Page 19 of Bleeding Hearts (Pine Valley College #3)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“ I could fucking kill you!” I shout at Alek as we walk back into the house.

She’s nowhere in sight. Lally is just . . . gone.

“Me?” he yells. “What did I do? I was trying to help?—”

There’s a crash, and we turn as Skylar comes back into the room, panting. “Don’t worry, I hid all the knives and sharp objects. I wasn’t sure about the toothpicks, but I hid them too.”

We stare at him, beyond frustrated. “Why?” Alek asks.

“She said she was going to kill you,” he replies like it’s obvious.

“It was a figure of speech,” I snap, brushing my tears away.

My chest is tight with anger and panic. The look in her eyes . . . it haunts me.

He scoffs as he heads back to Bones, who’s holding a crying Evan. “Yeah, well, you never know in this family. We can’t be taking risks like that. I hid your blender too. I also hid your keys. Good luck finding them.”

Shaking my head, I turn back to Alek. “Can’t you see how much she’s suffering? It sounded like you were accusing her of something. Did you really think that shit would help?”

“Please, stop,” Evan cries.

“I wasn’t trying to!” Alek yells.

“Well, it sounded like it!” I shout.

I am my father’s daughter, and I have the same fury he did.

“Stop!” Evan roars, and we turn to him. “This isn’t about us or your anger, Alice, no offense.

This is about her. We need to find her and make this right.

I didn’t know she was struggling so much.

If what she said is true, then she needs help.

I can’t lose her. She’s still my family, regardless of what she thinks, and she’s my best friend.

I won’t lose another one. We need to put our shit aside.

This is about her, not us. She deserves better.

She deserves people who are there for her when she needs them.

She needs to know we are here for her no matter what.

This is going to change right now.” He looks at me.

“Tell me everything. I can’t help save her if I don’t know.

No more half-truths or lies. I know you care for her?—”

“I love her,” I correct him. “I love her.”

He smiles. “If you love her, then tell us so we can help. She’s my family too, Alice, and I don’t want anything happening to her. I fucked up, I was a bad friend, and I’m going to make it right, but I need your help. Will you help me save her?”

“We’re with you,” Bones and Sky say. “She’s our family too.”

Alek looks at me. “No matter what you think, Alice, I wasn’t trying to accuse her of anything. Lally is like a sister to me. You love her, so I love her. I just want to help, but I always put my foot in my mouth. Let me make this right.”

My anger dissipates as I stare at their saddened, worried faces. They didn’t go about it the right way, but I can’t deny that they love Lally.

That’s when a plan forms.

“So how did it go?” I ask around a mouthful of pasta, my eyes locked on Bones across the picnic table.

He groans. “Well, I’d say bad. She pressed a pencil to my neck and demanded to know why I was following her around art supply stores. When I told her I was interested in drawing, she made me sit and show her. She knows something is wrong.”

That makes me scoff. “Of course she does. She isn’t dumb, but it doesn’t matter. We just need to keep showing up like we planned, in turns, everywhere she goes. We’ll never let her feel alone again. We’ll show her we are here, even when she hates it.”

“I hope your plan works because apparently, she signed me up for a drawing class since I’m ‘so into drawing,’” he mocks with finger quotes, making me chuckle.

It took us a while to go over everyone’s schedules yesterday and work out when they could split their time, never mind figure out where she is, but we have to try something. Bones was first, and I’m guessing he regrets that decision.

I need to get into her room tonight and somehow make her let me sleep over, which should be fun since she told me she loved me and that she never wanted to see me again.

She loves me.

It’s all I cling to. She loves me, even if she’s trying to push me away.

She loves me . . .

It’s what keeps me going, knowing she feels the same way I feel about her.

If our positions were reversed, she wouldn’t back down, so I can’t either.

I want her to realize I’m not going anywhere.

She’s stuck with me. From the first moment she smiled at me, she sealed the deal.

I’ll also be with her at Risk, but I can’t let the others know about that, only Bones, which makes this harder, but we’ll figure it out.

Something catches my gaze, and my eyes narrow before I recognize who is creeping through the bushes, the foliage moving with his weight.

“I’m sure Skylar will appreciate your drawing no matter how terrible it is.” I glance back to Bones. “Speaking of, do you know why Skylar is hiding behind you in a bush with a terrible hat and sunglasses on?”

Bones doesn’t even look as he takes a bite of his lunch and chews. I wait with an arched brow. “Oh, he’s probably stalking me,” he finally says.

“Uh-oh, why? He has binoculars. I didn’t even know people could still buy those,” I whisper.

His little smirk is downright evil, but the look in his eyes is totally gaga.

Fuck people in love. “He pissed me off this morning, so I told him some cute guy kept eating dinner with me. It’s good to keep him on his toes, you know what I mean?

I’m a catch, so he needs to put in the work. ” He shrugs.

I just stare at him for a moment before I blink hard. “Uh-huh, yup, totally. Do we do anything about him? In the bushes, I mean?”

“Nah, we’ll figure it out later, don’t worry. Besides, I didn’t lie completely. I’m having lunch with someone who’s cute, just not a boy.” He winks.

“I heard that! Nobody is as cute as me!” Skylar yells. “Hi, Alice! I like your dress.”

“Thanks, Skylar,” I call in response.

“Don’t encourage him,” Bones mutters, flipping him off over his shoulder. “He didn’t tell me I looked nice today,” he grumbles, “but he can tell you.”

Propping my chin on my hand, I stare at him. “Wow, you two really are made for each other. You’re totally batshit, you know that, right?”

He points his fork at me with a narrowed gaze. “Do not take his side, Alice. He might have grown up on the streets, but I know how to get away with murder.”

“You should remind him of that,” I tease.

“I did. It made him horny,” he scoffs.

“I can’t wait to hear your vows,” I retort.

“Me too. My angel will look so good in a suit with my name!”

“Who said I’m taking your name, Warren?” Bones retorts. “Now go home. I mean it, or we won’t do that thing with the caramel.”

“Shit!” Sky falls from the bushes and hurries over, dropping a kiss on Bones’s cheek. “Okay, bye, love you.” He races toward the parking lot. When I glance back, Bones smiles before he focuses on me.

“So it’s your turn tonight, right?” he asks as I wonder if I want to know what caramel has to do with anything. Probably not.

“Insane, we are all insane,” I admit.

I lift my hand and knock. I’ve been to her room a few times. When we were . . . close, I was always here, and after, I dragged her back drunk more than once, but I’m nervous tonight. Straightening my spine, I remind myself to take whatever she throws at me and be bold like her.

She doesn’t answer, so I bang my fist against the wood. I can hear her in there. I slam my hand into the door repeatedly and even add my foot for good measure. Finally, it’s ripped open, and Lally glares as she leans against the doorframe. “What the fuck—Alice?”

“Hey,” I say with a wide smile as her glare fades, but she doesn’t let me in or say anything else, and there’s this weird tension between us.

After her confession, then the intervention, there is so much left unsaid between us, and I think we are feeling that.

I refuse to let this be the end of us, though, and more importantly, I want to give her a chance to heal and find happiness again, even if that’s not with me.

She needs a friend right now, and I can be that for her.

“Not going to let me in?” I tease, cutting the tension.

“No.” She frowns. “Why are you here?”

“For a sleepover.” I shrug casually, like my heart isn’t pounding out of my chest.

“No.” She starts to shut the door, so I wedge my foot in it, watching as her mouth drops open and her eyes widen.

I barge past her, drop my bag to the floor, and kick some cans aside with a twist of my lips. “Don’t worry, I’ll sleep here.”

“Like hell you will!” she yells, the door still open. “Get out, Alice.”

“Or what?” I challenge, my hands on my hips as I face her. Her mouth opens and closes wordlessly. I grin. “Close the door, it’s cold. Do you want pizza or Chinese for dinner?” I look around. “Or maybe something with vegetables, considering what was in all these take-out containers.”

Her cheeks heat, but she folds her arms. “Get out, Alice. I mean it.”

“No.” Kicking aside more cans, I roll my blanket out as she shuts the door and walks over to me.

“You’re telling me you’ll sleep here, on the floor, surrounded by trash? Not a chance. Go home, princess,” she sneers. “I don’t want you here. What don’t you understand about that? Are you really so desperate for a scrap of attention that you would stoop this low?”

Her barb digs in just like she knew it would, but I let it wash over me. Lally is like a feral dog that has been cornered. She’s scared and lashing out due to fear. I accept her anger, even crave it a little. It’s better than silence. Silence means she’s given up and I can’t reach her.

“Yes,” I answer with a smile. “Now what do you want to eat?”

“Unbelievable.” She heads over to her bed and throws herself down on the twisted sheets. “Fine, do whatever you want.”

“I was going to anyway.” I set up my bed and look around, shaking my head. Walking over to her desk, I sit in her swivel chair and start to clean up.

“You are already pissing me off. Leave it,” she snarls.

“Why don’t you go take a shower, and I’ll order us some food? We can watch a movie. It will be like old times.”

The look she gives me withers me, but I force my smile to stay in place, and with a glare, she hightails it to the bathroom.

I slump and turn back to her desk. “It’s going to be a long night,” I murmur as I pick up her mess.

I’m straightening her books when something falls out of one of the pages and flutters to her desk.

It’s a picture of her and Tommy.

Their cheeks are pressed together, and their smiles are so wide it had to hurt.

She looks happy.

Sliding it back into place before she catches me, I push her chair back and begin to pick up her room, dropping most of it in the overflowing garbage can.

I know if I do too much, she’ll kick me out, so I’ll just have to put up with the mess.

I make her bed for her and turn on her neon and fairy lights, changing the batteries in both since they are dead.

When I go to fluff her pillows, something hard under them makes me freeze, and I debate looking. What if it’s her vibrator or something? Oh well. I peek under it and pull out a rectangular box. Opening the worn lid, I fall on my ass on her bed when I see what’s inside.

It’s a pressed daisy.

My fingers caress the paper-thin petals. It can’t be, can it?

It can’t be the flower I gave her months ago. We were walking through the park while I was looking for inspiration when I randomly picked it and put it behind her ear. She looked so pretty, I couldn’t resist. I felt shy doing it, yet she looked at me like I was everything.

It can’t be.

It looks the same and is about the right age, though, so what does it mean? Does it mean she misses me as much as I miss her? I close the box carefully and put it back, and when I hear her moving around, I hurry to my blanket on the floor as the door opens, steam wafting out.

She comes back looking shy, wearing nothing but some shorts and a crop top that says, “Big heart, bigger ass.”

“What?” she mutters before her eyes land on her desk and bed. “Alice!”

“Just a little.” I grin. “What movie do you want to watch?”

“You seriously won’t leave?” She heaves out a deep sigh, looking exhausted all of a sudden.

“Not a chance.” Getting up, I approach her and wipe away the water dripping down her face before I can second-guess myself. “I’m not going anywhere, Lally. When will you realize that?”

“Why?” she whispers, looking far too young and vulnerable. I hate seeing her like this.

“That’s what . . . friends do,” I murmur as I take her hand, “even when you don’t want us to. I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me.”

“Lucky me,” she mutters, but the slight smile on her lips betrays her sarcasm.

My heart soars with hope.

Maybe there is still a place and time for us.