Thalassic Love (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Vixen

When I return to my cabin the morning after my blowout with Lance, something is eerily different. It's 6 a.m. and no one is here.

Of course, I really didn't want my roommate and me to cross paths. But the air that surrounds me doesn't seem normal. The room feels empty and it sends a chill down my spine.

Leaving Harrison's suite this morning was difficult. Once I stepped outside his room, reality hit me like a bus and everything that happened last night came back to me in a flood of bad memories. I had no choice but to go back to my cabin to put on my work uniform for the day.

So, here I am, standing frozen in the center of my room— a sudden wave of loneliness hits me. Despite everything we've been through, I quite enjoyed Harrison's company. He comforted me and made sure I was going to be fine, which I didn't expect. He seems to be changing into a different but better person. Or, maybe that was his true self all along.

Before any more thoughts come to me, the door opens. My back is turned, so I can't see who it is, but every muscle in my body immediately tenses up. When I flip around, I'm confused and shocked that it's not Lance.

Ali's face and voice softens in my presence. "Vixen..."

"What's going on?" I knit my eyebrows.

"I... Lance... He-"

"Spit it out."

"We switched cabins."

"W-What?" My voice shakes, trying not to shatter.

"He... uh... insisted it." Ali scratches the back of his head with his fingers. "Lance came over to my room late last night and told me what happened. He said he wanted far away from you. I didn't have much say in it."

My hands ball into tight, anxious fists. My breathing becomes rapid and intense, like I can barely catch up with each breath I take. I get this urge in my throat to vomit, but I'm able to suppress it back down. Tears coat the brim of my eyelids.

Ali watches me crumble and suddenly embraces me. "Oh, Vixen. I'm so, so sorry."

One arm wraps itself on my upper back, the other rests on my shoulder as his fingers lightly grab the back of my head. He's the brother I've never had. That's how I know it will be okay, eventually.

I sob into his neck. "I'm a terrible person. I did this all to myself."

Any ounce of anguish that Harrison tried to fix yesterday is now undone. I'm in a frightening state of fragility. One that I can't seem to escape no matter how hard I fight to leave.

"Don't say that." Ali pulls back from the hug, placing his hands on each of my shoulders, and looks me right in my eyes. "You are a human being with good intentions. We all do things that are stupid because we're too afraid of the truth. No matter if you would've told Lance right after it happened or now, the outcome would've likely been the same."

"I don't know what's going on with me." I wipe my tears with the collar of my shirt. "I mean, I don't know why or how I've fallen into Harrison's trap. He wasn't nice to me from the beginning. After sleeping with him, I've become so fucked up. I-"

"Hey, it's alright. Don't work yourself up over this. Sometimes we follow our heart rather than our head. You're not the first person in the world to do this."

My heart? There's no heart when it comes to Harrison. In fact, my heart quite dislikes that man.

Still, I let his words go.

"Thank you for being there for me," I say, weakly smiling.

"Of course. It's the least I can do."

"I guess the bright side to all of this is that you're now stuck with me 24/7, roomie," I tease.