Trust

✍ C'est La Vie (Part 1)

C'est la vie.

That's life.

I'd never studied French before, but I knew enough to understand what those three words meant.

People use that phrase ironically. C'est la vie. That's life. Deal with it. Life ain't fair so quit whining; just grit your teeth, go through it and it'll all turn out alright- that is, if life doesn't decide that it wants to screw you over.

I'd been skeptical about love from the beginning. I guess after seeing what happened to my parents and having to endure their bitter divorce, I didn't want to let myself believe that it even existed.

And then he came along and everything changed.

I tried to ignore it- to pretend that it didn't exist. I hadn't wanted to fall in love because I knew how dangerous it is, but what I knew and wanted didn't matter in the end. He'd found a way through my defences, and now it felt like a piece of me was missing- a piece that I'd given away and I could never take back. 

I needed to see Chase; I couldn't explain why. I just needed to.

"Hey Randy."

He jerked in surprise as his nervous gaze met mine. "Pia."

"How're you?"

The bob in his throat tightened and rose up before falling back down. "Fine. How about you?"

My smile almost slipped. Almost.

"I'm not so good," I admitted. Jared walked past, his eyes purposely averted from my direction. His father had made him come to my mother's funeral. I swallowed, grabbing a handful of my skirt under the table. "I want to see Chase. Do you know where he is?"

Randy's cheeks turned pale. "I don't know."

"What do you mean?" My throat constricted, my ribs pressing against my lungs. 

"I mean, he hasn't been to school in three weeks and I haven't contacted him, much less seen him in that long." Randy ducked his head. His shoulders slouched, his bottom lip quivering. 

I felt sick. The smile on my face faded almost completely for a moment before I forced it back up. "That's okay." I couldn't hide the slight tremor in my voice though. "I'll see you round."

Randy nodded. "Yeah."

*****

That afternoon, I went back home.

But it wasn't really home. 

It was my dad's house. The new one he'd bought after him and mum had called it quits on their marriage.

I didn't have any memories in this house- good or bad. All of them had been in the other one- the one where I'd grown up in, the one I loved. This house... this house felt pretentious and for that fact alone, i hated it.

Dad and I got into a fight just before dinner and I walked out. Being absent for so many years of his children's lives meant that he was feeling lost in his new full-time role as 'dad'. In the past, he'd just been a 'week-end dad' so having to cope with two difficult teenagers after the death of their mum was probably his worst nightmare.

I didn't know where to go so I'd ended up going back to my old house and that was when I saw him.

I stopped walking immediately. My heart was beating so fast and loudly that I was sure that even from two blocks away, he would have been able to hear it. 

His eyes met mine in the next instant and he stood up.

I didn't move as he hopped off the porch railing and walked over to me. 

"Poppy Sullivan," he said.

I froze. The words were on the tip of my tongue but my lips wouldn't move to form them.

"I guess we're long overdue for a talk." A corner of Chase's lips tipped upwards in a half-smile. He looked so handsome with his brown hair all tousled and his grey eyes glinting in the darkening rays of the setting sun that I wondered if I'd just been dreaming about him all this time.

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair back behind my ear, the slight graze of his fingers against the skin of my cheek sending sparks down my spine.

"I've missed you." His voice was low, hoarse with suppressed emotions. When I dared to look up into those mesmerising eyes, they glittered back at me.

I knew in that instant that I was caught- that no matter what happened, I loved him too much to ever pull away without getting hurt.

And that was what scared the hell out of me.

*****

We went to Pat's Fish & Chip Shack down on Malone Road. It was a bustling place, but we found a quiet booth and ordered a couple of drinks. The waitress flirted outrageously with Chase, but he ignored her, his sober attention completely focused on me.

"You were at my mum's funeral," I blurted out.

Chase nodded slowly. "Yeah." He looked tentative as he slid his hand across the table and over mine. I felt my body tremble a little at the contact, and almost automatically, I flipped my hand over so that our fingers could intertwine. A look of relief crossed his features as he squeezed gently.

"Where have you been?" I asked softly.

Chase's eyes met mine full-on, their intensity almost searing me to the very soul. "Staying with Eric's girlfriend." Before I could interrupt, he went on. "She needed help coping with the news of Eric's arrest and sentencing."

My stomach somersaulted. "I am so sorry."

Chase's face had turned ashen. "Yeah." His fingers tightened around mine so tightly that they began to cut off the blood flow. "I-I don't know what to do, Pops. I'm so lost." He bent his head slightly, but I could still see it: the layers being stripped away and the look of fear and vulnerability that emanated from those grey pools. 

That was when I kissed him. When he didn't respond immediately, I could feel a rising tide of panic threatening to overwhelm me, but in the next second, his arms had circled my waist and pulled me to him as he kissed me back. I could taste the apprehension and uncertainty on his lips, and almost hear the worry in his fevered breaths, but I kissed him all the more. There were no words that I could find to get him to know how much he meant to me. Words alone were simply not enough. I wanted to convey all my emotions to him- to let him know that he mattered to me, that at this moment, he was all that mattered to me.

We were probably at it for a few minutes- maybe forever- before the waitress came back and with a startled gasp, dropped the two drinks she'd been holding,  sending shards of glass scattering across the floor. That was when we pulled away, hearts pounding and lips unmistakably swollen. A mischievous twinkle entered into Chase's eyes as he paid for the drinks we never got to have and pulled me outside into the cold.

"C'mon," he whispered, his hot breath sending goose bumps rising all over my skin. "I have a better place in mind we can go to."

*****

Hai guys :)

So sorry for the wait on this chapter! I hope you guys like it :) Don't forget to vote and all that jazz. Dedicated to the most amazing @HannaAlley for her lovely comment in the last chapter. It seriously made my day <3

xx

Percy