Afterlight ✔️

chapter fifty

— Jay Bieber

There was only one thing I could do– follow them. I wasn't going to give Chloe up after everything that we went through. A year ago, I was supposed to pull a bullet through her head and now she's all I've got. I would follow her across the entire continent because there was this possibility I could have her in my life forever, she'd soon realize I didn't kill her brother and everything would go back to normal. That's what I am going to fight for.

"We have to follow them, like right now. Get your stuff, we're going." I ordered Nick who stood next to me. He didn't move, he didn't even look at me. I frowned. "Nick?"

He gazed at me. "No."

"What did you just say?"

"I said no, Jay. You wanna know why? Because she gave up on you! Goddamn, she doesn't give a shit about you anymore."

I swallowed hard, it was true. But it wasn't a permanent situation. "Don't, Nick." I warned him. He was my best friend, I needed his support.

"What, you want me to stop telling you the truth? Wake the fuck up, she hooked up with you and then called her ex to pick her up! I did not sign up for this shit." He pointed at me. I'm not here to follow your psycho ex, I'm fucking done."

"Don't fucking call her that, she's your friend, too!" I gritted my teeth, how dare he talk about her so poorly when he knew damn well what she was feeling right now was pure anger. It confused her. "What you just saw? That's not Chloe. When I asked her to stay, I saw something in her eyes, Nick. She didn't act like herself." I added. "I remember when Chloe used to live with me, and Dean asked her to come with him. She was mad at me for punching her, hell, I regret it until today. But when I asked her to stay, she did what I said. What I'm trying to say is I want the old Chloe back, I'm not giving up on her. I know she's hurt and confused about everything, but she would always choose me."

"Sometimes I miss when we were best friends and you had no emotions towards girls. I don't like the new whipped Jay." He rolled his eyes at me.

"I was a fuck up, Nick. I was going through life, filling up voids that could never truly be filled. I was a worthless piece of shit. But then Chloe happened, shit. She was the best thing that ever happened to me. Meeting her was like..." My voice trailed off, searching for the right words. "Meeting her was like seeing a sunrise after being trapped in eternal darkness."

Fuck, I do sound whipped.

Screw it! That was exactly how I felt. "She is everything I could wish for. I refuse living a life without her. If trying to be happy again and fighting for the love of your life means I'm being whipped, fine. I'm whipped then. Shut the fuck up and help me get my girl back."

Nick sighed, walking back into the house. I followed him. "I don't understand why you let her treat you like that in the first place. None of those other girls you fucked around with did reckless stuff like Chloe. Why the hell do you let her do the things she does?"

What the fuck?

"Are you kidding? She was abused, she was kidnapped and beaten multiple times. I don't think that I should handle her the way I handled those other girls."

She was never just one of many girls, she was the one. I wanted to treat her the way she deserved, like a princess and not just because she's been through a lot of shit. She was amazing– funny, smart, flawless, understanding, maybe a little stubborn but I could live with that.

"That doesn't give Chloe an excuse to walk all over you. She treats you like shit. Do you see how fast she assumed you killed her brother?"

I sighed, he had a point. But he didn't– or couldn't understand the connection I had with Chloe. "This is the first time I've ever been in love, Nick. I don't want to lose her, don't worry about anything else."