The Devil's Web | Sequel

Another Empty Promise...Or Not

"Trust you?"I repeat after him, suddenly feeling frustrated by his words.

"You're expecting me to trust you after you lied to me for years? You have got to be kidding me, Kingston."His hands drop to his sides and his shoulders slump.

"I know I'm asking for too much, but I'm serious this time, I admit I was wrong and I don't expect you to forgive me any time soon, I just need to know that you'll at least consider it, it would put my mind to ease."

I force a laugh and take a step back"Your mind at ease? What about my mind? My mind is corrupted, I haven't had a single minute of peace in years."

"How about we all calm down and lower our tones, the kids will hear-"I put my hand up, and she stops. Her eyes widen in surprise and she looks at Nasius, expecting him to say something but all he does is look away.

"You two...you saw how much I was suffering and you didn't think to tell me at least a bit of truth to ease my mind? There are two kids upstairs that tell their school friends they have no dad, Evander was bullied because he didn't have anyone to bring on father's day and Princess never even met you, Kingston. And you think we're all supposed to pretend like everything is okay?"

I say with a shaky voice, tears streaming down my face and soaking into my shirt so much I can feel it sticking to my skin. But all this is useless, even I know it is, crying won't get me anywhere, from hugging him to yelling at him, because I missed him but a part of my slightly hates him for doing all this.

I don't think anyone would be able to react properly to this, why? Well obvious reasons, it's absolutely insane and cruel, something that only happens in dreams and movies.

God,what do I do in this situation?

To hug him or to hit him? To understand his point or to shut it all down? I don't know.

My brain is telling me to kick him out and never forgive him for lying and sneaking around, making empty promises,but my heart, of course my heart is being kind when it should be cold, of course Adelaine has to forgive and forget,I mean that's what everyone expects from miss goody two-shoes.

Enough of that crap.

Sure, I missed him, sure, I want his arms around me, I dreamed of reuniting with him, I missed touching him, hugging him and talking to him, I missed his comforting words and his protectiveness, but now? After everything I found out? I'm not even sure he's worth it all.

"Adelaine?"He calls out, almost nervously, like he knows what I'm about to say.

"I'm going to talk to the kids in the morning, I'll somehow explain to them that you're here...perfectly fine, I will allow you to talk to them and give them an appropriate explanation, you can spend time with them to make up for all those years you weren't here, and you and I..."I pause, feeling my heartbeat quickening.

You can do it Adelaine, it's for the best.

"You and I won't talk anymore, there's no need for it, there's nothing you can say that will make all this better, I can't jump into the same arms that crossed when I needed them most, no matter how horrible I will feel later, this is for the best."I watch his eyes turn a light shade of red, a single tear sliding down his cheek, as he stares, in complete shock.

And just like that, the suffocating feeling I've had in my chest for years, the same feeling that disappeared when I was in his arms not long ago, is back...this time worse.

I think watching his heart break right in front of me makes it even worse.

Did you ever get that feeling of heavy emotions in your chest? Feeling like you're about to explode into a heavy crying meltdown because of how overwhelming the feeling is? Yes? Then you know exactly how I'm feeling.

The seconds started to feel like minutes, hours even, but our eyes never left each other's stare, he looked at me with his teary eyes and I looked back with mine, there's something comforting about this, it's a silent goodbye, the worst one, no words and no touching, just one last look before everything changes.

Oh God, I hate those so much.

Saying goodbye to someone that knows everything about you, someone that you spent years being with, someone you shared your worries and secrets with every single night, and now you're sharing one last final look before never speaking to them again, what could go wrong?

"We will leave you two to talk...or glare, whatever works."Nasius says, breaking the dreading silence.

I give him a distant nod with my eyes still on Kingston's, I haven't stared at those deep browns for years...so give me a break, every second counts.

The sound of the footsteps of the other two traitors faints in the background and I hear the door opening, then closing seconds after. We're alone. Absolutely horrible.

"Adelaine?"He calls out.

"What, Kingston?"

He wipes his teary eyes and looks at me.

"You've known me for a long time, what makes you think I'm going to give up so easily?"

"The fact that you gave up twice and left, every time things get hard you leave without a trace, I don't care if you're giving up or not, I am the one giving up this time."

He shakes his head"No you're not, you think you are but you're not, you're just angry at me and I understand it, you missed me as much as I missed you and you know it."

"I am not denying that, of course I missed you, but I'm not going back to you, end of the story."

I cross my arms and look away, I'm afraid that if I spare him another glance I'll let my guard down and allow him to toy with me again.

I will never back down again, I don't care.

"It's the end of chapter one, we still have many chapters left, Adelaine."

I shake my head"We don't, you ripped them out when you left, be thankful enough that I'm allowing you near the kids."He chuckles...seriously? He still finds all this funny.

I hiss in annoyance and turn to look at him, putting on my best poker face.

"Laugh all you want but I'm serious, unlike you I don't keep empty promises under my sleeve."

"So you think you'll manage to ignore my whole existence?"

"Yes."I answer without hesitation.

Ne runs his tongue across the inside of his cheek and puts his hands in his pockets, I recognize that look on his face, he thinks this is a challenge."I'd love to see you try."

And there it is.

I run my hands down my face tiredly and sigh in exhaustion."I don't care about what you love anymore, I'm going upstairs to sleep I'm too tired to deal with you, you know where the door is, right? Good."I blur out and turn around, making my way towards the stairs.

Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it, don't sa-

"See you tomorrow, Adelaine."

I seal my lips shut and walk up the stairs quickly.

I won't give him the satisfaction of replying to that nonsense.

It's not over, I want it to be but knowing him, he already made a mind plan on how to get me to change my mind and act like nothing happened. I don't know if I should like it or hate it.

No, I hate it, I need my decision to be respected.

But how can it when I don't even know if the decision is right? My mind's a mush, and I'm too exhausted to unpack and figure out what to do.

At least I have tomorrow, not that it will be better than today. But at least I can try and make the most of it, if Kingston stays away.