Indebted Love

♡ trente-et-un ♡

There's a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. My knock on Katie's apartment door was anxiety-riddled. My heart skipped a beat as Emily opened the door, a massive smile on her face.

"Hey bestie," she squeals, a wine glass in her hand and her body swaggering a little. Still, her infectious joy brought a smile to my face.

Eased my anxiety a little as I hugged her tight.

"Tell me all about church camp. It may be about God but I know you and Seth did the most disrespectable shit!" She loops my arms and drags me into the kitchen, already giving me a glass.

Before I could comprehend the deadly silence in the living room, Emily urged me to take a sip. I take it and glance over her shoulders.

"What's going on?" I ask, ignoring her question and jerk my head towards the living room.

Emily shrugs and smiles, taking a sip of wine.

"You got the text didn't you?" She alludes to the red code text Katie sent to the group chat. Freezing my heart on the way home from camp.

"It is true? Is Katie alright?" Panic and concern laced in my voice have Emily avoid my gaze, drinking again and gulping heavily.

"It's a sleepover now. Kat wants all of us to be there the whole night. It's an identity crisis," she offers, taking another large sip and refilling her glass.

My heart hammers against my chest as I nod, muttering ok under my breath and I set my overnight bag on the kitchen counter.

"Am I late? Is everyone here-"

"Tams gonna come later but you're the last one. She won't talk without you here..." Emily pauses on our way to the living room, "Luc stormed..." she whispered, staying back as I walked into the living room first.

Katie is the first to see me, running into my arms and almost knocking me over. My heart squeezes at the sight of her in pain, my wraps wrapped around her body, giving her the same affection and care she puts into the hug.

"Thanks for coming," Katie sniffs, bloody eyes barely looking at me and her face is puffy, pink on her cheeks as she threads our fingers towards the carpeted floor.

Lucy shuffles to her right to make room for me, offering me a smile small and a shrug of her shoulders. Katie sits beside me, then Emily and finally Sophie leaning off the wall and fulfilling the mini circle on the floor.

They were in their pjs, matching shorts and tank tops and a sullen look plastered on their face.

Katie loops her arms around mine and claps her hands. She inhales deeply, prepping herself not to cry as she builds the courage to speak,

"As I said in the Red Code text, Luca and I broke up this morning and... he stormed off."

A chorus of aww and sorry echoed in the room. I wrap my hand around her joined ones, calming them down as she shakes.

"We fought... about me," Katie says carefully, "I mean, we all knew that Luca had always had feelings for me and ever since Jay got married. I don't know... I wanted to settle down too-"

"Settle down seems a little too much don't you think?" Emily burps, squirting her smokey eye towards Katie, "I get warming your bed but settle down Kat?"

"Yes I mean settle down. A- and Luca has that you know. He's charming and kind, would go on his hands and foot for you." There's a ghost smile on her eyes, and tears falling from the inner corner of her eyes and dropping at our joined hands.

"I recently learned what a family man Luca is. A girl and boy he said, told me right here in this very position that he wanted to marry and I... I froze.