Chase's POV It seems like my heart had developed a permanent space for Emma. A gaping hole that couldn't be filled with anything else. It was grad day, but I sure didn't feel like it. Barely two hours past noon, and I was wasted, sprawled across the living room. “Who the fuck is it this time?” I groaned. “Hey,” I heard her beautiful, unsteady voice across the line. “Uhm, Emma?” I asked. I was too drunk to check the caller ID. “You're drunk, aren't you?” She asked in a very judgemental manner. “I don't have to reply to that.” I replied to her. “Actually, don't.” She said, I immediately regretted saying what I did.I was beginning to think of excuses to offer, but none was coming to my foggy brain. “Must've called for a reason.” I said, reminding her. “I'm here.” It felt like I had been shot up to cloud nine, but I doubted what I heard cause my head was hella foggy. “Where?” I asked, just for confirmation. It felt too good to be true. “Open up, Chase
Chase's POV “It might be too much for you.” I reasoned, looking away. “Chase, please talk.” Emma's patience had thinned out and I could see it. “Emma,” I started, “the reason we're together today is because of this house.” She looked at me in surprise . “I don't get that.” She said, Normally, I hated when she made assumptions, but this was literally the one time her making assumptions would have suited me, cause the truth was too heavy for me to say. “I mean,” I had been looking for ways to make myself the only bad guy in the story, but her mom had to go down too, “Your mom promised me this house, in exchange for, in exchange for loving you.” I blurted. “What?!” She screamed. “What did you just say?” She asked. “So this has been a whole fucking deal all the while? My mom? No wonder she turned a blind eye to what happened.” Her eyes were glistening, reflecting the little light in the room cause they had tears pooling in them. “I ain't even trippin, it's really something
Chase's POV “Chase, please leave me.” She said, It hurt me to hurt her, but seeing her like that was worse. “I can’t, Emma. You don't mean what you're saying.” I said to her, “I sure do, Chase. You're a liar.” He spat in my face. “You can't say that, Lily.” I replied to her. “You didn't just call me ‘Lily’?” She puffed, I knew I had made a very silly mistake. my thoughts were in a whirlwind, and I had also lost control of my tongue. “I’m sorry, Emma. Everything is so mixed up in my head.” I apologized. “Including Lily and I?” She asked in disbelief. “No, Emma.” I said. “I mean, I'm exhausted, I'm tired, I'm so fucking tired.” “That's no reason for you to do that.” Her lips were quaking and she looked away, I think I also saw pity in her eyes. “I'm sorry, Emma. I seem to be making too many mistakes. I'm a mistake, but none of these stops the gnawing feeling in my heart for you. Emma, I've spent lonely nights in this room wishing I didn't do what I did to
Grayson's POV “Do you,” The priest said, “Rowena,” it felt strange hearing my moms name, hadn't heard it in over ten years, “take Aldrich to be your husband, to love and hold on to, through the good times and the tough ones, whether you're rolling in dough or just scraping by, in sickness and in health, to stand by his side and love him, as long as y’all both shall live?” He looked at my mom who was already beaming so hard. “Yes.” She replied, holding my dads gaze. They both looked so foolish, so in love, so smitten. “I do.” She added as an afterthought. It made all ten of us in attendance giggle. My dads elder brother doubled as the priest, the ceremony was held on their rooftop. It's been over ten years since I'd been to this part of town. Mark's dad and his men, cracking down on my mom made it an absolute necessity. After Chase left that day, my mom came out to both my dad and I. Mark had attacked her family in Starry, her husband, the bastard, took their two kids and fle
Jessica's POV “How was your trip, my love?” My dad greeted me. I had just arrived from a fashion shoot in Paris for Diar. It was a big women's underwear designer brand. I had so many fashion shows and shoots coming up, but I decided to do a stopover cause my PA said my sister had been calling nonstop. Last time I set foot in County was for grad, about two days prior. “Why so friendly?” I asked, everything seemed so fucking weird. From the strange fleet of cars in our garage, to the unfamiliar murmur of men coming from the living room. My dad chuckled nervously, and scratched his bald head with his fat ass fingers. Fingers that held my family together. “There is something we should've told you.” He said, avoiding my eyes. I was still experiencing a bit of jet lag. I'd been in the air for over twelve hours cumulative for the past two days. I even had a shoot midair. It was one of my most exciting experiences. “What is it?” I asked him. I didn't like the look on his face
Chase's POV “Emma?” I called out to her. We'd spent the last two days together. I spent every hour of those days reassuring her that I was there for good. Meanwhile, my dad had been put under house arrest, meaning that we needed to go through due process to see him, or Emma's mother. “Yeah?” She replied softly. “How are you, really?” I asked her. “I remember the first and last time we had a conversation like this.” She said, turning in my sheets. They looked so perfect around her. Two days with Emma, and life was just what it was meant to be. “You were gonna propose the next day.” She said, I searched her face for annoyance, or residual hurt, but there was none. “I had my heart in my mouth all the while.” I confessed. “It's a thing with doing the right thing with the wrong motive.” “Don't ever pull that stunt on me again.” She said, “I swear.” I replied. “Could you please sleep back? I was gonna do a ‘breakfast in bed’ type of thing.” I poured playfully. She ha
Emma's POV I hadn't seen a worse expression on Chase's face than I saw when I announced that I was pregnant. Not like he looked disgusted or angry, it was just blank. The kind of blankness that births bad decisions. I literally didn't know how to do it any better. “You're not saying anything.” I croaked, nearly choking on my words. It wasn't exactly the best time to announce it, but I literally didn't know what else to do. The past days had been bliss, so beautiful I held the news back. I was scared of what his reaction would be, which is the exact reason I decided to say so in the midst of people. Chase had his eyes fixed on me, but still it didn't see like he was actually seeing me. “Baby?” I called him. “Uhm, I'm sorry.” He said, “Can we talk about it later?” He asked. “Sure.” I didn't have the emotional strength to even have the conversation at all. “I'll be back.” He said, and kissed my forehead. It was frosty as hell. It didn't feel like the warm lips that k
Chase's POVI knew I was kinda weird, maybe a bit confused. But I had genuine reason to believe Emma was doing too much. The food arrived soon, and we went to get it at the door. We were cool just a moment ago. I hate how we weren't yet at the point where we handle our shit maturely. “I'll get that.” I said, reaching for the bigger and heavier boxes. It was only instinctive to be more protective of her. She was carrying my baby. Whether or not we were ready for it. “Emma.” I called her quietly since we weren't both far from the rest’ earshot. “Yeah.” She turned, I saw the tear marks on her face. I was gonna say how I was sorry for blanking out on her, but the words just couldn't get out. “I'm…” I started, looking in multiple directions at once. “It’s okay.” Emma said, and walked in. I took a minute to process what had just happened. “Where were you man?” Gray screamed in delight as I entered. “Been looking in that direction for the past minute.” He added. I kn
Chase's POV “What other bad ideas have you got?” I asked Kayla, and she gave me a playful lunch on the chest. “If that's what you see it as , I promise you they're quite a lot.” Kayla replied, laughing. She'd just suggested we joined a club or a team on campus. And I'm not gonna deny that it made perfect sense, seeing that I had so much spare time on my hands. “How was your weekend by the way?” She asked. I couldn't exactly tell what she was expecting to hear, but it wasn't fun, at all. I spent almost all of it considering reaching out to Emma. It'd been an awfully long period of time. “Just a text.” I said to myself repeatedly. Taking walks, cooking, and actively trying to get my moms off the thought only served to keep my mind on it. and hunting for a pet couldn't take my mind off Emma. I wondered how she'd be blending into one of the biggest schools in the USA. We were supposed to be navigating the intimidating world of college side by side. Side by side did not mean
Emma's POV “Bold of you to drop by.” I said as I let him in. “I know you must be mad at me.” He apologized. Kevin had some anti blue ray glasses on that made him look the role of some tech wizard who hardly ever saw sun or the outside world, and had their face buried in their laptops and monitors and cellphones He had a coat on too, for fashion sake, cause it wasn't too practical as the weather was quite warm. He looked handsome as ever, and his pink lips looked a little too lickable. Just his skin was quite pale. It was our first interaction since the date. I'd over-thought the whole thing so badly, I already had about five hundred things in my head I must've done wrong to make him not wanna hit me back. It's been about three days since we went out, and we hadn't spoken since then. “Emma, I've been in a bit of a crunch, and I realize now that the least I could've done was text, but if my word is anything you go by, I've been counting down till this minute.” He looked tir
Emma's POV Time out with Kevin was something I needed. The week had gradually come to an end and I no longer had the excuse of school. Casey was out of town for some reason, and Kevin didn't reach out after that night. I began to wonder if I said or did something wrong He really did sound committed and accepted the fact that I wasn't ready to hop from one relationship straight into another. “Let's do this.” I whispered to myself as I poured a glass of wine. Alcohol was gonna be my first bad habit proudly sponsored by Chase, that is asides reading of course. I just didn’t have the mental coherence to read a book at that point. I took a sip, and sat by my window. Everyone seemed so busy, so occupied, which was in stark contrast with me. I was a rich baby, made rich by my mom's marriage to some underground businessman “Hey mom.” I decided to call her since I was alone with my thoughts anyway. And nothing good ever came from it. “Hey baby.” She replied. “How are you tre
Chase's POV “Don't do it.” Kayla said in a singsong voice, coming up from behind me. “Can't remember giving you that power over me.” I replied to her. Her mission was achieved,, I'd been distracted at least, and the swing was safe. “It's what friends are for.” She said proudly. I didn't like the fact that each time I looked at her, I had to be initially arrested by her boobs. “We aren't that yet.” I clarified. “Do you have a problem with me?” Kayla asked. “Please don't even try to make this about yourself.” I dismissed “Forgive me,” she said, “I kinda have to, seeing that you are not interested in whatever this is.” “What is ‘this’?” I asked, looking at her. These girls were all the same thing… “Chase, it'd be inhumane to say you don't see me as anything more than you see every other person.” She explained. I admired her resilience, and her courage. I actually wanted to make her chicken out. I didn't want to hear it, but since she said it, I guess we were
Emma's POV “I'm sorry I'm behind on time.” Kevin said as he let himself in. I totally forgot to bolt my door, hopefully I don't get a lesson in that someday. “It's fine.” I replied to him. He didn't look as stressed as he sounded over the phone. “How was your day?” I asked, and stood up to get him a glass of water. *Who'd have thought?” He said as I got the water. “Thought what?” I asked him, surprised. “That we would be here, just under a year.” He completed, flashing his pretty white teeth at me. “Kevin, you don't have to be nice about what he did to you.” I finally broached the topic. “ “I'm not being nice.” He explained, “it's just unnecessary.” “No it isn't.” I objected. “I've gotta know what happened. I mean, I don't really want to, but it happened because of me.” I stuttered. “The world doesn't revolve around you, Emma.” He smiled and put a hand on mine on the counter top. “And even if it does, let it. Don't meddle.” “Kevin, things could've gone
Chase's POV “What did you do that for?” I asked Kayla as she retreated from me. I hated that my dick was responding to her against its own better judgment. “Really, Chase, what's the worst that could happen?” She asked again. “I don't know, maybe that?” I asked sarcastically. “Yes, and it has happened already. So please stop letting everything seem weird for the both of us.” Kayla left me to face my erring dick and went on her way. I hoped she wasn't gonna tell the sleazy monkeys with her why I stayed back. The girl was a dare-devil, one who clearly didn't understand the concept of boundaries. “Booze helps.” Kayla heavily lashed eye reconnected with mine as I took a seat at their table. “Why's he cold?” A girl to her right asked her. I wondered if she wanted me to hear or she just didnt know how to go lower. Kayla looked away and snubbed her. She looked at me a couple more times and I saw that I had almost begun to make her feel uneasy and uncomfortable, cause
Emma's POV “That was a really dumb move you pulled yesterday.” I said to Casey, as she dropped into the seat next to me, late as usual. “I admit.” She concurred. “Kevin and I talked about it yesterday, and he said he was half scared you were gonna bring the wrong person.” I laughed at the memory of it. “I was extra careful.” Casey bragged, “plus your friend said she was gonna be bothering you with video calls. All I had to do was look for a new girl, holding her phone up in a certain way, I even got screenshots” She laughed. “Really?!” I asked, shocked. I haven't talked to Lily since then. She said she was gonna call me, but I guess the time difference and her schedule was messing her up. “I really be making the worst choices in picking friends.” I murmured to myself. “That means I'm staying?” She asked, excited. “Just don't pull stupid shit on me like that, ever, again.” I warned. “It's the last of the last.” Casey said solemnly, offering me her pinky. We cross
Chase's POV “Doughnuts do not always fix stuff.”Kayla said after sinking her pretty white teeth into a fat chocolate glazed ball. “They help you feel better.” I replied to her. “I got them on my way back yesterday, felt bad I left you out there like that, figured it was the best thing to apologize with.” I rapped. I've ever really been too expressive with my emotions, being with Emma taught me that. Seeing Emma in every girl was holding me back from wanting to be with, or even talk to one. “You've gotta realize that not every girl is that way.” Kayla said, looking into the box of three untouched doughnuts, and about six that she'd bitten into, “There's no point to anything if you think me to be her.” “That's not it.” I denied, I didn't believe it, and I knew she didn't either, “I'm sorry.” I've had to apologize to many fucking times over the past few weeks,, I didn't even know if I could do any right. “You don't have to be.” Kayla said, really looking at me for the f
Chase’s POV “How are you today?” Kayla asked me. We were gonna be taking the same classes for a semester. “Good, thank you.” I answered “You're really still gonna be the cold, standoffish bug I met a week ago?” She asked, hands on her hips. Kayla's fashion sense is what I'd consider lazy, but she was a really pretty lady. “Just maybe because you're a nasty person?” I retorted. “Come on, that was over three months ago.” I said. “And you're revolutionized since then?” I asked her, sarcastically. “Yeah, actually. Kevin is no more the miserable cunt he was then, mission accomplished.” She was beginning to irritate the fuck outta me. I was emotionally finished, exhausted. “The fact that we both major in biochemistry doesn't mean you have to talk to me.” I replied. “I dont care about you, seriously, and I cannot be bother to give half a fuck about your brother. I seriously do not hold anything against you two, I just wanna be left the fuck alone.” I said. “Its h