Chapter thirty six: Last time

It was past two am when Perry entered her house. lights were off. she wasnt expecting anyone to be awake by now. she quietly closed the door behind her and made her way to the stairs. just then, lights turned on. she turned around and found jay standing. he looked calm enough to not scare her off. but perry had the upmost wish to avoid him. "I told you to stop waiting for me-"

"where were you?" she began to fidget on her spot. unlike miles, jay wasnt someone who'll get easily convinced with her lies. "none of your business." she turned around to walk away. jay gave off a tired sigh before grabbing her wrist. "very well then." he closed in, "let me ask something within my range.

Who's bothering you?"

"gosh, you guys are so annoying. I told you im perfectly fine. Im tired as hell, just let me go." perry's attempt of pushing jay's hand away become a fail but it made her sleeve came up. that's when Jay's face became a complete terror. he noticed countless cuts and bruises in her hand. before he could take a better look, perry covered it.

"Who did this to you!" he tried to remain his calm since everyone was sleeping. but the situation was starting to get worse. "I tripped." perry managed to lie before running off to her room. "Perry-" he wanted to reach out to her but a figure approached him.

He turned to see half-asleep Aiden walking toward him while hugging his teddy bear. he looked scared for some kind of reason "bro...why are you shouting?" thats when Jay realised what he's doing. the matter wasnt something he could handle there, before her family.

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Miles stood outside a hotel. few steps away from the stairs. thats how far he got from tracking her device. It pained him to think that perry would go to this extent for earning money. even if her job kept her busy, there were no reason to avoid her friends. filled with these thoughts, he approached the counter. "excuse me, do anyone name 'perry frost' work here?"

"Im afraid i cant disclose our staffs imformation to anyone." the woman replied.  miles stood there confused with what to do. he wanted to make sure that everything was in their right place but the situation wasnt letting him. "did you just say 'perry'?" someone in a waiter uniform approached him.

"Do you know her? does she work here?Its really urgent, can you call her over."

"I cant exactly do that...she's serving VIP now." the other's reply got him freezed up. he asked the last question to comfirm perry's position as a waiter, but she shooked her head in 'no'. after wording what perry works there as, his eyes widened. he felt like his soul left him.

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"Why would you apologize to that man!" miles shouted at perry. They just came out of the big fight in a hotel room. standing in the middle of an empty bridge. his lip was bleeding from the fight. His face became distorted in anger. "You punched my client, what am i supposed to do? join you?" perry replied with the same amount of anger in her voice.

"He was humiliating you-" before he could finish, her words replaced his, "Thats how i get paid you idiot!" both were left in silence. taking a long sigh at once.

" Why do you have to stoop so low for money?! have you ever thought of your family, how hurt they'll be-"

"You'll never understand! you'll never get how much they rely on me. I cant have my mom do everything alone." perry was on the verge of crying. she knew shouting on miles wouldnt make things any better. the 'one' was sure to destroy her after what miles has done. she broke down in tears. same happening to the other. he was in constant deep pain. "perry, you dont have to do this...lets go back."

"Is our friendship a joke to you...?"

"..."

"cant you see im struggling to survive...why cant you trust me for once! why do you have to ruin everything for me!" dark clouds filled the sky. lightning flashesh. the weather went shaded as their situation.  "how did you end up like this..." he took a step back in every second. his breath hitched as he spoke. the past scene in the hotel appears before his eyes. he wiped off his tears and turned away.

Jay came running to where they stood. but he knew he was too late. the wrong has already occurred. miles bumped into his shoulder while running away. but the way he was dazed, he couldnt care any less.

as soon as it rained, everything around them disappeared. it was only them, staring at each other. after the last second of stare that felt like forever, jay decided to run after miles.

but the other's sudden word stopped him,  she was soaked in rain, her hands were trembling. "...take care of miles." she managed to say while smilling. her concealed smile that meant hundred words to him at that moment, he took one last look at it before running off.

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∵flashback end∵

jay puts down the picture, slowly looking up to the two person sitting infront of him. they were still on the way of taking in everything he said. he let out a long sigh before continuing,

"It was the last time we saw her. we lost contact for the next few days. then the tragedy happened and we found her-" he halted before wording out the rest. y/n and henry could tell how hard it was for him to say it.

after a small silence, they knew one of them had to talk. "if the person perry liked was thomas.. she said she was fine with the rejection, then how did he get involved-"

"his name was written on the note she left behind. later, the case was quickly shut down by the higher-ups. we assumed it was done by his family's connections. Since they will probably do it for him." henry slightly nodded to agree with him while y/n didnt want to believe it. "so, miles blamed himself  for what happened since then...?" Jay nodded to clear their doubt. "what happened to her family?"

"They moved away from this city for change of environment . Miles dropped out from school and kept himself locked for months. I was in no place to comfort him. just when i thought he wouldnt take anymore fall... you came in." he shifted his gaze to y/n. "he came back to school and risked everything...i didnt get it at first. then i realised...he sees perry in you."

y/n stared at the ground. the past scene of miles passing out in the library and mistaking her as someone else in the store, flashes in her mind. for some reason she felt guilty for reminding him about his lost  friend. "whatever that has made perry destroy herself like that, as for someone he cares, he didnt want the same thing to happen to you too."

after a deep thought, y/n knew what to do. she rushed to put on her jacket and walked out of the room. "where you going-"