Celestial Heartbeat (Book One) COMPLETE

Chapter Twenty One - Escape

It took a good half hour to calm Vi down. She was a mess. But a mess I knew all to well. Alex certainly wasn't her first break up.

She was nibbling carefully on the edge of a potato chip like it was her final ration that had to last her for the rest of the week, despite there being a whole unopened packet next to her. A trail of tears were dried against her cheeks and her eyes were wide, focused on the TV screen.

I did my best to keep my eyes off the screen.

I'd tried convincing Vi to watch something else but she had insisted on watching the same film that me and Ren had watched the other day. I didn't want to think about him right now. This was made nearly impossible considering he'd left his jacket here which was now sitting on the back of the sofa.
I could smell him. The smell of the pine trees and dirt from the forest.

I was drawn away from my thoughts when the silence finally broke.

"He said he was leaving." Vi said quietly, her eyes still glued to the flashing of the screen. It was the first thing she'd said for the last twenty minutes and I was a little caught off guard. "He said it wouldn't be fair for us to be together."

"When's he leaving?" I asked but I already knew the answer.

"A couple months’ time."

My heart fell. That matched up time that Ren had said he was going to die. The lie. Now I was just confused by what it meant. But if Alex had mentioned it too... then surely it had to mean something.

"Come to think of it… Ren said something about that too."

"He did?" Her eyes flitted sideways to look at me. Her voice almost hopeful.

"Yeah. I don't know why they're leaving though."

Vi sighed. She finished off her chip with a final bite and pulled her legs into her chest.

"I saw him on the way out." She told me. "I thought you hated him."

"So did I." I sighed, but we both gave way to a small laugh.

"But I called it, didn't I? The way you always looked at him."

I pushed her arm playfully.

"That was stupid." I argued. "Besides, I might still hate him."

My mind wasn't made up just at this second.

Vi considered this for a second.

"Did you really kiss him?" she asked.

I hesitated, trying to figure out what to be say. Alex must of spilled the beans on that one. There was now a huge gap in between the life that Vi thought I was living and the life I was really living. It was painful.

Usually Vi would have known what had happened with Ren before I even had a chance to process it myself. Having her hear it second hand felt so wrong. But… this was something I could fix. It didn’t matter if she knew about me and Ren, right?

I sighed.

"Yeah. I kissed him.” Vi let out a gasp before I could finish “A few.. Dozen times.., maybe."

"Evie, you horn dog!" Vi’s mouth slid into an impish smile.

"I'm sorry." I laughed, not sure of what else I could say.

"He better be nice to you, you know."

"He is."

We both turned back to the TV screen. The silence returned between us, but it didn’t feel as static and hollow as it had earlier. It was natural and peaceful.