Pages of You

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

I felt my fingers gently brushing the hair off my face.

"How long has she been like this?"

I frowned. It sounded like Adeline.

"She hasn't left the bed in three days," Ethan murmured. I felt him sitting beside my feet with a sigh. "I've only seen her get up to use the bathroom and then back here. She barely ate what I gave her."

Adeline clicked her tongue, her fingers now combing my hair. I slowly opened my eyes to find her and Ethan staring at me with worry.

"Hi," My voice cracked as I pulled back the blanket around me.

Adeline snorted, a strained smile on her face. "Hi back, bitch."

Ethan frowned, looking at her, not realizing our unique terms of endearment toward one another. He rolled his eyes and turned back to me, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," I said softly as I sat up. I'm sort of okay. I miss him.

Adeline looked at Ethan, and an inner dialogue seemed to pass between them. She sighed before turning back to me, "Babe, Chiron came to my house every day looking for you. He was beside himself with grief. Kept rambling about how it was his fault and that he didn't mean to. Didn't mean to what?"

My heart ached once more. "We had a huge fight. I asked him about his dad, and he exploded. He may have said some of his thoughts out loud."

Ethan released an angry breath while Adeline's eyes narrowed into slits. They asked what happened, and I told them everything. After I finished, I felt my shoulders drop with relief. It was as if the past few days were bubbling up inside me, ready to explode, and I just needed to get it out.

"Well," Adeline cleared her throat. "I'll slap him in the face for you the next time I see him."

"I'll punch his face in, too," Ethan offered, his eyes widening slightly when Adeline smiled approvingly at him.

"No," I laughed, shaking my head. "It's okay. I'll talk to him eventually. I just needed some space to let us both breathe."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, each time he came over to see if you were there, he looked like shit." Adeline shrugged, "And he looked absolutely terrified when I told him you never came by. He kept mumbling about New York like some weirdo."

I frowned in confusion before shaking my head with a sigh. Chiron has always been a weirdo. But he's my weirdo. A sudden sharp pain pierced my chest as I let out a heavy breath. Was. He was my weirdo.

*-*-*-*

It's been a week since Chiron and I had our fight. I called in sick on the days I knew he was working because I wanted to avoid him. Plus, I needed a break. There should be a policy at all workplaces to allow employees to call in just to have a mental health break and not just for general sickness. Luckily, my bosses were chill about it.

However, I knew I couldn't avoid him forever at work.

It seemed that Chiron knew what I was doing because here he was, standing in line in front of me, on his day off. It's like oxygen has an agenda against me, telling me fuck you by robbing me the right to breathe just by looking at the sight of him. I swallowed hard when it was his turn, ignoring the painful thud against my chest as I tried my hardest to give him my best customer service smile.

"Hi there," I cleared my throat when my voice cracked. "Returning a book?"

His throat bobbed, and it was like my eyes couldn't stop honing in on it. I waited for him to answer as my gaze continued to glide all over him. Chiron was always beautiful to me. But the man before me is not the Chiron I remember.