35 CHAPTER 35

OPHELIA'S POV

No matter which song I put on my phone, Damon's words replayed in my head.

"There are consequences for your actions."

Even though he left after I told him to, he had managed to get into my head. Damn you, Damon.

Thinking about it, the reason I'd actually gotten this mad, was because I knew.

I knew that if our relationship goes downhill, Xavier and I would be back to step one.

Xavier may have gotten his mind straight and decided to give this life and me a shot, but I was sure, none of it was stable.

And making myself believe otherwise wasn't something I wasn't interested in. At least, not right now.

I had to face the truth no matter how bitter it got. Xavier's thoughts were a mess. His head was the epitome of chaos and I knew if anything bad were to happen in our relationship, everything was going to sink.

I shook my head and splashed cold water on my face. The harsh reality came crashing down on me along with all my hopes.

There was no guarantee Xavier was going to go on, even if our relationship did.

"Fuck you, Damon!"

I paused NF's music and hopped into my bed. My laptop was under the bunch of clothes I'd tried on today morning and didn't feel confident. I kept aside all the clothes after folding them and grabbed my laptop.

I tried browsing 'Nicole Diego', once again. If her husband was out of the picture, I had to find her new work address or some other link to her. After scrolling through at least a hundred irrelevant results, I stopped at a post that said 'Finally moved into our new home. Wish us luck y'all!!' with a few emojis.

I clicked that link and what I saw proved my suspicions right. It was her. She stood in an apartment next to a guy that looked intimidating.

His arms covered with ink and his rock hard chest against Nicole's arms. His jaw was clenched but I could see a drop of love in his eyes. It was just a drop that would fall and disappear and people wouldn't even know about its existence. But it was there. His lips pursued into a combination of a smirk and a smile. His hair combed back perfectly with gel. His green eyes looked at Nicole rather than the camera.

Was this her husband?

They didn't look like friends and she did call the new house as theirs and not hers.

I heard a knock on my door and quickly changed tabs. I didn't want my already disappointed family to think I was a stalker.

"Come in!"

It was probably my dad. Luna never knocks. My mum never comes.

"Hey honey, I hadn't seen you in a few days. How are you?"

These were his regular 'check-ups' to make up for the lack of interaction between my mum and me.

"I'm okay, dad. Thank you for asking."

I looked down at my lap. Some days, I couldn't bear to look at him. We had so much in common. Yet there was nothing that could hold us together.

I looked into the familiar pair of eyes and smiled. Had to make this pretense believable.

After all, wasn't life about making people believe all that we pretended was true?

"That's great, Lia. Is there anything you'd like to talk about or share with me? You know you can talk to me, right?"

I know I can talk to you. I just can't get myself too. Because one day you stopped listening and the next I stopped speaking.

I smiled and nodded. His expression morphed into one of a proud one. He patted my head and then left.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. My dad saw me as his perfect little girl. The one who didn't or shouldn't make any mistakes. I hated that. There was a time, I loved being his little girl but I grew up. And, I hated it now.

I made mistakes.

Mistakes, I know, he'll hate me for.

I just wished he saw me as someone who learned from her mistakes rather than someone perfect. Because I knew I wasn't.

My throat felt dry. My hands covered my face as I rubbed my eyes. I felt tired. My shoulders sagged as I rested my head against the bed. My head hurt as my back ached for a reason I wasn't aware of right now. I wanted to sleep but it was still too early.

If I slept at 7, I was pretty sure I would wake up around 3 in the morning and not be able to sleep again.

I decided to drink some water and go for a run. I hadn't worked out in a while. That would pass some time too.

I put a hoodie on and wore my shoes. I climbed downstairs after tying the laces.

"I'm going for a run, Luna"

I yelled before leaving. I looked around and saw it was mostly empty. A few kids were playing amongst themselves and some people were jogging. The sky had darkened. The calming orange had turned into a romantic pink.

Which would soon blend into a silent black. The wind blew across my face. I tried to hold on to the cold caress of the wind on my cheek. I plugged my earphones in and started running. The delicate caress now turned into harsh slaps.

The wind never failed to make me remember how cruel of a place this world is. Someone who once cared about you could become your greatest enemy in just a matter of a few seconds. The wind shall always remain one of the greatest teachers of all.

As I increased my pace, the image of people around me got blurrier. All I could think about was Xavier. His hopeful yet saddened eyes, his plump lips, his nose against mine, as our tongues danced together today. His racing heartbeats and shaking hands with a firm grip over me.

He was the sky that broke as it thundered. An ocean that would drown itself. A fire he lit and burnt in all alone.

No words could describe the beauty of his sadness.

And no words could lessen that sadness, too

I was so lost in my thoughts, that I didn't even notice I'd ran a little too far from home. I decided to run for a few more minutes before turning back. My feet hurt as cramps began to spread over my body like a wildfire.

Just a few more sweats.

A little faster.

Sprint quicker.

Let it hurt.

Let the pain flow.

Like a river of blood

After all, don't you deserve this, Ophelia?

I tried increasing my speed even more. I liked this pain. It didn't leave any part of my body alone. Everything got consumed in it as I ran even faster. My head began to spin as my vision got completely blurry. I tried to stop but I couldn't.

My head hurt and so did the rest of my body.

I knew I was going to fall.

But what I didn't know, was that it would be in someone's arms.