Mint | h.s.

1.4

Elena's POV

As I'm walking back home, I feel someone grab my shoulder and spin me around. I'm ready to punch them in the face but stop when I notice who the person is.

"Aleisha?" Shock must resemble my face as she smiles uneasily.

"Hey, Enna." She drops her hand so that now it's at her sides.

"What do you want?" I might seem harsh, but after everything that has happened today, I don't even care.

I notice something in her eyes, guilt?

"I was wondering if we could get a cup of coffee?" She seems desperate. But I know better than making the same mistake twice.

"I don't think that's a good idea, I have work to do anyways."

"Just one drink, nothing more. Thats all I'm asking for."

I rethink my decision as the words leave her mouth.

"Okay, fine." I purse my lips in one line attempting to smile. I remind myself over and over of what happened last time - I should be clever about this.

As we order our drinks, an uneasy silence surrounds us. I decide to break the ice and just set things straight.

"Okay, what do you really want?" I ask her and look at her with a sharp gaze.

She sighs. "Look, this past year has been shit, okay? I miss you, very much. Nothing has been the same. Everything changed after what happened and I just want things to go back the way they were. I'm not asking you to forgive me now-"

"You do realize that nothing can go back the way it was, right?" I cut her off while a bittersweet smile creeps its way on my face.

"I know that, but I was just trying to say-"

"You cannot ask that from me. You knew how I felt about things when he did that and still you chose her side. That isn't something one can just forget about."

"I'm so-"

"No, let me finish." she shuts her moth after that. "I had no one, I lost him and I lost you- the two most important people in my life. And now you expect me to just forget about it. Well, news flash. I can't do that."

I breathe heavily after I finished my little rant there and try to call myself down. A few flashbacks appear here and there as I start to feel nauseous. Too many memories keep replaying in my brain and this place's walls seem to come down on me, making me feel smaller.

"Hey, hey, hey... Breathe with me, okay?" I look into her eyes and read from her lips. All the voices in my mind are too loud now to hear what she's saying.

I hold her gaze as I take deep breaths and start to calm down.

"Breathe in, breathe out. It's alright, okay."

I didn't even notice but she's holding me by my shoulders.

"Are you okay, now?" she looks at me with concern in her eyes.

"Yea, thank you." my voice comes out a bit hoarse. That always happens after this.

"Okay, good."

"Hey, Aleisha."

"Yea?" she turns her gaze at me.

At times like this, she really is the only one who knows how to help me. It feels like something snapped in me and made me change my mind. Aleisha is the only one who knows about my little - or not that little - panic attacks. I've had them since I was little. She's the only one who helped me to get through it. Until Marcus did what he did.

I haven't had an attack in a quite while now. I knew better than reminding myself of that day. The less I cared about people, the rarer were the attacks.

"Do you wanna have a sleepover?" I raise my eyebrows as I smile at her.

"Wait what?"

"I mean it's okay if you don't want to, it was just a thought. I thought that you wanted to start over, fresh and-"

"Elena, shut up. Yea, I'd love that." she smiles back.

I feel relieved but also scared. I kinda have my best friend back, but I also have to be alert about everything. I needed a year to fix myself, I don't want to repeat the same thing again. Not again.

The night was spent of talking, watching various shows, gossiping, catching up, laughing.

By 5am we were both knackered and went to sleep. Right before I drift off to sleep, I hear Aleisha whispering. I urge myself to catch what she's saying. I keep my eyes shut as I hear what she says at last.

"I'm glad to have my best friend back, Enna boo."

A smile creeps on my face as I reopen my eyes and see her looking at me with tired eyes.

"I'm glad to have my best friend back too, Ashy boo."

The nicknames say it all.

We had our best friends back.