Deteriorating Hearts

10 ||Unproptious Tales

// for Nabilah who always leaves honest feedback //

This, like the last chapter, is an emotional chapter so brace yourself for more. I have finally decided how many chapters this story is going to have and that's 18 chapters plus an epilogue. Or I might just make the entire book 19 chapters.

A huge thank you to snoozes who made the gorgeous cover in the multimedia section. Do check out her works. She's a lovely author.

Side note: I'm having my French orals next week on Thursday. Pray for me!

E N J O Y !
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CHAPTER TEN
Unpropitious Tales

Juniper Stauff and Dimitri Remirez sat side by side in a cell as they both waited for their parents to bail them out. To say that they had both landed themselves into an awkward situation would be an understatement.

It was Dimitri who initiated the conversation. "I'm sorry," he said, turning to face her.

She smiled at him but he could tell it was forced. "For what, Dimmy?"

"Oh, cut the crap, June," Dimitri said. "Look, I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I could never hurt you." There was a tone of desperation in his voice.

"I know. You got pretty pissed when Eric Sanders tried to...rape me."

His eyes widened and they glossed with astonishment. "You remember?"

"Of course I do, Dimmy. Bits and pieces have come back to me but I was really drunk so I don't recall everything and I'm really glad that I don't recall much of that night because the snippets itself that have come back to me are pretty vivid and...haunting. And I know that you wouldn't hurt me because you were pissed as fuck when Eric Sanders hurt me. If you were that pissed that you beat him to the pulp - that's how he looked when he came to school - I can't fathom you hurting me."

Dimitri's eyes softened and he reached out for her hand, giving it a tight squeeze. The way she spoke, the terror clear in her eyes strung at his heart. He knew she was trying to reassure him but she looked awfully scared and that made his heart ache. He might not have feelings for her but that doesn't mean he didn't care for her. She was one of the people he cared for and Dimitri cared for such little people. "He was doing it without your consent and," he faltered not quite sure what to say next. "I've never seen you vulnerable, June."

Juniper's eyes were watering at this point and she tried to take a hold of reality. The façade she had built up, the amount of strength it took to build those walls around her - all of it was slipping away and Dimitri was finally going to get a look at exactly who his best friend was.

"Yeah," she said. "You cared for me, Dimmy. And I think that was the trap. I thought that maybe you had an inkling of feelings for me. I mean, yes, I know that you are in love with Amanda and Amanda is in love with you. That much was obvious. Even a blind man could see it. But I thought you felt something. Something, Dimitri. It probably wouldn't compare to as what I feel for you but I thought that there was a small part of you that likes me."

"I do like you, Juniper. There's a huge part of me that likes you. In fact, I love you. But not in the sense that you think," he said sympathetically.