𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 • 𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐧𝐚𝐩

fifty three

hello! 9 hours in the ER, an x-ray, an MRI and a lot of compression bandages later, i have returned! bed ridden for the foreseeable future so here is a chapter my loves!

the familiar face that walked through the doors of the airport only moments after ailee found comfort in her friends made her heart melt. ailee's face falls in shock, a smile making it ways across the girls features as she drops both george and dream's hug to make her way back to the doors she had been storming through only moments ago.

with each step towards the person waiting by the doors, ailee sped up and the smile on her face multiplied. with the distance closed, ailee feels herself wrapped in a warm, welcoming hug that she almost immediately returns happily. the embrace lasts for no longer than a few moments, yet it brings ailee all the comfort she needed. the two pull away from each other and take in the sight.

"portia! i haven't seen you in, god it must be a year by now!" ailee exclaims, pulling portia back into another hug as she feels the presence of two more people behind her. she pulls away from the hug and looks to the two people, seeing dream and george with confused expressions adorning their faces.

"clay! george! this is portia, she was my first friend i made in college when i moved here and she was my best friend for ages until she moved to texas!" ailee excitedly introduces her friends to the girl, basically jumping with joy at the reuniting with her old best friend, who she had lost contact to.

clay and george both smile sheepishly at the girl, happy that she had been able to bring their friend so much joy in a time where they were begging for crumbs of positivity from the usually optimistic girl. "hey, im clay! its great to meet you portia" clay says, extending his hand out to shake portia's, to which the girl happily accepts as she joins their hand in a greeting. "i actually don't go by portia anymore! ive changed to going by my middle name" she explains, an understanding smile showing on her features.

"oh, my mistake! what was that?" clay asks politely. "charissa" she says, her calm smile being replaced with worry when she sees the trio's faces all fall.

george breaks the looming silence. "charissa... from texas?" he almost questions, and the nod he receives as an answer makes the three friend's faces fall even further. "you have got to be fucking kidding me" clay mutters to himself, trying to decide the best way to go about this situation, seeing as ailee was practically frozen, her jaw slack and simply too shocked to be upset about the fact the girl that her boyfriend cheated on her with was right in front of her.

"so.. charissa! seeing anyone at the moment?" george bot-so-discreetly asks, thankfully charissa took it as a flirtatious attempt, and didn't think anything if it. "sorry george, i'm a taken girl." she says, ailee wanting to also clarify, suddenly overcoming the shock in an attempt for answers. "tell me about him" she says, feigning a want for gossip, although her shaky voice betrays her as the confidence wavers.

again, thankfully, charissa wasn't the most observant girl. "his name is nick! we've only been on a couple of dates, but he's so sweet!" she giggles with each word, contrasting how ailee's anger grows simultaneously.

"you've gotta be joking" clay mutters to himself, before speaking a bit louder to the group "anyway, sorry to ditch you so suddenly charissa but we have places to be! gotta go". clays arm meets ailee's shoulders as he practically pulls her away from the situation, not even looking back at the confused girl as they make their way to the car.

"what are the odds" ailee mutters halfway through the eerily silent car ride to their homes, clay sighing in relief as he hears no hint if sadness in her voice. he had been stressing about how she was going to react to the situation. "you aren't upset?" george says from the backseat, leaning forward in between the two front seats.

"well, yeah." ailee practically whispers. she had been too caught up in the chance of it all that she had barely had time to process that she was who nick had been cheating on her with.  additionally, it made her upset that buck hadn't made any attempt to reach out.

to be truthful, it wasn't the cheating that got to ailee. the confession that nick didn't trust her was haunting her. anywhere she went, anything she listened to our watched or simply any time she wasn't sleeping, she was overwhelmed with his voice repeating it.

no trust.

no trust.

no trust.

NO TRUST.

NO TRUST.

she shook the repetition out of her mind. she knew it wasn't healthy. she ignored any further questions from her friends as she looked fondly through their old messages. if only she had know, such a heartwarming and loving relationship would go to shit so quickly.

it seemed almost ridiculous, she couldn't shake it. if they truly got along so well when they were just talking, how did the actual relationship go so horribly in the first week. she wracked her brain for any underlying issues, coming up empty handed. if only that one person hadn't edited those messages, where would she be now?

would nick trust her?

would the relationship had been ruined anyway, with the lack of trust? or, really, one sided trust. or had that loss been because of the messages? she couldn't stop doubting herself, repeating these questions in her mind until she was practically screaming at herself to stop. to stop and give herself a moment of peace.

but had she even felt peace since new years?

the questions wouldn't stop. nothing would. her mind was constantly yelling and screaming and begging for answers to any questions she had.

she hadn't even noticed how quickly the drive went until the car pulled into the parking lot of her familiar apartment building. "i called ren, she should be in your apartment by now" clay mumbled as he puts the car into park. ailee's face lights up at the mention of her bestfriend, a genuine sense of sincerity lacing her voice as she thanks clay and scrambles out of the car, hearing both boys chuckle at her excitement.

she doesn't bother with the elevator, running up the 3 floors of stairs before running to her door, unlocking it and quickly making her way inside, seeing ren stand in the middle of the living room with a concerned look on her face.

ailee practically launches herself in ren's arms, knocking the air out of them both as she melts into the embrace of the girl she had missed so dearly while having her heart shattered in an unfamiliar state.

"oh ailee" ren coos, gently stroking the girl's hair as she draws out the hug for as long as she possibly can. they finally pull apart and simply look at each other with soft smiles. "are you okay?" ren asks, but is answered so quickly that ailee is basically interrupting her when she says "i don't want to talk about it". ren simply nods in agreement, although noting that they need to discuss it eventually, knowing how ailee gets in times like these.

"what do you wanna do then" ren asks, looking around the apartment for inspiration. "can we take a nap? im tired" she says sheepishly, to which ren immediately agreed before dragging her to her bedroom.