Truly, Madly, Deeply

Chapter 23

Sucking in the deepest breath I could manage to hold in my lungs, I counted backwards from three in my head. Three, two. . . two and a half. . . two and three quarters. Dammit, this is ridiculous. If I wanted to go out, who's going to stop me? I shouldn't be afraid of going out without getting caught. It was only early afternoon, everyone should be getting ready to leave anyway. So why be scared? Finally, I put my hand on the brass knob of the door and turned it, pulling the door open. As soon as I stepped out into the hallway, many pairs of eyes snapped in my direction.

This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.

"Hey, Ana," a tired, raspy voice greeted from directly across the hall. Lou's hair was up in a messy bun and her hands were in her lap while she sat criss cross on the carpeted hotel floor. "Are you ready to go? Concert starts in three hours, we're going to the arena."

It was weird hearing Lou's soft voice; I haven't spoken to her in so long. I've been leaving early, arriving late to avoid everyone. I ignored Lou's question, turning my head to make sure the one person I didn't want to see wasn't there. I love Adriana a lot, but lately I've been questioning her friendship. As I looked around, I noticed that most of the band, Paul and Preston, and all of the boys were sitting in the hall as well, probably waiting on the okay to leave for the arena. My eyes met Liam's, so I quickly turned the other way to be met with gigantic brown eyes.

"Looking for someone?" my twin asked, raising one eyebrow into the air with a small smile on her face. Her unannounced presence made me jump and my heart immediately started racing in shock.

My hand flew up to my heart to show how surprised I was. I decided that now was a good time to let Lou know that I didn't plan on joining in with them for the show. "Actually, I have plans. I can't make it tonight."

"Ana," another voice whined. I turned yet again to see Caroline looking up at me with wide, disappointed eyes. "This is the boys' last show in Paris. Tomorrow is our last full day here, don't you want to be with us?"

The feeling of all the boys' and the band's eyes on me made my stomach lurch. "Sorry, I have to go."

"Ana!" I rolled my eyes as Lou snapped at me, her eyes hardening. "Aren't you the one who was just so damn excited to be here with your best friends? You missed the first concert, you haven't talked to us all week! And for what, some boy?"

"That boy," I snapped, suddenly becoming defensive towards Logan. "happens to be a better friend to me than any of you are." I couldn't help but regret my words, but it was the truth. When everyone ditched me for Adriana, Logan was there.

"What?" my twin gasped. "So you're ditching the last concert in Paris to go be with him? Are you kidding me?"

"Look babe." Caroline's soft palm came up to rest on my bare shoulder. "Adriana told us-"

"Oh, so she talks about me to you guys now? Oh, lovely. I don't even wanna know what lies she's told you." I mentally slapped myself for being so stupid. I knew I shouldn't have trusted her. I should have known better. She never wanted to be my friend, all she wanted was Niall and I hate that I'm only just now realizing that.

"Let me finish!" Caroline raised her voice slightly, making me wince. She was never one to yell at people, she was always so nice and forgiving. "She told us what went down between you and Niall in the hallway and we know that it was hard."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, narrowing my eyebrows.

She sighed, then lowered her voice. "Niall. We know how much you love him and God knows how much he loves you. It isn't easy seeing him fall for another girl and we understand that. That's why you won't hang out with us. Don't worry, we aren't mad, we just-"