11

The incessant knocking on my door jolted me awake. As the pounding headache took over my entire brain, I raised my hands to cover it. I went looking for aspirin and water. I took out the pill from the pack and swallowed it. As the tablet found its way inside, the recollection of last night filled my mind and brought tears to my eyes. I had never felt so alone in my life. I know I've stated it before, but yesterday night terrified me because I didn't have my mom's warm embrace to go into after feeling scared, nor could I call Hazel, Haya, or Sapphira to inform them.

When the knock came again, I was deep in thought. "Coming.." I murmured to myself. I fiddled with my hair and opened the door, not caring how I looked or who it could be.

I was surprised to see who had found their way to the small flat, which, by the way, I was still finding difficult to call home.

"Hello!" His unmistakable Irish accent rang in my ears.

"Hi there! "May we enter?" He was accompanied by a British boy with a Cheshire accent. I also noticed Paige behind them and smiled at her.

What did they have to do with me?

"No, no, no.""No, you can't." I took a deep breath. I wasn't a fan or anything, but all I knew about them was that they were a group of boys who were remarkably successful, and they were complete strangers to me. How could I have let two complete strangers into my home? What did it have to do with me? How could they even recognise me? Or even where I live? How could I have let the most famous guys into my messed up junk? I mean, aren't they used to living in mansions?

I wish I'd said that, but I didn't.

"Ye-yeah.." I said, stepping back and allowing them to enter. I yelped as I fell over another of those boxes as I backed away. Before I could fall, one of the two boys grabbed my hand and stopped me. I looked directly into his ocean blue eyes. He seemed to have hidden something deep within them and was looking for something he couldn't discover. "Are you okay, love?" he asked as he drew me closer to his chest. He asked.

I stepped away hesitantly, having been as near to a boy since that night. "Yeah..." I answered, not knowing their names while knowing who they were.

"Damon." He smiled, but it wasn't returned by me.

"Could you please tell me what brings you two to my apartment?"  I questioned sheepishly as they both took a seat on the couch and I sat in the arm rest of the sole other sofa in the small lounge. To be honest, I was very uncomfortable sitting in the same room as them because, first, I only knew them because they were 2/5th boys of the most famous company in the world, second, they had practically bullied me once, third, I had not been the best at getting closer to boys so quickly, and finally, one of the only few boys I had ever been close to had left me believing that all you ever get for trusting someone is a broken heart.

"Oh..we thought you would know..?" The Cheshire accent boy brought me back to reality.

"To apologise?" I thought to myself..or so I thought.

"Yeah to apologise and give you this." Damon said.

Wait I did not just say that out loud? I felt my face being flushed in embarrassment. The bag he held up looked very familiar. I starred at it in dismay when it finally hit me. It was mine, the one I dropped last night. How could he have possibly found it, I wondered as I shot up and took it from him like a lost child finding it's mum. I know I looked very stupid doing that but it had nearly everything I had.

"Wh-where did you find it exactly?" "I lost it yesterday after...after...after..." I couldn't think of anything to say.

"We'll you dropped it while running away..""I-I parked your car as well." Damon remarked, pointing to the door.

"But, how do you know that?" I asked, puzzled.

"It was me-us the other day." Remember?" He said, confused.

"Was it..was it yo-you both?" I asked, almost doubtful.  They both nodded.

"Th-thanks.." I mumbled, my face flushed with humiliation.

"It's fine, love..maybe we can get some coffee sometime?" The green-eyed boy, whose name I still didn't know, spoke up.

"N-no no..I...uh... I don't think it's a smart idea." As I stood up with them, I said.

"What?" He expressed surprise at how I turned down his offer.

"You do know who we are, right?" Wow! How narcissistic are you?

"Yeah...but not exactly your name...and knowing who you are wouldn't change my answer." I began to ramble.

"Are you turning down Valentino's offer?" He raised his brow and moved closer to me, attempting to sound amusing. I stumbled back.

"Come on, mate...let's go." Damon noticed my unease and patted him on the back.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble." As we came closer to the entrance, I said.

"No problem...oh, and we both have something to say..." Damon said, rather embarrassed.

"Sorry." My head sprang up as their voices met, and I saw two pairs of eyes gazing at me for forgiveness. I was having difficulty deciding which set of eyes to return my gaze to, but eventually my gaze met the incomparable deep ocean blue eyes.The forgiveness they demanded paled in comparison to the forgiveness I pleaded for every night. At the very least, they knew they didn't have to work hard to acquire it. Whereas I would go to great lengths for it, but I would never be able to obtain it.

"It's...it's fine." I said.

...

I didn't plan on going to work after they went, so I took the day off. But the loneliness of the flat was biting me in the ass, and I couldn't remain.I decided to go for a walk at a nearby park.

I walked around the side walk with my hands in my pockets, watching little children play on the playground. Some of them came with their parents, grandparents, or nannies, and we're busy having fun with their buddies. It made me question, 'Would I be alone for the rest of my life?'

I wrapped my fingers around my phone and pulled it out. I mistakenly called Hazel while searching through my contacts, and to my astonishment, she answered nearly immediately. "Hello."

I could see her on the other side, staring at her nails and waiting for an answer.

"Hello, Hazel." I almost burst out crying because I hadn't heard her voice in a long time.

Silence washed across her end of the phone.

"It's you..why did you call me?" She inquired, her tone irritated.

"Hazel...I desperately need your help. I need to talk to you...please-" before I could finish, her silky voice interrupted me.

"Listen, everything we ever had is gone. That night, it burned in those raging flames. Please do not call me again." She said it with her teeth clenched.

"Hazel I should apologies...Please give me a chance."

"Stop Nyx! You don't owe me any apology. Everything I ever had is gone..And it will never come back...don't you ever call me again." With that she disconnected the phone.

It broke my heart to realise that my once best friend could say something so hurtful to me. I screamed and cried and dialled the same old number.

"Hello, Nyx!" "How are you doing, love?" His Irish brogue rang in my ears. I was terrible at managing my emotions and couldn't keep myself together.

"Hey, hey, calm down, it's okay, let it all out.." he said, and there I was, bawling in the midst of a park.

After a time, I eventually calmed myself and said, "s-sorry about that.." "Don't worry, there's nothing to worry about." He said In a pleasant tone that made me smile.

"I c-called my best friend, a-and she s-said she ha-hated me." In a sorrowful voice, I said.

"I'm sure she doesn't mean it, though." He responded.

"She does, indeed. "She means everything she says...everyone means what they say about me...about that night." My eyes welled up with tears, I said.

"Nyx....love, you've been constantly talking about "that night" since the day you called me, and I have no idea what happened...and you can rely on me. I'm always on the move, so I can't tell anyone." He stated.

"Well, there's nothing to hide..." I let out a long sigh.

"So..."Are you going to tell me?"

"I was in my final year of college at the time. My parents, I , my friends and their parents had planned a small gathering of family and friends...and no one had thought that, that night was going to be a night to remember..."

I began to explain to him how and when it all happened.