the staircase, being greeted with smiling faces of my immediate family.

"I CALL DRIVING WITH CLARA!" I laughed as my baby sister - Madalyn, screamed her request, running across the room to grab hold of me. She was always my favourite, even if she was the youngest of 4 of my siblings. She didn't see life the same way most of our family did. She wanted nothing to do with the money that came with being a Drake.

"I would've chosen you anyway," I sighed, wrapping my arms around my sister, pulling her to me with a small smile. We all quickly designated people to each other's cars, every car had at least 4 people, and there were 7 cars. Madelyn quickly buckled herself into the passenger seat, her eyes taking in the interior of my new car.

"Daddy did nice," Her little fingers danced across the screen, my phone automatically connecting to Applcar play. She had this sombre look on her face before she finally looked me in the eye. "You're not coming home yet...are you?"

"Sweetie..." I sighed, reaching out to place a hand on her arm. "I just...there's been too much damage done. I can't be here and heal at the same time." She gave a slight nod, her eyes falling on the couple that stood meters from my car.

"I get it...just be prepared to have me on your door in a year." Just like that, our moment was broken. Hayle and Linc crawled into the backseat of my car, while at first, I thought everything between the three of us was exemplary. I could see the way Hayle's jaw clenched as she watched mine and Linc's interaction.

I wanted to say something, convince her that she had nothing to worry about, but there was a look in Linc's eye that told me to leave it alone. So I did. I turned my back on the lovely couple and decided it was time to make our way to the restaurant. The tension in the car was unbearable as we drove 10 minutes across town to the rented out Bar and Grille. 

It wasn't the most elegant of places to have a rehearsal dinner, but that particular Bar and Grille was the place that Kaiden and his wife-to-be had met. According to her, she had to have the rehearsal there.

Of course, her family was paying for none of the wedding's expenses. At the request of my dear brother, I'm pretty sure their wedding had cost my parents $60,000. While I knew  60 grand was nothing to my parents, I hated how my sibling and his girlfriend saw nothing but money signs when they looked at my parents. If it weren't for the fragile relationship I had with my family, I would have said something to them, but this wasn't my problem to deal with like everything else in life.

LINCOLN AVERY HARRISON'S POV:

I watched her from the backseat. I could see the tension in her shoulders as she faked a smile for everyone. She wasn't as happy as she seemed to be back, and I understood why. I wanted to be her friend, but even Hayle knew it wasn't possible.

Clarissa Drake had been the standard for me for years. Before I even started to date Hayle, I knew it was Clarissa. It just took a long time for me to see that. Knowing that she was moving on killed me, but I had worked to repair my relationship with the blonde that sat next to me. I had spent the last 3 years with her, convincing her that I loved her. Honestly, I did love Hayle, just not in the way she deserved.

"So...Clarissa," I tensed at the tone of Hayle's voice as she leaned forward, taking a look at her friend. Nothing about the Clarissa sitting in front of us was the same Clarissa that left Portland 3 years ago. She was more confident, less naive. Her hair was no longer dark brown, tattoos lined her arms, she even lost all of the weight from high school. She was different, and I felt like I was on the outside of her life looking in. "You can't seriously think you could come back here after 3 years like you didn't abandon everyone."

"I didn't abandon anyone, Hayle." There was a tone of annoyance as she stared out the window. Her eyes focused on the road and not on us. "I left because no one wanted me here. I was kicked out...remember?"

Silence filled the car; I could see the anger in Hayle's eyes as she turned her attention away from me. Wishing I was anywhere but at her side. "You abandoned Linc here, I mean...you were in love with him. Weren't you?"

"Hayle. I don't think this is the type of conversation to have right now," It was true; Madelyn, Clarissa's 17-year-old sister, sat in the passenger seat of the car. Entirely oblivious to conflict between the three of us. "If you want to fight, we'll do it after supper. If not, don't bring this up again because I've moved on. Clearly, so has Lincoln, so this passive-aggressive bullshit ends now."

The conversation was shut down, and just like that, we pulled into the parking lot of our destination. Clarissa didn't even wait for us to leave the car; quickly, she put the car in park and practically ran for the company of anyone but Hayle and me. Watching her walk away, I was again left to regret my decision to fix things with Hayle. If I had things my way, it would have been Clarissa.