𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘

𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘 - 𝟎𝟑𝟐

"How was your flight Gabs?" I asked , curled up on the couch, glass of wine in hand.

She shrugged , "It was alright , they should really ban babies from flying though. Here I was trying to get some slumber but the baby beside me fussed the entire time. Like what the hell are you so upset about in the first place?"

"That's not really nice Gabriella, you were that baby at some point."

"No the hell I wasn't. My mama said I was a quiet baby." She frowned, thinking her point was somehow proven. I scoffed , downing the rest of the red liquid and setting it on the coffee table.

"Sure.. how's Mrs.Campbell doing anyways? Haven't spoke to her in a while." I loved Ms. Campbell , she treated me as if I was one of her own. If you think about it , I honestly was. Most of my childhood was spent at her house , especially when my mother passed.

The environment at home wasn't well for a long period after she left, Gabby's house was the only place I truly felt safe. That is up until junior year of high school. Me and Gabby kind of drifted away that year but obviously we reconnected.

Gabby turned the camera towards Mrs Campbell who smiled once she saw me, " Hey Dahlia girl , how are you honey?"

I grinned , "Hello Mrs. Campbell, I'm doing well. And you?"

"I'm doing well , thanks for asking. How's your dad?"

"He's doing fine."

She nodded , "It was nice speaking to you honey." Gabby turned the camera towards her before I could say anything else. "I gotta go Dahlia , call you later?"

I nodded and the phone hung up.

Before I could get up to put the glass in the dishwasher a text appeared on my screen.

Mine <3
Hey , I have sort of bad news.. I know I said I'd spend thanksgiving with you tomorrow , but my mother unexpectedly called and she wanted me to come over and spend it with them. I hope you understand. Sorry for the switch up. Mwah.

As I read it , a sense of disappointment filled me but I pushed it away almost immediately. Instead of responding, I decided to call her instead. She was probably so worried about my response.

"That's completely fine with me baby , I understand your mom wanting to spend Thanksgiving with family." I said with a small frown.

"Are you sure you're not upset?"

I hummed and requested to FaceTime in which she answered with a sigh.

She frowned , looking down at her hands. "I made a banana pudding for you and your family but I don't know what to do with it now.  Just didn't wanna show up empty handed you know?" It made me upset to see Rae so nervous, I wasn't too upset and I didn't want her feeling too anxious about it.

I shrugged, "You eat it, most of my family is allergic to bananas anyway." The lie slipped out of my mouth with remorse covering it completely. It was the only thing I could think of. My eyes bored into hers and the atmosphere behind both screens was silent.

"Oh."

I cleared my throat before speaking, "Yeah. I have to go , someone's calling me. Talk to you later." Nobody was calling me but I just needed to get off the phone somehow.

"Oh- Bye." She said , her tone laced with sadness.

"Bye." My finger reached up and hit the decline button. Though her face was no longer there, my eyes stayed locked on my screen.  It felt awfully dramatic. Do I have a right to be upset ?

Spending quality time with your family is important. Trust , if anyone knows about quality time.. it's me. But I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that Rae wasn't going to be spending the holidays with me anymore.

I grabbed the empty bottle and moved over to the kitchen, throwing it away. Should I tell her how I feel ? Would that make her feel bad? That's the last thing I would want to do though.

I grabbed the snacks I wanted , went back to the couch and picked up my phone. Something told me to give it time so that I did , placing the phone beside me and focusing my attention on the TV.

                                     ☆ ☆ ☆

After an hour or so I was staring at my phone screen again, not knowing if I should call her or to just leave it alone. I kept telling myself that communication is key but I couldn't help how nervous I was.

I quickly clicked the call button and put the phone up to my ear. She answered on the 3rd ring , her voice groggy. Did I wake her up?

"Did I wake you? Sorry , we can just talk in the morning."

She moved , probably sitting up , "No no, I'm fine. What's up?"

I took a deep breath , "I'm sorry for being off- putting earlier , I was just in a state of emotions earlier and I didn't know how to handle it."

"Mhm..go on."

"I was sort of upset that we weren't spending thanksgiving together. I know. It's stupid but I was really looking forward to it and not that spending thanksgiving with your family isn't important because it is.. but I don't know. Maybe I was jealous."

She sighed , shuffling around. " I knew you were upset about this. I'm so sorry."

"No! Don't feel bad. It's just been bothering me to hold these feelings in and I just wanted to call and tell you about it. Let it out, you know? If I hadn't, who knows how long I would've kept it in."

"Yeah baby , I understand.It gets like that sometimes. If these dinners end early , I can come over and spend some time with you. That way we'll still spend some of the day together."

I grinned , excitement starting to take over. "For realsies?"

She laughed, "For realsies."

We stayed silent for a little , why? I don't know.

"Can I go back to bed now?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah yeah , of course. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight , I love you."

The gears inside of me stopped moving. I beamed, looking down at my nails , fidgeting with them. I kicked my feet back and forth as I processed her words.

"I love you too. Mwah."

"Mwah."

She loovessss me.

a/n: they said i love you! finally, sorry for late update. it's starting to become a routine at this point lol. if you ever become a writer, you'll understand. this is NOT edited btw.