Blue Ribbon

Chapter 33 - Little wolf

"We were children
thrust into war
and once it ends;
what will we become?"

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Lilly's POV

Per his request, I steered as far as possible from Chase for the rest of the night. I had to take the news from dad about uncle Ashton, thankfully, he is okay now, and to that, I was beyond relieved. I wanted to go inside and see him myself, thank him for being there for me, apologize for placing his life in danger, and then maybe my heart will calm a bit, maybe I won't feel as guilty as I do now.

The minute I decided to go in to check on him, I saw Chase stepping into the hospital room, joining dad in there. A low breath pushed out of my lungs and I backed away, walking in the opposite direction before I get caught and shouted at again.

I sat down by Max's side, who also was deep in his own thoughts. My stomach made weird noises, asking me to fill it with anything and I groaned, my eyes falling into the vending machine at the corner and I poked Max, "You got money on you?" I asked and his eyebrow raised in return. I rolled my eyes, "I will give it back you asshole," I remarked, playfully slapping his arm, "But when I got kidnapped, I forgot to take my purse," I added, sarcastically and he cracked a smile at my frustration before he pulled his wallet out.

"I got kidnapped too but I do have my wallet," He added and I wanted to both laugh and break into tears at the joke our lives are now, "God, we are living the best life, aren't we?" I asked as I took the credit card from him, "Who else comes on a vacation to Italy and ends up being kidnapped but us," My lips pressed into a thin line and he sighed, "Beats me, I thought I was just going to get laid over here."

I nodded with a sad sigh, "I didn't even get the chance to have a foreign affair," My lips pressed into a thin line, "I am going back to the states empty-handed," I rubbed a hand over my face, "Sally is gonna be so disappointed in me."

Max shot me a glare, pushing at my arm, "Shut up and go eat something," He urged, acting like a mini-dad and I shot him a glare.

A low sigh came from his side before his expression turned serious, "I want to go and see Nathan," His eyebrows pulled closer, the muscles of his jaw working, "Will you come with me?"

I nodded, "Yeah, of course, just give me a second."

I went to the vending machine and gave the snacks a look-over, trying to understand the foreign language but failing. I picked something that looked like wafers and paid up. The box moved forward and before it reached the edge, it stopped. What the hell? I pushed at the machine's glass, "Drop down, you!" I snapped and gave the machine another push but my snack stood there, immobile and mocking me...just my luck, I expect nothing less.

Groaning in frustration, I didn't even have the energy to choose again. I gave up right away, kicked the metal in frustration before I walked back to Max, pushing the card into his face, "Let's go," I mumbled and turned around, heading for the elevator and Max followed suit on my steps.

Dad had already informed me where they're keeping him so it wasn't hard to find and I didn't need to embarrass myself by not knowing the language and asking around. God, I wanna go home so bad, I am so done with being here. It's officially the worst vacation ever.

I paused in my steps when my eyes fell on Natalie, sitting on the chairs right outside the room, arms crossed over her chest and the back of her head pressed against the wall, no tears falling down, but under her eyes and the tip of her nose were so red, a proof of how much she cried.