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Juliette

I lied to her. I wasn't going to live with my brother. He was actually still living with my aunt.

I was going back to the place where I’d felt most comfortable.

Well, not the same place , but the same people .

“Jules is back!" Harmony screamed as I entered, holding champagne in both hands.

I'd actually been here for a few days already, but this was the first time everyone was back together again. Moving back in with them wasn’t ideal since they had only rented a three-bedroom house, so I was stuck on the couch. But honestly, as long as I was with them, I felt a little better.

I didn’t know if I could handle being alone at the moment.

Erin and April were already sitting at the small circular table they had stolen from the landlady’s house. They had a glass of champagne and small pastries sitting in front of them.

I couldn’t help but smile as I took the champagne from Harmony.

“So you got fired from the nanny job,” Erin said as she picked apart a croissant.

“I quit.” I raised my glass in a small toast before taking a sip of my champagne.

“Wasn't it like some rich family though?” Harmony asked and motioned for me to sit down at the empty seat at the table. She stood with her back against the small kitchen counter.

“She was pretty rich. She was taking care of her niece, unfortunately. Her parents passed away in a tragic accident.”

Damn it. My voice cracked toward the end. I hoped it went unnoticed, but as soon as I looked up at my ex-now-current roommates, they all had the same look on their faces.

“Why'd you quit?” Erin asked, never one to ignore the elephant in the room.

“I… uh… thought it would just be better to move on,” I said, chewing on a piece of the overly sweet donut.

Silence.

“Oh my God! You fucked your boss!”

“Harmony! I did not!” I sputtered, heat automatically rushing to my face.

April let out a small squeak, and Erin let out a mock scandalized gasp.

“Oh, you totally did.” Erin’s grin made her look like a feral cat. “Did it get too real? Did your employer find out? No, let me guess—she turned out to be awful?”

I couldn't find the words, so I slammed my mouth shut. I didn't want to think about Lux. Especially in that way. If I was being honest, I wanted to try and forget her as much as possible.

It had only been a few days, but I missed her more than I cared to admit to myself. And every night I lay on that couch, I looked up at the ceiling and thought of how much of a mistake I’d made to leave her and Bella.

I wondered if Bella was being well taken care of. If Lux was overwhelmed again. If both of them were getting their emotional needs met.

And mostly, I just wanted to be with them.

My eyes stung with unshed tears.

“Guys,” April whispered.

“Was she a hot MILF?” Harmony asked in a conspiratorial tone.

“I don't think she's technically a MILF,” Erin muttered.

“I mean, she has a kid now, so it counts?—”

“Guys, stop! Look at her!”

All eyes were on me, and they watched as I quickly broke down in front of them.

I couldn't hold in my sobs anymore.

“Oh shit. Oh no. Juliette, I'm so sorry.”

Harmony was by my side in a second, wrapping her arms around me. I took her hug, but it wasn't the hug that I wanted. I wanted to be back in Lux’s arms. No other arms would do.

April came up to my other side and wrapped her arms around me while Erin grabbed my hand, squeezing it.

I let everything out. All the pain from reliving my parents’ murder. The hurt from leaving Lux and Bella. The regret for not being able to tell Lux that I loved her too.

They might have just been roommates once upon a time, but they were the closest thing to friends I had.

“I’m sorry,” I said through my sobs. When I tried to pull away, Harmony and April just held me tighter.

“Nothing to be sorry about.” Harmony placed a chaste kiss on top of my head. “I shouldn’t have said that stuff. You know sometimes I don’t really think before I speak.”

“Obviously,” Erin muttered.

“You’re not any better,” April spat, though her voice didn’t hold much weight.

When they finally let me pull back, I took a deep breath.

“I may or may not have fallen in love with her,” I whispered. “And it got complicated, so I… I just need some time, I guess.”

All eyes were on me, and after a moment, I felt uncomfortable with all the stares.

“I think I know what we need,” Harmony said, her eyes narrowing on me.

“More booze?” Erin asked.

“A night on the town!”

I couldn’t protest as I was dragged out of my seat and forced into Harmony’s room.

It seemed like a bad idea, but maybe it would be the perfect way to forget.

* * *

I was wrong.

I took a sip of my margarita as I looked at the girls, all of them mingling with their preferred partner of the night. Harmony was dancing with hers while Erin and April were sitting at a booth, drinking with two suitors on each side.

I was the only one still lingering by the bar.

The club was classier than the ones I’d been to before. Dimly lit, music not too loud, small jade-colored lamps on every table. It was also the most expensive I’d been to in a minute.

I had thought it’d be good for me to forget, but every time I looked at how happy and inebriated people were, I kept thinking of Lux’s mother.

I motioned for the bartender and paid all our tabs.

As I was signing the receipt, she looked over at my barely touched margarita.

“Can I get you something else instead?” she asked. “Hate for you to pay for something you hated.”

I gave her a smile. “It was delicious, actually. I’m just…”

“Ready to go home?”

I nodded. “Something like that.”

I handed the receipt back to her. As I turned back to let the girls know I was going to leave, a figure was there, blocking my sight.

Lux’s mother. How the fuck did she find me here?

“Let’s talk, shall we?”

She left without waiting to see if I was going to follow her. Because she knew I would.

I should text Lux and tell her, but something held me back.

Maybe I can get a confession.

I still hadn’t heard from Lux or Laura, so maybe this was my chance to get something out of her. I could guess what she wanted from me. So I’d let her think she could get it.

On one condition.

I followed her out without a look back at my roommates.

She led me out of the bar and to a small bridge just across from it that overlooked the river. It was used mostly for pedestrians with a two-way lane for cars. Not many people were crowding it, so it gave us enough privacy to talk.

She leaned against the railing, looking down at the river. The sound of it lapping against the bridge and rocks below hit my ears.

“I’m glad you got out of there,” she said. “My daughter ruins everything she touches.”

Unable to help myself, I snapped back, “Must get that from you.”

“Such confidence for a nanny.”

“Not one anymore. What do you want?”

She turned to me.

“I want you to go and convince Lux to let me see my granddaughter.”

I let out a laugh. “Are you serious? What finally made you realize your scheming wouldn’t work?”

“It’s not scheming if I’m trying to save my grandchild from her ,” she spat.

The small bit of alcohol that had been dormant in my system until then decided to show itself. Feeling a burst of confidence, I leaned closer, dropping my voice to a whisper.

“Bella is better off with Lux than a murderer,” I hissed.

She stared at me for a second, her face giving nothing away.

“Lux is spinning tales again, isn’t she?”

Anger flared through me.

“You can lie to the police, you can lie to your kids, but you cannot lie to me,” I said, my voice raising of its own accord.

Her nostrils flared then, the only sign I got that she was angry.

“Who do you think you are?”

“The daughter of the people you murdered while you were driving drunk.”

Her eyes widened for just a fraction, and then she was back to looking out at the river, her hand gripping the railing so tight her knuckles turned white.

“And here I thought you knew all along,” I said, taking a step back. She refused to look at me again, confirming what I said. “Lux is coming after you. If you know what’s good for you, drop any attempt at a custody battle. It won’t look good for you.”

I turned away, grabbing my phone from my pocket to call Lux.

Seeing her mother in person and giving her a piece of my mind had given me a strength I didn’t know I had. I was going to get that bitch, and nothing she could do would stop me from being with the love of my lif?—

Pain erupted from the back of my head. My phone clattered to the sidewalk. Ringing exploded in my head. Black spots flashed across my vision.

What?

I stumbled against the railing, the only flimsy thing keeping me from falling into the cold depths below.

I forced myself to take deep breaths through the pain, but it was too much. I tried to scream, but my entire body was uncooperative. Useless. My eyes shot to the ground. There was a rock lying there. Blood on it. I could just barely make it out with my fucked-up vision.

There was no one else around besides her mother. No one to help me. No one to save me.

My body felt like it was getting weaker by the second. My stomach lurched.

Move. Move NOW.

I tried to put one foot in front of the other, but my ankles buckled.

Hands gripped me, forcing me up. Hands with cool rings that stung against my heated skin.

No. I hung onto the railing for dear life, but she was stronger than me. I was forced over, my eyes meeting the black water below.

Stop, please. Someone save me ? —

And then I was falling. I had no control over it. The last of my strength had been used to hold onto the railing, and she had pried my hands from it.

I’m going to die.

Even in my stupor, I knew there was no way I would survive a swim in the river.

I’m going to drown.

No. Not here. Not now. Not when I still haven’t told her.

My arms flayed. I grabbed onto something rough. My nails dug into it, searing pain stemming from it. But I didn’t let go.

I looked up to see her mother in the light. She looked crazed, wide-eyed and breathing heavily. For the first time I saw her perfect mask crack.

Her hair was a mess, her shirt rumpled by the effort it took to push me off the bridge.

“Just fucking die, you useless?—”

I let out a cry as her heel crushed my fingers. I swung my other arm up, gripping the lip just as my other hand dropped.

She moved quickly to stomp on the other one.

“I’m not going to jail for this!”

No, she won’t.

I realized in that moment she would probably continue to get away with whatever she wanted, regardless of how bad the crime was. People like her always did.

She killed my parents, and now I was next.

I wish I had told Lux I love her.

My hand slipped from the ledge, and time slowed. I was falling again. And this time, there would be no stopping it.

She looked down at me with a vindictive gaze. She knew she had won. I closed my eyes, ready for the impact of hitting the water, but it never came.

Warm fingers grabbed my wrist and yanked, pulling me against the hard rock of the bridge. I gasped and looked up to see that someone’s arm had slipped through the bottom railing just in time to grab my wrist.

The person was lying on the ground, their shoulder hanging off the bridge as they held onto me. When their other hand came to grab me, I saw the beautiful brown eyes that changed my life.

The ones I fell in love with all those nights ago. The ones I saw when I went to sleep at night.

“Hang on, Juliette!”

“Lux!” I cried, my voice hoarse.

She came.

She gritted her teeth and began to pull me up. But she wasn’t alone. People had seen or heard me, and they were there too. Bystanders were helping pull me up.

Saving me.

A silly thought passed my mind as I was pulled back onto the bridge.

I never had a large group of people care for me before.

They swarmed me, Lux at the forefront. I made out my ex-roommates toward the back of the crowd rushing to get to me.

“An ambulance is on the way!”

“Yes, we’re right on the pedestrian bridge?—”

“I saw her get pushed over!”

Lux’s hands were on my face, holding me close. They were shaking. Tears filled her eyes.

“Oh, thank God,” she said. “I got here in time. I made it, Juliette.”

I gave her a weak smile. My head was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to rip my skull in two.

“You saved me,” I forced out and fell into her chest. Her hands left my face, and I caught sight of how bloodied they were as they retreated. But I couldn’t care. Not when she was here.

“Juliette?”

My vision blackened. I looked up at Lux, her face barely visible.

“I need to tell you something.”

“Later,” she said, her voice hitched. She looked around at what I assumed was the crowd, but I couldn’t see them anymore. “When’s the ambulance coming?”

“Lux,” I forced out, calling her attention back to me. “I love you too. I’m sorry I couldn’t say it earlier.”

“Stop saying that,” she said. “I don’t want to hear you say sorry ever again.”

“But I need to say it.” My eyelids fluttered closed. “I love you.”

“Juliette? Stay with me!”

I could vaguely feel her hands on me. But everything was getting colder.

“I love you ,” I forced out, just as her muffled voice sounded again.

“I… love… you .”