Book 2: Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

The next morning, I woke pretty early for some weird reason. I didn’t intend to be awake, but once I felt Jay move, my eyes shot open. Usually, he gets up early on certain days to follow his gym routine he’s been following for the past year now. It never bothered me before, but today it did. Maybe I missed the warmth of his body next to mine. It has been a couple of days since we’ve slept together. It was something I had to get used to again.

Rolling over, I snuggle the blanket up to my chin, watching Jay get ready. He hadn’t realized I was awake yet as he did the normal things he did in the morning. His headphones were over his ear as he went back and forth from the bathroom to the room, getting ready. My heart is warm just looking at him. It wasn’t until his last time coming out of the bathroom that he looked my way. His smile grew big once he saw I was awake.

Coming over to me, he leaned down to leave a kiss on my forehead. “Good morning, my gorgeous girl,” he cooed. “I didn’t realize you were awake.”

I smiled at his words. “Usually I’m not up this early, but I missed you next to me,” I say.

He laughed. “I’m sorry. Today I’m only going for a jog, so it won’t take long.”

“I’ll make breakfast and get dressed.” I sat up. “We have to go over to the Hadid’s.” Unfortunately, I was in no mood to see Farah’s face after such a wonderful trip.

Jay stood up, stretching before looking back at me. “I love your cooking,” he smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

With that, he took off as I forced myself out of bed. I figured I’d get dressed and ready first since he was out jogging. As much as I would have loved to shower with him, there was no time to stall today. If we were even a second late, we wouldn’t hear the end of it from Farah. I was trying to avoid a scolding from her since she was already on my case. Though, I was going to be relaxed this week.

After I’m done getting dressed, I make my way downstairs to the kitchen, planning to make something simple. I settled on some toast with avocado while I got the coffee started. I figured it’ll be something good for Jay to eat after working out. Plus, it tastes pretty good as well. I’m sure Jay would appreciate it.

Speaking of Jay, as soon as I got done pouring his coffee, he came trotting into the kitchen. He looked thrilled to see his coffee and toast waiting for him. He might’ve been expecting more, but still ate happily before he himself got dressed. Neither one of us wanted to be coming over here, but did as we were told, anyway.

I was happy to see Kira and Bradyn in good spirits. Especially Kira, as she’s been having a hard time since Twila left us. It hurt seeing her sitting with Sienna versus with us like she always did. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss her. She was my best friend and now it felt like we didn’t even know each other. Alas, at least I still had Kira and Bradyn.
Excited to see them, I ran over, scaring them. They jumped as I wrapped my arms around them, saying hi. I didn’t intend to do that, but it was funny.

“I got you guys,” I laugh. “Your oh so scary,” I tease.

“Dammit, Autumn. I was going to kill you,” Kira said before embracing me.

Bradyn laughed. “I’ve missed you. Where have you been?” She asked me.

I forgot I haven’t told them I left with Cyrus for a couple of days. The only person I told was Jay, because he needed to know. Other than that, Cyrus and I kept it a secret, as we should have. We didn’t need a word getting back to Farah about any of this, but it couldn’t hurt to tell Kira and Bradyn. They don’t speak to Farah personally, so I doubt it would cause any harm. Just as long as no one else was listening.

Pulling them closer, I smile softly. “I went to Penshaw with Cyrus for a couple of days.” I whisper.

The gasp that fill the surrounding air was hilarious. “How did you get so lucky!” Bradyn cooed.

“What happened? How did this happen?” Kira had so many questions.

It was a lot of things to explain so I summarized the best I could. The trip was magical and I wish we didn’t have to be back here. It didn’t feel the same as being in Penshaw. I also had to see him put so much attention on Jenna, whether or not he meant it killed me. The outcome was for the best and it’ll get them off my back in the end. None of it takes away from the time we’ve spent in Penshaw, and I couldn’t wait to go back.

“Is it bad to say I didn’t want to come back here?” I say with a nervous smile.

Kira laughed with a shake of her head. “No, it’s not. Who would want to come back to this sham of a wedding?”

“Do they know about this secret trip?” Bradyn couldn’t help but ask.

I shake my head. “No, I probably shouldn’t even be talking about it now,” I admit. “But I tell you guys everything.”

We laughed together before Farah interrupted our fun time by coming out. All she wanted to do was talk about the bachelor and bachelorette parties happening this weekend. We still didn’t know what we were going to do because Farah was being very hush about it. There better be lots of fun and lots of drinking. I’ve been waiting for this week to come. It’s always a good time when there’s less stress involved.

That aside, Farah finished telling us the details of this weekend before dismissing us. It thrilled me to get away from her so she wouldn’t stop me in the hallway or something. As I’ve said before, that woman can be scary sometimes, though today I didn’t have the patience to deal with her. Not when I had someone far more important to deal with.

Not even getting past the glass door, I saw Twila looking quite miserable. She sat alone on my favorite bench twirling a curl in finger. Even though she came for my life the day we argued, I couldn’t stand seeing her sad. I was angry that Sienna left her there alone without consoling her. Kira would have never done that and neither would I. She was my best friend and all we wanted was for her to be happy. Sienna was not what she should have been chasing after.

Sighing, I waited for everyone to go back inside before making my way over to Twila. I sat on the bench with her, swinging cohesively. We stayed silent as a smile slowly formed on her lips. It was soft and you can tell something was still bothering her. Whatever the case, I wanted to repair the damage that we both caused to one another. It was unnecessary and not what either of us came to Sunbury for.

“I’m sorry,” we both say in unison before chuckling.

Twila looked at me, confused. “What do you have to be sorry for?” She asked me. “You’re the one that was right.”

“I’m sorry for even putting the thought into your head,” I say. “If I hadn’t told you what she said to me, none of this would have happened.”

She shakes your head. “No, part of me thinks I was never truly over her to begin with.” She sighs. “After spending a couple of weeks with her, I realized it would never work.”

Is it bad to say that I’m thrilled about this? You never want to see your friends down and out, but Sienna was not the right person for her. Bradyn and I knew it. Kira definitely knew it, and Twila still had to see it. I’m glad she’s come to her senses now, but would it be too late? Kira has mentioned nothing about her lately, though I could tell she missed her. Maybe there’s still room to fix their relationship. They sure were cute together.

I wasn’t letting her take all the blame for this, though. “If we didn’t stage a coo, I’m positive none of this would have turned out the way it did.”

She let out a laugh. “You did not just say a coo like were in some kind of heist movie.” She laughs again.

I laugh with her. “What? All I’m saying is we were all at fault, Twy, but it was because we didn’t want you hurt again.”

Her smile fades as she looks down at her legs. “I shouldn’t have gotten so defensive and said some things I didn’t mean,” she looks up at me. “I hope you know that.”

She was talking about what she said about my situation with Cyrus and Jay. It pissed me off at the moment. I realized she was speaking more out of anger at us ambushing her than her actually meaning it. There were no hard feelings on my side of the matter. If that was done to me, I know my reaction would be the same. You can’t expect people to think rationally when you throw things at them. Twila only did what she did because she didn’t feel the support we should have given her. As friends, that was wrong of us.

Without saying much of a response, I wrap my arms around Twila for what felt like ages. I loved hanging out with every single one of the girls, but Twila was special to me. She was the first person to make me feel comfortable in Sunbury. Compared to everyone else, I didn’t dress to make a good first impression, yet she didn’t judge me. She instead complimented my hair and talked to me like a normal human being. A kind human being. That’s a sentiment I would never forget and will always cherish. Our bond was unbreakable.

She hugged me back tightly, before feeling relief that we were ok. It wasn’t me she needed to be worried about. It was Kira. I’m not sure if she would forgive her so quickly after everything. I didn’t see them jumping right back into things like they were before. You could never know in these situations. Plus, I’m not Kira. She could think about things I’ve not even considered. Twila was nervous, though. She knew she fucked up and didn’t know how to fix it.

“You think she would even want to see my face?” She asked me.

I rolled my eyes. “You guys shared something special,” I remind. “The least she’ll do is hear you out.”

She sighed once more, not confident in herself. “I don’t know, A.”

“Relax, you know I got you covered.” I reassured her. “But first…story time!” I say.

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, my gosh! My favorite love story saga has an update!” She yelled.

I laughed at her nonsense. “Don’t even remind me.” I roll my eyes playfully.

“Give me every detail. I’ve missed this.” She claps.

So we spent the next hour and a half talking about all my drama. I told her about the trip to Penshaw and Jay’s proposal to move in together after this horrendous wedding. There were a lot of things I didn’t have answers to. However, it felt great to talk to Twila again. My best friend is back!