Always

21| big fight

ALEX

Genevieve had booked us a private room in a restaurant.

I was fiddling with the hem of my white dress, smiling slightly. Carter got it for me, and I couldn't break her heart by telling her that I didn't wear dresses so I wore it today.

I dug into my 'Pasta con foglie di basilico' and looked over to Carina. She had been distant with me ever since we came back from the mission. It's been two weeks now. I leaned over to her.

"Why are you ignoring me?" I poked her shoulder.

"I'm not ignoring you. I'm eating." She replied.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you still mad about me not telling you?" I questioned once again.

She pursed her lips. "No, why would I be? You already have secrets, what's one more?"

She shrugged as if she didn't care, but I know she did. I hated the fact that this was feeling this way, but after all, it kind of was my fault.

"So I'm not allowed to have secrets now? You want to have a heart to heart, sit down, spill all my secrets to you?" I asked sarcastically.

"We used to be close. You promised not to keep anything from me and you broke it."

"It was to protect you-"

She shoved a knife into her steak violently, frowning down at it, as if she wished it were me. "Protect me? Guess what - all it did was make me weak. And reliant on others. If you wouldn't have protected me I would have learnt how to defend myself."

I growled, slamming down my utensils. The table shook.

"Yeah? You'd rather I let you get fucking raped? Because guess what, Carina, that happened to me!" I roared at her.

I felt a tear forming at the side of my eye. I wasn't sure whether it was in anger, or frustration, or even because I was upset, but it really was pointless. Whatever happened had happened, and I had no way of changing it.

"ʻAʻole pono ʻoe e pale mai iaʻu no ka mea ua hoʻonāwaliwali wale ia iaʻu." She shouted back at me.

[You shouldn't have protected me because that just made me weak: Hawaiian]

I glared at her. "You know what? Maybe I shouldn't have. Then you wouldn't be this ungrateful."

I clenched my hand where I was holding a butter knife. It slit my hand, a sharp spike of pain echoing up my wrist, but I didn't care. Blood formed, staining the metal of the utensil.

She looked down onto my hand and reached forward but I took three steps back, glaring at her.

"You never even realised. You never asked me if something was wrong. You claim to be the older one, but you're so childish." I told her before turning to my other siblings who are staring.

Ace got up, but I turned back.

And ran.

--------

Running away wasn't a great idea. My cut was probably going to get infected and it was throbbing painfully. I reached the path where people usually go for runs in nature and trudged up painfully slow. I reached a fork in the path, the main route was going straight, so I took a right.

There was a small stream there with some bunnies. I smiled and then quickly wiped the smile off my face, remembering Carina's gift. Sitting down by a tree, I sighed. I was numb. I felt nothing right now. I don't know how she could say that to me. After all I've done for her? I heard footsteps approaching me and I removed the safety of my gun.