Warmth

chapter 2: in forever...

" what do you mean she's leaving " Mikkel yelled, turning to look at Astrid so fast, she was sure he'd have a whiplash.

"my reaction exactly!" Carlota said, sipping her cocktail with a smug smile on her face. Astrid made a face at Carlota before turning back to Mikkel.

"Mikkel, I.. "

"do not bother explaining, I'll let you leave "

"really!"

"ofcourse not!!! " Mikkel looked at her like she asked him to cut of his limbs and serve it to her on a platter. " I'm not letting you, full stop, case closed, " with that Mikkel proceeded to ignore her very existence while scrolling through i********:.

" you know how much I need this Mik, and even my stepmother is in on this "

"courtesy my humble self " Carlota added, raising her glass to herself before downing it in one go. none of them wanted their partner in crime along with bestfriend since dampers gone for here whole months. what made Mikkel protest so strongly was the fact that he very well knew that once Astrid left, there was only a twenty percent chance of her coming back to settle in Denmark once again and the possibility of her leaving permanently scared him off his wits.

" you helped her? way to let our friend go, Car " Mikkel glared at Carlota.

" Mikkel, at least listen to what she has to say " Carlota joined in on the persuasion.

" no means no " there was no negotiating it, he turned away, suddenly finding the dim bar lights and winking girls more interesting than their conversation.

" I've bought my plane ticket already " Astrid said, leaning back in her chair, there was no stopping this.

"That's no problem, about thirty percent of people who buy the ticket don't actually make it to the plane, you wouldn't be the first and definitely wouldn't be the last so f**k this discussion " He raised his glass to his lips, checking out a girl who kept flashing him from the other end of the bar, he honestly didn't like hookups but he'd choose it over looking into Astrid's eyes and getting persuaded, any day, any time.

"your not stopping me, Mikk" Astrid was getting annoyed now and Carlota could sense it so to avoid being cannon fodder, she leaned back in her chair and pretended to be invisible or dead, which never works better because whenever those two fight, either if two things happen..

one. Mikk gives in, or

two. world war 3.0 commences

"of course I can't stop you, but I happen to know someone who can, it's been quite long since I dropped by to see your father, I should probably do so today "

Astrid immideately flew of the handles, " Don't be such an ass Mikk, if you tell my dad, i'll-"

" your dad doesn't even know?! what's wrong with you?! " Mikk yelled, and that's when Carlotta knew things were about to go down.

Mikk never yelled, at least not at Astrid, maybe that's why her eyes watered immideately " I don't know what's wrong with me, maybe the fact that I'm goddam tired of avoiding my dad because I'm too scared to remind him of my mum like I always do or avoiding my stepmum because we both no my dad doesn't give a damn about her and only married her to be my glorified nanny and I'm so f*****g guilty about it or avoiding my little sister because I know she'd never have the chance to be loved by my father and she was only born because my father felt like I needed some company and I'm so goddamn guilty that I can't see myself leaving like that anymore. "

maybe it was the silence, or the fact that she could already see Carlota's eyes Watering that made her realise her face was already wet with tears that she had been holding for as long as she could remember.

"or maybe the fact that i know that my dad doesn't even love me " she whispered " all he loves is the shadow of my mum he sees in me "

"Astrid.." Carlota didn't know what to say so she just kept quiet after muttering her name.

"a thing for remembrance, that's all I'll ever be to him " she concluded, her voice cracking. she had known this for the past decade but this was the first time she'd said it out loud, the full intensity of this god awful truth slammed into her making her unable to stop her tears no matter how hard she tried " I just need to be away for a while Mikk, just for a while, I really do need it " her words where no more than a whisper by now.

the strong resolve Mikk had shattered, just like that, he shared a look with Carlota before they both closed in on her, hugging the life out of her letting her cry an ocean in a wild bar downtown where no body knew them and in a world where no body cared.

The hug just made Astrid cry even more, long gone was the twenty one year old smart and confident woman, all that was left was a little girl wilting from he lack of love she was drowning in.

"it okay bae, " Carlota said when in truth, half of the tears on Astrid's shirt where hers " anymore and your eyes are gonna get puffy, how do you expect to get laid when you leave if you look like a panda, huh? "

Mikk and Astrid chuckled through their tears at Carlota's awful attempt at consoling before they three decided to drown in a whirlpool of alcohol for the last time in a long while.

or maybe, in forever...