Family Styles - Sequel to the Baby Styles series

21

Layla's point of view

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?! He doesn't know where we live, right?" I asked, panicking. I had been walking around the living room for the past five minutes, unable to calm down.

"I don't think he knows, but Noah, Jack and Jacob all know." Sarah said. I sighed and decided to sit down.

"But, like, what do I do? Do I hide in my bedroom or?" I asked.

"No you can't hide! You need to talk to him." Erica said.

"I can't talk to him. I just can't. It's gonna be too hard." I said.

"It's gonna be fine. We'll be right here if you need us. You see, we can't just throw him out either." Erica said. As the words left her mouth, the doorbell rang.

"I'll open." Sarah said and headed towards the door. Erica noticed how freaked out I was and gave me a hug.

"Nervous?" She asked.

"Of course. He's my ex-boyfriend who I haven't seen in, like, 6 months." I said. Suddenly, I felt sick. I excused myself from Erica and hurried as fast as I could to the closest bathroom, where I threw up.

"Oh my god, Layla are you okay?" Erica asked as she sat down next to me. She gave me a wet towel to wipe my face with and then she put my hair up in a bun.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked as she walked into the bathroom.

"Layla threw up." Erica said.

"What?! But Ben is in the living room!" Sarah whisper-shouted.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I just wanna get this over with." I said and got up from the floor.

"We'll be right down the hall if you need us." Erica said. We all exited the bathroom and went seperate ways. I slowly made my way to the living room where I saw Ben sitting on the couch, his back facing me. I sat down in the armchair, making Ben notice me.

"Hey..." I said.

"Hi." He said back. "Sorry for just coming over like this, but I just had to see you. I hate the way things ended between us."

"Me too..." I said and looked down.

"Does your parents still don't want you seeing me?" He asked.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to them about it." I replied.

"I want it to be us again. I can't live without you. You're all I ever think about..." He said.

"Ben... I just don't think it's meant to be. The last time we tried again, it ended horribly. And you know that. And the time before that also ended horribly. I just don't wanna go through that again."

Ben didn't say anything. He just got up from the couch and left the flat. He slammed the door, and I decided to follow him. I quickly slipped on one of Sarah's TOMS and hurried outside.

"Are you seriously mad at me right now?!" I yelled after him. He stopped walking and turned around.

"I never said I was." He said.

"Then why did you just leave like that?" I asked. Again, he didn't say anything. He walked towards me, getting really close to me. He grabbed one of my hands and looked me deeply in the eyes.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me this doesn't feel right." He said and used his free hand to stroke my cheek and put some loose hair behind my ear. He began leaning in closer, so I could feel his breath on my face. "Tell me this doesn't make you feel safe."

He leaned in even closer, making our lips meet. I wanted to kiss him back so badly, but I resisted the temptation.

"I can't do this. I'm sorry." I said and backed away from him. I headed back into the flat, kicked off my shoes, and headed to my room. I passed Erica and Sarah in the living room, but I think they knew not to bother me right now.

As I entered my room, I started dialing mom's number and lied down on my bed. By now, I had tears streaming down my face.

"Hello, sweetie! How's London?" Mom said cheerfully as she answered my call.

"Mom... I met Ben again." I said trying my best to prevent more tears from coming.

"Oh god... Honey, are you okay? What happened?" She asked.

"He came to our flat and tried to get me back. All I wanted was to try and move on with my life, but he always has a way of coming back!" I said.

"Layla, listen to me right now. Don't let me and your father get in your way. Do whatever your heart tells you to do." Mom said.

"But my heart is confused... I seriously don't know what to do. I don't want to get hurt again, but at the same time I want to be with him." I said.

"Well maybe he won't hurt you this time? Just do what your heart tells you to and everything will be fine. I promise you. Just look at me and your dad. When you and Ed locked us in that room, my heart was telling me to take him back. So I did, and now we're happily married and have a complete family." She said.

"But he leaves in a week anyway... He's going to university in Manchester, I think." I said. "I've been in London for less than four hours and there's already such a big mess out of everything..."

"Hey... As I said, Layla, don't let me and your father get in the way of your feelings anymore. I haven't spoken to your dad about it yet, but I'm sure he'll understand if you and Ben get back together."

"I need to think about it... I'll probably just ask Ben to meet me so we can talk or something." I said.

"Whatever you do, I support you." Mom said.

"Thanks, mom. I'm glad I can always talk to you." I said and smiled, although she couldn't see me.

"Always, honey."

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hope you like this!:))))

- m i a h xx