Aftertaste [COMPLETED]

Chapter 15 :: Transpose

A/N :: So I'm gonna be trying something a little different this go round, so bear with me.

BERLIN'S P.O.V.

***

THAT CHRISTMAS day was by far the most memorable that I'd had so far. But as I'm sure you know, it was just that, one day. Some time has passed since then, but you didn't miss much. The last week of December was short lived. New years came and went and I spent most of it drunk off my heels at a masquerade ball.

And just in case you're wondering, no, I didn't attend with Rory (he's dating Lindsay now, remember?) Or Logan (who had also happened to find a special someone, but more on that later.)

No, I went with James. Now I know what you're thinking. You're probably wondering why I hadn't broken up with him my then. But might I remind you, that at that particular point in time, I really did think that I was in love with him, you could say that I was blinded by love. I knew that I couldn't've changed him, but I chose to believe that he would come around on his own time.

Do you remember when I said that I still loved him to this very day? Well, I do, but it's a different type of love. That sort of love that seems to border pity. The kind of love that makes you want the best for a person simply because you recognise their ignorance, because it is a road that you have traveled yourself.

But anyway, enough about James and I. There will be plenty of that later. I want to skip ahead to a more important date. February fourteenth, twenty sixteen.

**

Knock knock knock. The door opened and Mrs. Ward was confused to see me standing on her doorstep at two in the afternoon on Valentine's day.

I wrung my hands as I tried to conceal my anxiety. "Um, Mrs. Ward, is- is Logan here? I really need to talk to him and he's not answering his phone."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but he left about an hour ago."

"Oh, okay," I said disappointedly. I turned to walk away when I saw her purse her red lips together. "Wait, Berlin honey." I stopped in my tracks and that's when I noticed her worried expression.

"What's wrong? Something is clearly bothering you."

I hesitated for a moment. "Um, well. It's, its nothing really. I don't want to bother you."

"No. No. Whatever's on your mind, you need to let it out. Come inside, we'll talk."

She ushered me inside and shut the door behind her.

"Sit." She took a seat at the dining room table and I joined her. I smiled when I remembered Christmas day.

"Now," she said softly, folding her arms in front of her, "talk to me."

I felt that it was a little odd that I was getting ready to open up to Logan's mom. I mean, sure, we were best friends, but his mom? She was a sweet lady, but we weren't very close.

It was at that moment that I remembered what Lydia had said to me on thanksgiving day friends are family that we choose.

"I just. I don't even know where to begin." I felt genuinely lost inside my own mind.

"Start from the beginning."