After 4 | ✓

Chapter 25

Tessa's POV:

She's Dakota. Landon's ex girlfriend. I look at Landon with my eyes wide open. And then I look at her again. She turns her attention back to Nora,"So, how
long have you been seeing each other?" she asks to both of them.

"We haven't been," Landon says just as Nora, her voice louder than his, says, "Just a little while, it's a new thing."Nora looks at him.
When did that happened?

"We aren't dating," he clarify to his ex.

"You two know each other?" Nora asks to him.

"Know each other?" Dakota's voice is deep now,"Yes, we know each other. We've known each other for a long time."

Ooh, the drama is about to begin. I pull my phone out and pretend to do something. When I take a little peak what is happening now, Dakota grabs her purse from the back of her chair and pushes past Landon. He trys to reach for her shoulder, but she jerks away, nearly tripping over the chair next to him.

Nora says "You're the fucking guy. You're the nerdy ex from Michigan." Her voice is
flat. Nerdy ex? Oh God.

He look at her and go towards the door, after Dakota, I think.

I sit beside Nora, she is starting at the door, intensely. Like Landon will comeback with or without Dakota. It's a really small world that Nora's roommate is other than my bestfriend's ex.
I get a text from Landon that he left and going to his apartment. He doesn't say anything about Dakota, so maybe she left for her apartment too.

"I think I should just go. I'm tried." I say to Nora after five minutes of nothing but sitting and listening to her other roommates dance related stuffs. Which I don't get and doesn't have any intention to hear.

"I think I should go too," she say and we stand up and head out of the bar. When we get outside she asks, "Can I sleep in your apartment for today? I don't want to go in mine and see that bitch girl and listen to her shits, she wants to say. Please."

"Yes, you can. You're my friend, you don't have to say please," I smile at her. It's cold outside so I take out my purple beanie out of my purse and wear it.

As we walk to my apartment, she asks, "Did you know or met that girl before?" Obviously talking about Dakota.

"Yes, I met. When she visited him in Washington." I know that night she came with us at the bonfire and that same night I told him that I loved him and he told me that he does too.

"Oh." She look down on her tennis shoes.

"But they broke up, six months ago. That's what he told me." I say and look at her face. She doesn't say anything, she just nods.

After thirty minutes of walking we get in our destiny. I put the key into the lock of the apartment and turn it open the door and get inside.

I take off my purple beanie and
closes the door behind me. Nora pulls her jacket off, as she shakes her hair. Then we both goes into the living room and see Landon is standing.

"Landon?" I start.

"Hey, I didn't know-" Nora begins,
but stops as soon as someone walks out of the kitchen. Dakota. She approaches him and,
walking between me and him and Nora, wraps her hand around Landon.

As her fingers slip in his fingers, "Let's go to bed?" Dakota says, pulling him towards the bedroom with her, without looking at us.
When he look again, Nora's eyes are on theirs connected hands and I'm staring with my lips sucked in against my teeth and eyes wide.

He turn to Dakota. She's giving him a look. And again look at Nora again and then at me, he
says, "Uh, yeah. Good night, guys," and goes and shut the door.

Woah. I've to discuss this to Landon what happened after he left from the bar.

"I'm going too my room too," I tell Nora.

"I'm just going to sleep on the couch then." She told me and move towards it.

And I look at her for a second and go to my room.

......

Hardin POV:
Two weeks later...

Today, the New York ones publishing house emailed me that they prepone my meeting one week earlier, which is it in the next week. And I'm so fucking happy, not because of the meeting, I care about the meeting, but also it's meeting her after this four long ass months.

I've missed her fucking so much and her sweet, soft voice, which I haven't heard for this fucking long. I never, ever fucking thought that I would live that long alone without her, without the voice and talking for hours with her. You know how impossible it's for me to not go wherever she was, even in the past when she was in Seattle. I was there in a heartbeat, technically three hours of driving, but you know what I mean to say.

So now I call Landon to tell him, inform him, that I'm coming there, because I know that if I call her, she'd obviously wouldn't pick up. Go fucking figures.

But he didn't pick up and goes into his voicemail. It's late at night so he'd be at his apartment now, it's not like he have many friends to hang out on the streets of the New York.

Before I put my phone on the table he call me back and says, "Hey."

"I'm about to book my flight next week," I say, loud and fast enough, before he says anything.

I think he is whispering when he says,"I don't know if it's a good-"

"Why?" I interrupt. "What's going on, where's Tess?" My heart is pounding so fucking fast.

"She just went into her room after shaking like someone was screaming at her the moment she overheard your voice." He tells me without softening the harshness in his voice. I can literally see her body shaking which sent a chill through my down my spine.

"If she would just speak to me . . . I fucking hate this shit." I groan.
"Try to give her the phone," I demand.

"You know I can't do that." He tells me the obvious.

"Fuck, man."I run my fingers through my hair and tug. I hang up the phone because there isn't anything me to say not to him atleast.

Why she isn't talking to me. It's not that I did something. Did I do anything that hurt her, I don't think I did. Most of the things I said in the past to hurt her I didn't have my mind in right fucking place. But now I've learnt how to talk after I think.

If she just tell what the fuck I did, I'd say sorry, even it's not my fucking fault. Fuck.

She's the one talking about space and getting depressed with this.
Really fuck.

I call back Landon again to tell that I don't have any fucking choice.
But his phone rings and rings. I called three fucking times but he didn't pick up. Eventually I left a voicemail, which I never did in my entire fucking life, saying, "I can't miss my appointment in that fucking city, if I'd, I'll fucking did it. So tell her that I'm coming."

Sorry Tess, but I really don't have any fucking choice. And I've to tell you what am I doing for you, only for you.

I sigh.