face your demons // finn bálor

Chapter 17

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Your parents didn't make it."

The words ring in my ears.

"How old are you again? 22? Must be pretty hard. But you seem strong."

The voices are now just echoes. My brother's scream sounds like a blur.

I seem to feel my boyfriend's arms envelope me, but my body is numb.

"It's okay, baby. You'll get through this." He whispers in my ear.

You'll get through this.

"Kat, you okay?" A voice snaps me out of my thoughts. It's Lexi.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine..."

"Look, I just want to apologize for how I acted back at the Performance Center. And on the way here. You really had nothing to do with it."

I already forgot about the drama with my brother. She seems to have gotten over it pretty quickly.

"If I were you, I would be mad at everyone too. You don't deserve this."

"Thank you. You don't deserve to be treated like it was your fault, either. Best friends again?" She opens her arms, waiting for a hug.

"Of course." I pull the tiny human into my arms.

"So," she starts, "How was the ride here? I saw who you walked in with."

Yes, I still ended up on a mini road trip with Colby. Everything was fine. It actually wasn't awkward at all.

"It was fine."

"Uh huh." She raises her eyebrows and I purse my lips. "I know what you really think is fine." I feel her lightly smack my backside.

"Alexis!" I yell, but she runs off, giggling playfully.

"You two okay again?" Fergal asks, making me jump. I didn't see him behind me.

"Uhm, yeah. She apologized." I look across the hall at Mercy, who's talking to the seamstress.

"Oh, that's good." He looks down, avoiding eye contact with me. "Where'd ya end up last night?"

I want to ask him the same thing, but I would probably come off the wrong way.

"Oh, I just went to spend the night with a friend. Carlos was snoring too loud."

"Could've came on over to my room if you wanted." So, was he with Mercy last night or not?

"I'll keep that in mind for next time, maybe." I spin on my heel and head to where Alexis and I were planning on watching the show.

"I saw ya waltz in with Seth. Any comments on that?" He sounds annoyed.

"What are you, TMZ?" I snap back. I didn't mean for it to come out like that, but really? Why does it concern him?

"Yeah, Finn, what are you? TMZ?" Colby emerges from the hall, mimicking me and throwing an arm around my shoulder...like he always does.

I shrug his arm off and look over my shoulder. Fergal's still just standing in the middle of the hall, looking confused.

---x---

"So, a few of the girls from the main roster invited us to the club. You in?" Lexi slides over next to me.

"Who?"

"Mercy and Pam. There will be some guys there, too. It'll be fun!" It might actually be fun this time. Now that my brother isn't here to stress her out.

"I have to catch a midnight flight."

"What do you mean? Our flight isn't until 11AM. That's enough time to sleep off a slight hangover, right?"

She's right. But I changed my flight. I haven't told anyone that I'm going back to Iowa for a couple days.

"Lexi, I don't think I should go." I stand up, but something falls out of my pocket and on to the floor. She picks it up before I can reach down.

"Oh, let me get t-" I look over to her, and it's the locket that Colby gave me last night. "What's this?"

"Don't open that." I say, just as she opens it.

"Awww! Is that your doggy? Oh my god, you look so young! Wait a minute. Is that..."

I snatch the chain from her hands and walk away, feeling tears start to well up in my eyes. I don't know what has me so emotional. I think I'm still hung up on the fact that I was an idiot and slept with Colby last night.

"Hey, wait. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have looked in there." Lexi catches up to me and stops me in the hallway. "Do you need to talk about it?" I look to make sure no one is around, and break down.

"I'm so stupid!" My body slides down to the floor. Why am I so stupid?

"Kitty, don't cry. You're not stupid."

"I don't even know why I did it." Slips out. Damn it. Now I'll probably have to tell her.

"Did what?"

I tell her what happened last night. How I was vulnerable, even after three years. I still am.

"Don't worry about it. We've all had a one night stand with our ex before. It'll pass."

"It's probably not just a one night stand, though. I'm still in love with him." I cringe, hearing those words come out of my mouth. But it's true. "I'm going back home with him tonight."

I hear a laugh come from behind us, followed by a woman's voice. "You might actually be pretty stupid then, huh?"

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