That Boy

Chapter 14

After Lachie leaves, I find myself alone and bored. There isn't much that I can do to help Xavier at the moment, I'm not in the mood to make amends with my brothers and I've applied for various jobs near me. I think back to my bag that has borderline exploded in the corner of Xavier's room and decide that I am going to sort that mess out.

I move all of Xavier's shirts that are hanging in his closet to one side before hanging a few items of my clothing up and folding the rest of my clothes into piles along the wall. I feel weird to move all of my clothes into his space. Not that he would care. In fact, he would probably be happy that I am 'making myself at home'. Not that I have much of a choice of homes. I've never really felt 100% comfortable in my apartment in London. It was nice but I always felt like it was missing something. Sighing, I trudge back downstairs and pull out my notebook from my bag and sit down on the couch to write. I prefer to do my writing the old fashion way, on paper rather than a laptop. It's more rewarding, when you can flick through the pages that you have already written.

A banging at the door snaps me out of my writing. My hand cramps and I massage it as I walk to the door. Scarlet is standing there, her nose and cheeks a bright pink. She frowns when she sees me.
"Did I get the wrong time?" She asks and I look down at myself. I am still wearing pyjama bottoms with pink bows on them and a grey hoodie.

"I uh.. lost track of time." I stumble over my words, embarrassment creeping up my cheeks. Why am I embarrassed? Lachie saw me like this and I didn't care. Scarlet laughs and I look back at her smiling sheepishly. A warm familiarity blooms in my chest and I suddenly wish that I never left all those years ago. "I'm sorry." The apology blurts from my lips and she frowns at me.

"What for?" 

"For everything. For leaving, for not keeping in touch. For blaming everyone here for my problems. I was just so hurt and mad that it blinded me. Please forgive me." Tears begin to blur my vision as I look at my best friend. She takes a few steps towards me before throwing her arms over my shoulders.

"I forgive you." Her three words cause the tears to topple from my eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Addie." My nickname tugs at my heart.

"I need your help with something." Scarlet leans back to look at my face.

"Anything."

=====

My fingers twitch and my legs bounce in the car ride. Scarlet looks over at me and smiles.

"He will be happy to see you." I nod my head in response as Scarlet turns her attention back to the road. A soft smile plays on my lips as I run my fingers over the leather of her car. So many memories were made in her small red car.

"I still remember when you got this car. The first time you drove me to school." Scarlet's soft laugh fills the car.

"Yes! Because your brothers left without you. But then you met Lachie and he started to drive you when you were too slow." She says the last part in a playful grumpy tone. "I was so jealous." I snort but my mood fizzles out when Scarlet pulls into a driveway.

"So this is the new place?" I ask as she turns the ignition off.

"Yep, Mom and Dad wanted us to 'leave the nest' but Sam didn't want to separate just yet." I cringe, thinking about their twin bond. The bond that I broke between me and Conner. That was all my fault. "Hey!" Scarlet punches me in the arm and I jolt, looking at her in surprise.

"What was that for?" I exclaim, rubbing my arm.

"Stop thinking about that. There was a lot of stuff going on when you left. It was the right choice for you at the time and now you are back to make things better." Her smile reassures me and I focus on the task ahead of me.

I am going to make things better between myself and my old friends. With Scarlet's help, I will be able to track down everyone from my old life and make amends. I can do this. It will help me to move forward in my new life. I can do this.

We walk up the stairs to the front door to which Scarlet slides a key into the lock and swings it open. The house is small but modest. You can tell that Scarlet has added her own little touch to the house, with white wallpaper, spotted with cherries.

"Don't you just love the wallpaper! When I saw it I knew I had to get it!" She is smiling ridiculously.

"It is very you." I reply, fighting the urge to run away. It's okay. It's Sam. He didn't do anything to you. He won't hurt you.

"SAM!" Scarlet hollers causing me to jump.

"What?" His voice comes from further down the hallway, his voice causes my heart to constrict. He was my closest guy friend. When I would go over to their house when we were younger, their parents used to joke that I was Sam's friend more than Scarlet's, which Scarlet did not take too well.

"There is someone here to see you. Hurry up." The sound of footsteps and then he came into view. My mouth drops at the sight of him. He has grown significantly and his black hair is gelled down and to the side when it used to be untamed. He stops when he sees me, his eyes widening.

"Ads?" I force a smile onto my face. He doesn't look overly thrilled to see me. 

"Hey Sam." He starts walking again and with his now long legs, he doesn't take long to reach me. He throws his arms over my shoulders and pulls me to his chest. Don't cry don't cry. I repeat to myself as I move to hug him back. "I missed you." I mumble and I hear a sniffle behind me. I twist around to see Scarlet holding back tears. I hold my hand out to her, inviting her to the hug.

We stand like that for a few minutes before I pull away.

"When did you get back?" Sam asks as we walk into a lounge area. Scarlet disappears into the kitchen to 'get refreshments'.

"A couple days ago." A flash of hurt rushes through his green eyes so I add, "I've just been sorting some things out."

"Yeah yeah of course." He sits down on a black couch and I sit on a chair opposite him.
"How are you? Who else have you seen? Where are you staying?" The questions tumble from his lips and I bite back a smile.

"I'm ok, it's a bit hard seeing everyone again after so long. I've seen my brothers, Scarlet and Lachie, now you. And I'm staying at my boyfriends." I answer his questions and he nods his head.

"Boyfriend, the one from your instagram?" I laugh and nod and Sam smiles back. Scarlet reappears with two mugs. She hands one to me and then sits down next to Sam. "Where is mine?" He whines.

"Go get one yourself, I'm not your mom." I watch the two of them with a smile. Words can not describe how much I miss for my old life. I love my life now, but a large part of me wonders what it would be like if I had of stayed.

"There is a party tomorrow night at Mason's. You should come." Sam says suddenly and I shuffle in my seat.

"I don't know." I think about all the things that could go wrong.

"Addie, you said that you wanted to see everyone! This is literally the best opportunity to do that!" Scarlet exclaims, clapping her hands together in emphasise.

Oh what the hell, "Okay."

Sorry this is a bit of a short and 'meh' chapter. I needed a filler chapter and I promise the next one will be more interesting! 

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