The Fab Five- Pentagonix

Chapter 27- Alyssa

Alyssa's P.O.V.

"It is officially time to party!!!" Viv yells as we all walk through the door of my house. We all cheer in response. All of us except Claire. I seem to be the only one that notices the lack of enthusiasm coming from the newly freed friend of ours, because everyone else continues laughing and talking as they grab drinks out of the fridge.

"I think I will go raid the liquor cabinet and make this a real party." I announce, but the only person that is listening is Clare who's eyes go wide at my idea. I look over at her and she starts to shake her head no, but I smile. "Claire, why don't you come with me?" She hesitates, but after a few seconds she follows me.

Once we get to my dad's "man cave" where he keeps all the alcohol Claire finally speaks for the first time since we left the court house. "I don't think this is a good idea.." she says timidly.

"Yeah neither do I." I respond as I grab the key and unlock the cabinet.

"Than what are you doing?" She asks oozing with confusion. I bend down and reach into the bottom of the cabinet. When I come back up I hold up a glass bottle of sparkling apple cider so that she can see it. "Oh." she says sounding relieved. I set the bottle down on the counter and we both laugh. "Why exactly did I need to accompany you? It looks like you got this under control." Claire says once she catches her breath.

"Because you don't want to ruin the party." I say earning a confused look from Claire.

"I don't unders--" she starts, but I cut her off.

"You aren't happy. I'm not trying to tell you how to feel, but you should be happy. I want to know why you aren't." I explain as I search for something to open the apple cider with. Claire shrugs and I give her a death glare telling her that a shrug is not going to be good enough.

"Fine. It's Travis." Well that's genuinely surprising. I thought she was done with him after the whole scene in the airport. I honestly thought that this whole experience would have warned her off Travis, but I guess I was wrong.

"I thought you were done with him." I say as I open the bottle and pour us both a glass.

"I thought I was too...I mean I should be. Right? But if I am being honest with myself, I'm not over it. I do really think I love him, and I know he loves me...no matter how bad he is at showing it." I think back to my conversation with Travis in Starbucks the day Claire got arrested. He did seem genuinely concerned about her. "You guys don't understand how good of a guy he really is. You have only seen the bad. And even that day in the airport! He bought us both tickets so I could get out of there without having to deal with the charges. I know that his plan was flawed and he was probably high when he came up with it, but the thought was there." We both laughed a little at that.

"I had finally convinced myself that he was bad for me, then we went to the trial and he showed up. Before they took him away, I told him that he didn't have to do that and that I was totally ready to go to jail for this, which was probably a lie. I still haven't decided if I really meant that or not. Whatever it doesn't matter. Either way, he said that Dakota and my brother had threatened him, which is why he came back. When I heard that, it genuinely hurt. He didn't do it for me. He didn't love me as much as I still loved him. He said that he did come back for me, and that it was his plan all along but he didn't want more charges than the ones he would already have." Claire stopped and I expected her to continue, but she didn't.

"Well," I say, "looks like we are going to have to find you a better man." I smile at her and she returns the smile.

"Thanks boo." There she is. 

The girls bust through the door right as we finish our conversation and I hand Claire the glass of "wine" that I poured before she started her whole spiel. "Does anyone else want a glass?" I ask and everyone nods their heads. I pour three more glasses and pass them out before grabbing my own and holding it up.