Beneath the Surface

Chapter 35

It had been a few days since the incident with Robbie, but the weight of it still lingered over Lizzie like a heavy fog. The texts and missed calls from him were constant—his name lighting up her phone screen, each notification a reminder of everything Lizzie wasn't ready to deal with. She hadn't responded to a single one. She just couldn't. Not yet.

Right now, all she wanted was to escape. To retreat into a place where the chaos of her life didn't feel so suffocating.

That place, surprisingly, had become Y/N's house.

Y/N had been attentive, more than Lizzie had expected, giving her space but always making sure she was okay. Since the day they left Lizzie's house, Y/N had practically taken time off from whatever work she had going on. Lizzie knew Y/N had her own responsibilities, important ones, but Y/N had shifted her schedule, making Lizzie a priority in a way that made her feel... safe. Cared for.

Of course, Viktor still came by once a day, the quiet but imposing figure who handled whatever business Y/N couldn't put off. They would disappear into Y/N's office for meetings, the door closed, the murmurs of their conversation low and steady. Lizzie made sure not to disrupt them. It was a strange routine—one she wasn't sure she would ever fully understand—but Y/N had made it clear that Lizzie was welcome here, no matter how long she needed.

And so, Lizzie stayed.

They hadn't kissed again. In fact, they hadn't really talked about it at all. There was a comfort in the unspoken space between them—like both of them understood that this was a delicate time, and pushing for anything more would complicate things. Y/N gave her the room to breathe, and Lizzie was grateful for it.

But that didn't mean she wasn't aware of how much Y/N's presence meant to her. It was in the little things—the way Y/N checked in, making sure Lizzie was eating, offering to hang out when Lizzie looked restless. There was an ease between them, a familiarity that felt like coming home after years of being lost.

Lizzie sat on the couch now, her phone in her lap, scrolling through the texts from Robbie that she still hadn't opened. She couldn't bring herself to read them, not yet. It was too soon. She was still too raw, too tired from everything that had happened.

With a sigh, she set the phone down and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. Y/N had gone out for a run, her way of clearing her mind, and Lizzie found herself with a rare moment of solitude in the house. It was quiet, almost too quiet, the kind of stillness that made her restless.

Her mind drifted to her sisters. She hadn't updated them on what had happened yet, and the thought of telling them felt overwhelming. But she knew they'd want to know. They always did. Mary-Kate and Ashley had a way of reading her even through a screen, and she could already picture their concerned faces once she told them about Robbie.

Taking a deep breath, Lizzie grabbed her phone and tapped on the FaceTime app, finding the contact for the twins. She hesitated for a moment before pressing call.

It only took a few seconds before the familiar faces of her sisters popped up on the screen.

"Hey, Liz!" Mary-Kate said with a grin. "Long time no see."

"Finally! We were starting to think you were avoiding us," Ashley added, her tone teasing but with an underlying note of concern.

Lizzie gave them a small smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Hey, guys."

It only took a second for Mary-Kate's grin to falter, her brows knitting together in concern. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Lizzie sighed, sinking back onto the couch. "A lot, actually."

Ashley leaned closer to the screen, her eyes narrowing. "Is this about Robbie? What happened?"

For a moment, Lizzie wasn't sure how to begin. But she had always been able to talk to her sisters, and even though the topic was heavy, she knew they would understand.

"We had a fight," Lizzie started, her voice quiet. "A really bad one."

"Like, how bad?" Mary-Kate asked, her expression growing serious.

Lizzie took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. "He threw something. A vase. He didn't throw it at me, but... near me and it was terrifying."

The twins were silent for a moment, processing the weight of what she had just said.

"He threw something?" Ashley repeated, her voice hardening. "Lizzie, that's not okay."

"I know," Lizzie said, her voice small. "I've been staying with Y/N. I couldn't... I couldn't stay at home after that."

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Mary-Kate spoke. "Wait, you're with Y/N?"

Lizzie nodded, running a hand through her hair. "Yeah. I didn't know where else to go, and she's been... really great. I feel safe with her."

Ashley raised an eyebrow, a small smirk playing on her lips. "Safe, huh?"

Lizzie shot her a look. "It's not like that. She's just been... there for me. I needed someone, and she showed up."

Mary-Kate sighed, her voice softening. "Well, I'm glad you're somewhere you feel safe. But Lizzie, throwing things? That's not something you can ignore."

"I know," Lizzie murmured, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her shirt. "I just... I don't know what to do. I haven't answered any of his calls or texts. I don't even want to read them."

"You don't have to," Ashley said gently. "Not until you're ready. But Lizzie, you need to figure out if this is something you want to deal with. Because it sounds like Robbie has some serious issues he needs to work out."

Lizzie nodded, though she wasn't sure how to process it all. "I just... I'm so tired of all of this. I just want it to go away."

Mary-Kate and Ashley exchanged a glance, their expressions softening. "We get it," Mary-Kate said. "But you can't ignore it forever. You deserve to be happy."

"I know," Lizzie whispered, her heart heavy with the weight of their words.

The conversation shifted after that, the twins asking more questions about Y/N and how things were going between them. Lizzie did her best to answer, though she wasn't entirely sure herself what to say. She hadn't fully processed the fact that Y/N was back in her life, let alone how she felt about it.

Still, talking to her sisters helped. It always did. By the time the call ended, Lizzie felt a little lighter, though the exhaustion of everything still lingered.

As she set her phone down, Lizzie let out a long breath, sinking back into the couch. Her mind was still spinning, but at least she had told someone about what had happened. It didn't fix anything, but it was a start.

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