𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏'//𝑫𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏×𝑶𝑪

💥|TWENTY-TWO|💥

I'M OUT THE door before Dally wakes. The sun is peaking through the giant buildings, the soft rustle of the trees filling the silence around me and the leaves dancing in the soft wind as I walk to Beatrice's house.

The Limbrey house was always awake by seven so I knew Bea would be awake. I needed to explain myself to her and apologize for ditching last night. I was probably the world's worst best friend right now. I definitely felt like it.

I felt bad for leaving Dally alone to wake up, but I made sure to leave him a note to tell him where I had gone. After my confession last night, we held each other and shared whispered conversations and soft kisses until we fell asleep. I didn't know if this meant we were together or not. I knew he and Kathy had broken up. He had broken up with her the same night he visited me at the hospital.

I gently knock on the white door of the Lambrey house and am surprised when Hele Lambrey's face pokes through the crack in the door. Distaste pulls at her face as she looks down at me with the same judgemental eyes from the first time I ever stepped foot inside her house.

She looked at me like I was trash on a sidewalk. Or a piece of gum that got stuck to the bottom of her heel that she can't quite shake.

"Beatrice isn't here." Mrs. Lambrey finally tells me after staring at me for what felt like an eternity.

"I can wait," I reply.

The age lines on Mrs. Lambrey's face tighten at my suggestion. She wets her red-painted lips "I doubt she wants to see you right now. Come back another day." She says as she attempts to close the door in my face. I wedge my foot into the crack, bracing both of my hands against the strong door.

Mrs. Lambrey looks at me with a bewildered expression "What on earth are you—"

"I know you don't like me." I start, cutting off the blonde woman with a desperate expression. "Believe me, I know Bea probably hates me right now, but I need her. So please just open the door."

I don't know if it was the desperation in my voice or if she was simply too tired to fight this early in the morning, but Mrs. Lambrey's face softens, and she opens the door wider, letting me inside.

I nod in thanks and slip inside the expensive house. I hear Mrs. Lambrey shut the door behind me, and the click of her heels as she walks past me. "I'm making some tea. Sit and I'll get you some." She instructs without looking at me, marching to the kitchen.

I open my mouth to tell her she doesn't have to, but she's gone before I can. I didn't want to see room and turn down her offering; I mean, I had already done enough when I forced myself into her home. She probably really hates me now.

At her command, I sit at the oak dining table in the dining room. A gorgeous chandelier hung from above, lighting the room and giving it an elegant vibe. I feel the ache in my rib intensify causing me to grimace in pain. I hadn't taken any pain medication all day yesterday and not any today.

I was hoping to get off these things as soon as I could, but the ache was too much for me to handle. I reach into my duffel bag and pull the pill bottle from inside.

As I screw the cap off, Mrs. Lambrey comes into the dining room holding a platter with two teacups, scones, and a steaming cup of tea with sugar cups and honey beside it.

Her eyes find the pill bottle in my hand, eyeing it wearily. I then realize that this probably didn't look too good.

"It's from the doctors, for my rib aches since I broke my rib," I tell her as she sits down, setting the platter between up.

"Yes, yes I read it in the paper." She hums, grabbing one of the tea cups and the teapot and pouring the steaming liquid into the cup. "You saved those children from that church fire." She says taking a small sip of her steaming tea while she stares at me.