His forever is just one night

03

r a i n

The car ride back to our apartment is unbearably silent , Grace is leaned back in the passenger seat , tapping away on her phone while briefly tilting her head back to look at Alison every once and a while . Alison looks enraged , seated behind me with her fists clenched on her lap and her nostrils flaring , a scowl spread on her face as she glares out the window .

I shift uncomfortably in my seat , trying to focus on the road but seeing Alison so angry causes an uncomfortable shiver to crawl up my spine .

The only sound in the car is the almost inaudible murmurs floating from the radio and I'm tempted to reach out and turn up the volume just to hear anything except this silence .

Someone or something had to really upset Alison for her to be this silent , never have I witnessed this quiet , brooding side of her . Even when something annoyed her , she'd rant about it until my ears felt like falling off , explaining every single detail of the situation to us . But never this . Alison is never this quiet .

I let out a heavy sigh , flicking my eyes up to my rear mirror. "Alison , are you okay ?" I mumble , watching her reaction through the mirror . She clenches her jaw , keeping her gaze out the window. "I'm fine." Her voice is clipped , a frown forming on my face when my eyes avert back to the road .

I figure it's best to give her space and wait until she's ready to open up to us , so I keep quiet all the way to our apartment and once we arrive and I park my car , Alison is the first to jump out and race up to our apartment . Grace and I share a glance but choose to leave it at that before climbing out and following behind Alison toward the apartment .

When I enter my room , I plop down on my bed , heaving out a long sigh of relief . I stare up at my ceiling , contemplating if I should begin with my assignments or just take a nap .

Before I can even weigh my options , the sound of my phone ringing startles me upright on my bed . I groan , slipping off my bed and pad toward my phone . My frown almost immediately turns into a bright smile when I read the caller ID , Haven .

Answering the phone with a swift slide over the phone screen , I plop back onto my bed and stare up at the ceiling . "Hello , Havy." I greet , hearing a shuffle from the other end .

"Hi , bambi." Her soft serene voice fills my ears and I immediately feel relaxed . It's been nearly three weeks since I talked to her and hearing her voice makes my heart swell .

"How are you ?" I question , tilting my head toward my window , watching the sun peek out from behind the clouds .

"I'm good , busy with work . How are you ? I miss talking to you . I'm so sorry I didn't call sooner , it's just I haven't had time." She rambles . A soft smile stretches out on face . My sister is such a soft person , with the most beautiful heart , I guess she got that quality from our mother — well , the mother we used to have .

"Wait , let me videocall you . I want to see your face ." She adds , not giving me any chance to respond before a request dings through my phone .

I accept before shifting back against my headboard, holding the phone up toward my face . Haven's beautiful blonde curls are tied into a high pony , the ocean blue of her eyes shimmering and a broad smile rests on her lips, the faint dimple on her left cheek peeks out and I can't help but mimic her smile .

"You just get more beautiful every time I see you , bambi ." She complements , tucking the tendril that fell from her pony behind her ear . I roll my eyes , my smile so large my cheeks hurt ."Says the one that looks like a literal model." I mumble . I'm not even lying when I say it doesn't even look like she's aged one bit .

She winks , blowing a kiss toward the camera and heaves her ponytail over her shoulder . A loud chuckle rips from my throat and she joins in , causing me to laugh louder when she lets out a snort mid-laugh .

Our laughter dies down when I struggle for air and almost fall from my bed . "God , I miss laughing with you about absolutely nothing." She murmurs, wiping under her eyes .

My face falls and I sit back up straight , sadness etched on my face . It sure is strange not seeing her everyday or coming home everyday and not being able to share my wretched day with her .

"I really miss you , Havy ." I frown , my mood turning sullen as I stare at her through the phone screen .

She searches my face through the phone , a crease forming between her eyebrows and her lips turn into a frown. "I miss you too . I promise we'll come visit soon . We all miss you , Ivy asks about you a lot . So I promise we'll come visit soon , bambi ." Haven promises .

I almost burst out in tears at the mention of my little niece . I haven't seen her in a year and a half and the thought breaks my heart . She's the cutest little girl ever , she turned three a couple of months ago and I couldn't even be at her birthday party because I had an english assignment to finish , that had to be in the next day . Plus , I couldn't just fly over for one day and then fly back the next .

Ever since Haven and Grayson — Haven's husband—along with my little niece moved to California my heart has been aching . It's been two years yet it feels like it's been an eternity.

"You better come visit me , I miss you all so much." I inform , watching her lips tip up into a small smile before she nods .

The call ends shortly after that , with her telling me how Ivy started sleeping without her nightlight , which made me so proud , I burst out crying . It was so emotional hearing my niece grow up without me even being there to witness it .

It makes me so proud to think my sister has grown so much over the years . Grayson is one of the main reasons she is where she is today . He has always supported her through everything she went through. They're always there for each other and I can't help but envy the kind of love they share for one another.

I know my dad would've been so proud of her .

We said goodbye after Grayson walked in and grimaced when he saw our trembling lips and tear-stained faces and mumbled something under his breath before turning around and basically sprinting out if the room .

I wipe my eyes , deciding it's best if I start with my assignments before I start crying again , but before I can reach my desk , a soft knock at my door stops me .

"Come in." I call out , pulling out my chair and sit down , averting my eyes back to the door .

The door slowly opens and I watch as Alison awkwardly stands in the doorway . Her hair is pulled up into a messy bun and she's changed into a set of pajamas , but that's not the first thing I notice , it's the red coating the tip of her nose and the puffiness of her eyes .

I frown when I realize she has been crying , but before I can say anything she clears her throat and averts her eyes toward her feet . "Can I please talk to you ?" She asks , her voice so soft I almost didn't hear her .

"Of course , Ali . Come sit down." I gesture toward my bed and she nods , padding toward my bed before settling down on the edge of it .

I turn in my chair , facing her while patiently waiting for her to talk first . She fidgets with the hem of her shirt before lifting her eyes up to meet mine. "I'm sorry for being so rude earlier , I wasn't in a good mood and it wasn't my intention to be so mean ." She murmurs , tucking a strand of her auburn curls behind her ear .

"You don't have to apologize , Alison . It's okay , but thank you for apologizing anyway ." I smile softly at her , but she doesn't return the smile , she just flicks her eyes back to her hands. "Do you want to talk about it ?" I offer , watching a stray tear roll down her face as she shakes her head .

"No , I don't really want to talk about it right now. I'm sorry , I promise I'll talk to you when I'm ready ." She mumbles , not once meeting my gaze .

I press my lips into a thin line , it breaks my heart to see my best friend like this . Alison is one of the kindest people I know , she has a big heart and always tries to brighten everyone's mood . She has never once spoken ill of anybody , she always sees the best in everyone and everything and to think that someone might've been the reason for her being this upset , angers me .

I stand up from my chair and sit down next to her , wrapping my arm around her shoulders . "You don't have to apologize for not wanting to talk about it , Ali . You can come talk to me about it whenever you want , alright ?" I lower my head , meeting her gaze and watch the fresh set of tears well up in her eyes .

She nods , wrapping her arms around me. "Thank you , Rain ." She mumbles against my shoulder , giving me a tight squeeze before sitting back and wiping her eyes .

"You want to watch a movie and eat ice-cream ?" I ask , knowing I still have a ton of work to do .

"Yeah ." She nods , standing from my bed and walks out of my room , I follow close behind and when I reach my door I stop and look down the hall toward Grace's room that is opposite mine .

With Grace coming to visit us so often , we — and by we I mean Alison — figured it'd be best to rather give her a room instead of having her sleep on the couch every time . I mean , the room was just standing empty , collecting dust , so I guess it was inevitable to have her 'move' into the room . So , she basically lives with us now but she still has a dorm room on-campus .

"Grace ! Get your ass out here , we're watching a movie !" I shout unnecessarily loud and start banging on her door . I hear shuffling come from the other side of the door , before the door flies open and a very angry looking Grace stands in the doorway with a scowl etched on her face .