Close As Lovers

Seventeen.

Song: If I Could Fly- One Direction

Lana left a little while after she comforted me while I cried in her arms. She tried to stay, insisting that I needed support and that as soon as I said the word, she would make Wes regret the day he was born, but I assured her that I would be okay and that she should go home.

I lied, but I was convinced that I deserved to be alone.

Katie stayed the night. She made sure I knew of her presence too, because everytime I'd leave my room, her and Wes would conveniently be wherever I went in the house, and her obnoxious laugh rang in my ears as I tried to force myself to sleep. I had forgotten how annoying she was.

But hearing Wes was different. Hearing him laugh and talk, seeing what looked like genuine happiness, impaled my heart like a thousand arrows hitting the target each second. No matter how hard I tried to drown it out or pretend he didn't exist, my heart knew his existence too well, and it broke me in ways I couldn't even comprehend.

As the sun filtered through my curtains the next morning, I finally found relief as I heard her pull out of the driveway, until I realized Wes had left with her. As silence settled throughout the house again, I hugged the pillow he had left in my bed, breathing in his faint scent as I combed through memories. I knew he cared about me. But I couldn't understand why out of every woman in the world, she had to choose her. Was it some kind of sick joke? Karma for the things I had done or the way I acted? I didn't know. All I knew was that there had to be an explanation, because not even Wes would go that low to hurt me.

After I managed to pull myself out of bed, I helped Nova get ready for her play date with Henry. She told me all about their friendship, and hearing her talk about it was like seeing my past. The parallels to mine and Wes' childhood were uncanny. It was bittersweet, and it had never really hit me how he had been there since the beginning, and no matter how far either of us went, we always found our way back to each other.

Nova continued talking about her and Henry, and as I pulled her hair up halfway with her butterfly clip, I realized how similar Wes and I were to a butterfly. Very delicate and beautiful once grown, but in order to get there, we had to go through a cycle to get where we needed to be. It wasn't always pretty for us, and it was very tough at times, but once the butterfly emerges and takes flight, it's one of the most beautiful sights to see. And nothing can stop them from doing their thing. We were like a Monarch butterfly. It flies across an entire continent, crosses a gulf and they still make it to where they needed to go to do what they do best and they keep going.

Once Henry's mom picked up Nova, I sat in the living room, allowing the silence to suffocate me once again as I dazed out. Mom and dad were at work, Nova was gone, and Wes was wherever with Katie. Eventually, I realized the sadness I felt in my heart wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, so I stopped trying to push it out. Sometimes, all you could do was embrace it and allow yourself to sit in it.

It was days like that where I became nostalgic for the simpler times. The times when I didn't have to worry about heartache, grief, or love. I was happy and carefree, and it was as simple as that. Sometimes I would fall down and scrape my knee, and the pain would come, but it was temporary, and someone could always kiss it away. But now, if someone had asked where I hurt, I wouldn't be able to give a straight answer, because nobody can just kiss away the pain that a heart holds.

Evening had almost fallen when someone knocked on the front door. I assumed it was Wes who had forgotten his keys, but when I opened the door, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach.

"Nice to see you again, Molly," A sinister smirk spread across Andy's lips, and my hands trembled. He was dangerous. He could manipulate you into whatever he wanted, and if things didn't go his way, he could damage you in ways that would leave you traumatized for good. Andy moved closer, and I tried to slam the door shut, but his foot stopped it as he shoved it back open. As he entered, he slammed the door shut and locked it. "I see Wes isn't home today."