Worst Nightmare

chapter 17

(Yoko🔥)

Authors Pov

The dim glow of a few scattered lamps filled the living room of Charlotte's apartment, the quiet hum of the city outside the only sound that broke the silence. The place was cozy, a welcome contrast to the cold, polished mansion Faye was used to. The air felt lighter here, even though the weight of her thoughts felt like a stone in her chest.

Faye drank alcohol after the talk with Yoko so Freen in secretly took Faye to Charlotte's house. Charlotte sadly sighed seeing Faye as Freen helped Faye to sit on the couch.

Faye drank more even both Charlotte and Freen tried to stop her.

Faye sprawled on the couch, her back slouched, one leg hanging off the side. Empty glasses littered the coffee table in front of her, the remnants of the alcohol that had dulled her mind but hadn't been enough to quiet the storm inside her. She was drunk, but it wasn't the kind of drunkenness that came with laughter or forgetfulness. It was the kind that made the truth bleed out, no matter how painful.

Freen sat across from her in an armchair, arms crossed, watching Faye like a sentinel-silent, steady. She hadn't been surprised when Faye insisted on drinking more. The woman was a mess, and this wasn't the first time alcohol had been used to try to drown her thoughts. But tonight? It was different. Faye had been spiraling for days, and now it was all coming to a head.

"Freen..." Faye's voice came out thick, like she was trying to push through something heavy. She took another sip from her glass, the liquid sloshing as she tilted it back. "I don't know... I don't know what I'm doing."

Freen didn't respond immediately, but her eyes softened, just a little. She knew better than to interrupt when Faye was like this-when the words began spilling out in a raw, unfiltered stream.

"I wasn't supposed to be like this," Faye muttered, her head dropping back against the couch. Her eyes were half-lidded, but the pain behind them was still sharp, still there. "I was never supposed to be like this."

"Like what?" Freen's voice was calm, the quiet anchor in the storm of Faye's emotions. She had known Faye long enough to understand the dance of her secrets, the walls she built around herself, and how quickly those walls could come crashing down when the right thing was said.

Faye let out a bitter laugh, lifting her glass in the air as if toasting to some invisible force. "I was supposed to be like my brother. Cold. Calculating. Detached. Someone who could play with people's emotions like a game, without ever caring about the consequences. That's who I was supposed to be, Freen. That's who he wanted me to be." Her voice wavered on the last sentence, but she powered through. "But with Yoko..."

She stopped, her face tightening, as if the very thought of Yoko brought an unbearable weight into her chest.

"With Yoko," Faye continued, her words slurring slightly, "I let myself be... me. And that's where everything went wrong. Because I wasn't supposed to be me, Freen. I wasn't supposed to feel anything for her. But I did. And now I'm paying for it."

Freen watched her closely, her eyes narrowing, but she didn't say anything. She understood the fear in Faye's voice-the fear of being seen, truly seen, and the fear of being loved when that love felt like something dangerous, something that would shatter everything.

"Yoko... she's not supposed to love me." Faye's voice cracked on the last part, her breath hitching. She stared at her glass, but her mind was far away, lost in the memory of Yoko's eyes, Yoko's touch. "I never expected her to love me back, Freen. Never. I thought I could push her away. I thought I could keep her at arm's length, make her think I was just like everyone else-the cold, heartless replica. But she-" Faye's voice shook, and she wiped her hand across her face, trying to clear the tears that had started to form. "But she saw through it all. She saw me. The real me. And I..." She stopped, her chest tightening as the confession felt too raw, too heavy to carry.