Intoxicated || An Eminem Fanfiction

Chapter 62

Leila's POV

The sound of movers shuffling boxes, clanking dishes, and instructions echoed through the house as we unpacked the life we were starting to build.

Monica and Laura stood off to the side, trying to help where they could, but I could feel the weight of their eyes on me, they were concerned, disbelieving, and full of questions neither had the guts to ask directly, not today anyway.

Laura sat on the arm of the couch, her arms crossed and a look of amused exasperation on her face.

She had been my best friend for years, and if anyone could read my mind, it was her.

Monica, Marshall's assistant and now someone I called a close friend, was giving orders to the movers, a slight furrow in her brow every time she glanced at me.

"You're really doing this, huh?" Laura's voice cut through the noise, her eyebrow arching as she took a sip from the wine glass in her hand.

"Yeah, I am" I replied, refusing to meet her gaze, I kept my focus on the stack of boxes near the kitchen, each one marked with sharpie, each one labeled with its contents, a chaotic attempt at organization, much like my life "We're doing this, well it's already done"

"You two couldn't make it a little less of a circus act?" Laura asked, her voice dripping with both humor and worry.

I snorted, finally meeting her eyes with a smirk "You act like we don't thrive in chaos"

"You definitely do" Monica added, walking over from across the room, her footsteps soft but deliberate, she crossed her arms and fixed me with a look "But seriously, Leila, Vegas? I thought you would want something more... controlled"

"Controlled? In my life?" I laughed dryly, shaking my head "We're already in it, We're moving forward"

Moving forward.

That phrase felt foreign, and I wasn't entirely sure if I was convincing myself or them. Truthfully, it still felt like I was riding a high from our Vegas wedding, a haze of adrenaline and passion that made everything seem more intense than it actually was.

I wasn't stupid, I knew we were volatile, but being wrapped in Marshall's love-bombing made me feel invincible, like we could handle anything.

"I don't know whether to congratulate you or stage an intervention" Laura said, leaning forward as she eyed me over the rim of her glass.

"Definitely congrats" Monica added quickly, her voice warm but betraying the worry that was clear in her eyes.

She'd been with Marshall long enough to see him at his best and his worst, she knew the risks better than anyone, and that loyalty now extended to me.

It put her in an awkward spot, trying to be the neutral party between two live wires.

Before I could respond, the front door swung open, and there he was, Alec, with his towering frame and that ever-present scowl, storming in like a force of nature.

His eyes locked on me immediately, dark and intense, but they quickly shifted to Marshall as he also walked in the room.

I could feel the heat of his anger before he even said a word.

"What the fuck, Lala?" Alec's voice was sharp, filled with frustration as he moved into the room, his eyes blazed, but his fury was not aimed at me, it was all directed at Marshall.

Marshall straightened, his posture tensing but calm, already anticipating the blowback, he didn't flinch under Alec's gaze, but I could feel the tension rolling off him in waves.