I want you back..✔✔✔✔(Re-edited)

13.

Livia's POV

It's been five days. Five long, heavy days since that morning, the call, the gas, the breakdown. And every second since then has felt like I've been walking through fog. Thick, heavy, shapeless. I don't even know if it's day or night anymore without checking a clock. I hear Aaron's voice sometimes, soft and patient, urging me to eat something or asking if I'm okay. But mostly I just nod. It's not that I want to ignore him, it's just that I don't know how to respond. I don't even know what's happening inside me. I'm quiet, but not peaceful. I'm numb, but not safe. I'm still breathing, but I'm not living.

Aaron finally sat me down this morning, his hand warm and steady on mine. "Levi," he said gently, "you need to get out. Just for a while."
I didn't answer, but he saw it, the fear, the resistance blooming quietly behind my eyes.

He didn't push. He never does. Instead, he tilted his head a little and offered a small, knowing smile. "I already called Carter," he added, voice calm but firm. "He's coming to take you out. You don't have to talk, you don't have to do anything. Just breathe a different kind of air today. That's all."

So now I'm here, curled up on the edge of the couch like I'm waiting for a rescue I don't believe in. My hands are tangled in the hem of my sweater, fingers restless. I glance out the window, then at the door, then back to the floor. I hate this feeling, like I've lost my footing, like nothing is steady. But the worst part is, I have no idea how to make it stop. 

Suddenly, I feel a light tap on my shoulder and instinctively flinch. My heart skips a beat as I turn quickly, and there he is. Carter, standing with his usual cocky grin and an outstretched hand. "Whoa," he says, blinking at my expression. "Didn't mean to scare you. Sorry. You looked... somewhere else."

"You just gave me an attack, Carter," I exhale, pressing a hand to my chest like that might calm it down.

He gives me a mock bow, stepping back. "Forgive me, my queen. Let me try again. Shall we go? I'm already late to lead the royal princess on her quest through the kingdom. And if I don't return you safely, your husband might banish me from the kingdom of Aaron forever." 

I chuckle and shake my head. That's Carter, always finding a way to slip humor into even the toughest moments.

I thought I was having some me time, but I was wrong, it was Carter on a mission. He was hunting for a shirt, but doing it like he was on a runway, darting between stores with the energy of a teenage girl shopping for prom, holding up shirt after shirt with intense focus. 

I'm slumped on a bench near the trial rooms, feeling like I've aged fifty years this past week. My legs ache. My back aches. My brain aches. And Carter? He's on his twelfth round, still debating between black and dark grey. "Caaaarter," I groan, "can't you just pick one already? We've seen a hundred shirts. You literally walked past five good ones."

He completely ignores me, still running his hands through another rack of overpriced casualwear.I mutter to myself, "That black full-sleeve one was perfect, but oh no, Mr. Carter wants to see everything."

Before I can complain further, I feel a strong hand wrap around my wrist, gently tugging me up. My feet dig in on instinct. "Excuse me?" I raise an eyebrow. 

"So we can go buy that black T-shirt," Carter says, grinning like he just won.

I stare at him like he's grown a second head. "Carter, do you realize we'd have to go back through all those stores to find it again? We went into at least thirty-five."

He shrugs, unfazed. "It wasn't that many."

"It absolutely was."

"Anyway," he says, already walking off, "you go do your thing. I'll find the shirt."

And just like that, he disappears.

I sit back down on the bench, stretching a little, and let my mind wander. The mall is loud, bright, full of laughter and chatter. So different from what's been haunting me these last few days. For a second, it almost feels like I could be someone else. Someone who's just out shopping, living normally, untouched by fear.

But then, I feel it.

That sensation. The unmistakable feeling of someone watching me.

I look up and spot a man, older, with wild, spiked white hair tipped in a faded blue. His beard is patchy and unkempt, framing a mouth with uneven, yellowed teeth that give off a grimy vibe. But it's his eyes that really unsettle me, dark, heavy-lidded, and scanning me with a look so hungry and twisted it makes my skin crawl. Lustful. Sick.

A cold wave of disgust coils tightly in my stomach, sharp and twisting. Without hesitation, I push myself up and step away quickly, head down, trying to leave that unsettling gaze behind.

Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

THUD.

I walk straight into someone. My breath catches in my throat as I look up, and my heart sinks.

"You!?" The girl's voice cuts through the air, sharp and filled with venom. "Jenny?" I manage to say, blinking in disbelief.

She crosses her arms, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. "Wow. You actually remember me. I should be honored."  "I-hey, I'm honestly just surprised to see you," I stammer, confusion swirling in my mind. What was this sudden confrontation about?

Jenny leans in, her eyes narrowing, burning with pure rage. "Oh yeah? Surprised, huh? What happened? Did the wind just blow you back into town like you never left? Like nothing ever happened?"

"Jenny—"

"No. Don't 'Jenny' me," she snaps, spitting out the words like poison. "Maybe you fooled your husband. But not me. I saw right through you. You never treated Carter like a brother. You were always hanging onto him, keeping him close, like a desperate shadow. Every time Carter and I tried to be together, there you were, hovering, watching, ruining everything."

I stand frozen, speechless.

"You had everything. One husband. A so-called perfect life. But you still needed Carter's attention. You stole it all from me." Her voice breaks, but only slightly. "You bitch. You were having an affair—"

SMACK.

My hand moves before I even realize it, striking her sharply across the cheek. She stumbles back, eyes wide in shock.

"Don't talk about things you have no idea about," I say, my voice shaking, not with fear, but with the fire blazing inside me. "You don't know the truth. You never even tried to understand."

"And you," I whisper, voice low and fierce, "you walked away. You left all on your own."