The chains of the past that bind us

Chapter 8: Bonfire Bash

I haven't come out of my room all night. I haven't eaten or drank anything since yesterday. I refuse to see anyone. I know that Chloe is worried about me because she hasn't stopped knocking at my door all morning.

*Knock Knock*

See another attempt of hers to try and get me out of this room.

"Alessandria...? I know you said you weren't feeling well yesterday, but...I haven't heard anything from you." I wish I could talk to her, but this is just one thing I can't do. I decide to stay silent and not respond.

"Please know you can talk to me Alessandria...about anything." I hear her footsteps slowly fade away, and I can't help but just cry.

A few more hours go by and I check my phone to see that it's already 3pm. I need to get out of bed and use the restroom at least.

When I look into the mirror I can see my eyes are red from all of my crying. I look pathetic sitting here crying about a man who broke my heart years ago. After I use the restroom, I head out to the veranda and look out onto the ocean.

It's so beautiful and peaceful out here. I can't believe I almost forgot how wonderful it is here. I just wish I could enjoy it under different circumstances.

Suddenly my door opens and I see Cole with a bowl of fruit.

"Get out." I turn away from him.

"No." He replies while walking closer.

"What did you just say!?!" I yell and then he shoves a strawberry into my mouth.

"I said no. You can hate me all that you want Alessandria, but I refuse to let you starve yourself in this room. So suck it up because I'm not leaving until you finish that entire bowl of fruit." As he sits down on the lounging chair, he watches me eat the strawberry.

"What are you some kind of stalker?" I roll my eyes and pick up the bowl of fruit.

"If that's what you want to call me Alessandria that's fine, but I will not leave until you finish that bowl of fruit." He picks up a book from the shelf and starts to read it.

I don't want anything from him. I especially don't want any help from him. This is all his fault anyways. As I stare at the bowl of fruit, it just brings back all of the memories we had together. I hated fruits and vegetables, it used to be a struggle to get me to eat anything like that. Even so, Cole would do as he is now, sit there and watch me eat until I was done.

"Fine but I'm not speaking to you." I reply as I pick up another strawberry. The bowl is full of sliced strawberries, apples, bananas, blueberries, and cantaloupe.

"That's fine. You just focus on finishing that bowl, that's the only thing that matters right now." Why does he always know what to say to me. Yet he couldn't put in this much effort to stay two years ago. One by one I pick up each fruit and eat it as we sit in silence. I'm avoiding the cantaloupe because it's the worst tasting thing I've ever eaten in my entire life.

"Alessandria. I've seen you eat everything except that cantaloupe. I'm not leaving until you eat all of it." He says while not even looking up once from that book.

"What are you my father!?!" I glare.

"No but that doesn't change the fact that cantaloupe is good for you." As he flips the page, I roll my eyes as I stare at the cantaloupe.

"I'm not eating that disgusting fruit!"

"Now look who's acting like a child. Just eat the fruit Alessandria." As I roll my eyes, I decided to sit on the bed across from him and put the bowl of the 2 pieces of cantaloupe on his book.

"No!" I yell and pout on the bed. I'm not eating that fruit! He treats me like I'm a child and I'm not. He suddenly shuts the book and picks up the bowl.

"Fine the hard way I guess. I'll make you a deal. I need you to eat just one." I roll my eyes once again and ignore him. Next thing I know, he puts his hand on my chin and kisses me. In between our kiss I can feel something slide down my throat. Then I realize the taste is that overbearing sweetness from the cantaloupe.

"Bastard!" I shove him away and cough. Finally Cole eats the other cantaloupe and starts to laugh.

"See it wasn't that bad was it?" He teases.

"Maybe I should try to shove something down your throat and see how you feel about it!" He laughs harder and I glare at him.

Chloe's POV:

Cole's mother tries to talk to me, but all I can think about is Alessandria. She told us she wasn't feeling well, but I just wonder what's really going on.

"Chloe honey, are you listening to me?" Klarissa asks.

"Y-Yes! No...I'm sorry mother, I'm just so worried about Alessandria. She hasn't come out of her room since yesterday. She won't see anyone either."

"I'm sure she's fine honey. Now we should focus on this wedding!" Klarissa replies without a care in the world. Even at the spa things seemed tense between them two. I don't understand why though, since they only met yesterday.

"I'm sorry mother, but I'm going to go check on Alessandria again." I left before she could even respond. I have to check on her. As I approach her room, I can hear voices and laughing, so I decide to eavesdrop.

"You're such a baby when you don't want to do something." Cole laughs. Is that...Cole?

"I'm not dammit you're just insufferable!" Alessandria yells back at him. Wait this doesn't make any sense. She didn't want to see anyone, not even me, but Cole is in there laughing with her. When did they become so close?

"Well I'm just glad that you ate something." Cole replies. I hear his footsteps get closer to the door, and I hide behind the wall beside her door. Suddenly as the door opens, a pillow hits Cole in the back of his head.

"Get out asshole!" She yells while he walks away laughing. As I come around the corner, she spots me and we lock eyes.

"C-Chloe!?! What are you doing over there?" She asks.

"R-Right! I came to check on you!" I say while rushing over towards her.

"How...how long have you been over there?" She asks while giving me a suspicious look.

"Only for a few moments! I was going to knock but then Cole came out of your room, and well the pillow." As we both look at the pillow, she quickly picks it up and rushes back into her room.

"Well come on in I suppose." As I look around, I see an empty bowl on her bed.

"I thought you haven't been out of your room all day?" I ask and point to the bowl on her bed.

"Oh right that was Cole's doing. He forced me to eat that bowl of fruit." She rolls her eyes.

"He brought you that? I thought you weren't seeing anyone today?" I ask.

"Well it's not like I let him in, he let himself in." He never brought me anything.

"Oh I see...well I just wanted to check in on you." Then she sits next to me on the bed and hugs me.

"Thank you Chloe. I'm sorry that I left yesterday, but I feel much better now."

"Can I...ask you something?" I ask.

"Of course Chloe, what is it?" She replies.

"Well have you ever met...Cole or his mother in the past?"

Alessandria's POV:

Why....why would she start to ask these questions now? Did Klarissa say something to her? I'm not sure because if Klarissa said anything, she would've spilled everything.

"Why do you ask?" I ask and she avoids my gaze.

"I mean first at the spa you and Cole's mother seemed very hostile towards each other. Then you left early after the spa and refused to see anyone. Finally I find Cole in your room bringing you fruit, and you guys seemed very comfortable."

"No it's not like that I promise. It's more that I was messing with her and I think I went too far. Also with Cole I think he was just checking on me because I'm your friend. Trust me he...he doesn't care about me at all, let alone know me." I really feel bad for lying, but I know telling her the truth will hurt her even more.

"Oh okay I was worried there for a sec!" Chloe starts to laugh but I can't seem to join her.

"Well there's a bonfire ceremony on the beach tonight, and I'd love it if you could come with us."

"Will Klarissa be there?" I ask while rolling my eyes.

"No she actually has some business to attend to. I think she's talking to Cole now actually. Let's go ahead and get ready!"

Cole's POV:

As I walk down stairs, I see my mother flipping through a wedding catalog.

"Mother aren't you going to be heading out soon?" I ask while brewing some coffee.

"Yes, I was talking to Chloe about some wedding arrangements, but she went upstairs to tend to the brat." I slam my cup on the counter.

"I will not condone you talking about Chloe's friend like that." I glare at her.

"You won't let me talk about her friend like that, or is it that you won't let me talk about the love-"

"Enough! If you're here to cause trouble, you will not be permitted to stay any longer." Then she gets up and shoves the wedding catalog onto my chest.

"I suggest you focus on setting up your wedding...Cole." She finally leaves out of the door and I take a deep sigh.

"Cole? Is everything okay?" Alessandria comes down the stairs wearing an aquamarine mid-length dress. I haven't seen her dress this nice since Chloe's party.

"Yea I'm fine. The sun is about to start setting soon, since it's already 5:30pm. I wanted to get some coffee to give me some energy." She puts her hand on my shoulder and pats my back.

"What's really going on?" She asks.

"Nothing ever gets past you does it?" I grin at her. Even in the past Alessandria would never disappoint when it came to my emotions. That's why I fell in love with her.

"No it doesn't. That's why you lo-" She suddenly stops and turns away from me. Then Chloe comes down in a red halter ruffled mid length dress.

"Do I look okay babe?" She asks while making a 360 turn.

"You look amazing as always." I smile and Alessandria kicks me in the shin.

"Ow! What the f-" She notions to me to get closer to Chloe. Jesus Christ she could've slipped me a note or something not kick me. That f*****g hurt.

"Hey where's Liam anyways?" Alessandria asks.

"Oh I think he's by the poolside I think. Why don't you go check?" I suppose I need to talk to him anyways. I have a flash back of what Cole told me earlier, about him asking Cole to leave me alone.

As I walk out to the poolside, I can see Liam swimming in the pool.

"Liam? Is everything okay?" I ask.

"Alessandria!?!" He quickly swims over to me and I lean down to greet him.

"What are you doing swimming out here at this time? You're gonna catch a cold!" Suddenly he pulls me into the water with him, and pulls me closer to him.

"W-What are you doing?" I yell at him and he starts laughing.

"You have a lot of questions don't you Alessandria?" He chuckles and I start to pout.

"Now I'm gonna catch a cold!"

"Then we better stick close to each other, so that we don't catch a cold." As he smirks I start to splash water on his face.

"You wish lover boy!" As I get out of the water, I lean over and grab a towel to dry my hair. As Liam follows behind me, I can see the water dripping down his abs. I've never noticed it before, since I've only seen his like my best friend, but he's seriously ripped.

"If you stare any harder Alessandria, I'm going to start to feel violated." I blush very hard and I throw the towel at his face.

"J-Just get changed i***t!" I head back inside and see Chloe kissing Cole. I smile and walk the other direction.

"So you're just not going to go in?" Liam asks while wrapping his arms around me.

"I don't want to interrupt them, so I'm going to go walk around for a bit." Then he turns me around and lifts my chin to look at him.

"Let me join you. I'll go grab my jacket and be right back."

"Oh I don't know. It'll be a depressing walk." I push him away slightly.

"Come on we can hang out like we used to all the time." He gives me those puppy dog eyes and I smile while shaking my head.

"Fine hurry up." He kisses me on the cheek, and heads inside quickly. He really is like a child, but I really like him for that.

Liam's POV:

"I'm back!" When I step outside, I can see the wind blowing through Alessandria's golden brown hair.

"Oh that was quick, well let's go!" Suddenly she grabs my hand and we walk on the beach. A few minutes go by in silence, and she is still holding my hand.

"So, you must really like holding my hand huh?" I tease. She quickly pulls her hand away while blushing.

"S-Shut up! I just forgot!" As we keep walking, she stops and picks up some sea shells.

"These are so pretty! This one is a bright orange!" Her smile is something like I've never seen before. It brightens up my day every time I see it. I think that's what I love about her most is her beautiful smile.

"Ooh! Do you see this one? It has a shade of pink in it!" She's so cute.

"Yes they're beautiful, but there's a gorgeous sapphire looking one over here." As she bends over next to me, I give her the sapphire colored seashell, and then I kiss her passionately.

"L-Liam...?"

"I know you are still getting over Cole, but I meant everything I said to you Alessandria. I want you and I've always wanted you." I hold her close to me and she just cries in my arms.

"You'd never cry over me. I would never hurt you. I'd never make you feel unwanted or uneasy. Can you at least think about it?"

Cole's POV:

"Babe the sun is setting, so we should start heading to the bonfire." Chloe yells from downstairs.

"Yea I'm coming!" Before I head downstairs, I take one last glance at Liam and Alessandria on the beach. She seems happy with him.

When I head downstairs to meet Chloe, she kisses me again like earlier, and then grabs my hand.

"You're being very spontaneous today Chloe. Is there something wrong?" I ask. It's not like her to be this forward. I knew two nights ago was because of what Alessandria taught her, but she's kissed me not once but twice today. I wonder if my mother said something to her.

"Nothing at all. I just wanted to kiss you." Then we start heading out towards the beach for the bonfire, and we met up with Liam and Alessandria.

"Hey guys! I'm so glad we all got here on time." Chloe smiles.

"Well let's have a good time." Liam replied.

As about an hour goes by, Chloe is dancing with a few people on the dance floor, Liam is sitting by the bonfire, and Alessandria is at the bar. I should go check on Alessandria. Suddenly Chloe drags me over to the dance floor.

"Come on babe dance with me!" As she is dancing on me, my eyes are only fixated on Alessandria. I notice that Liam is finding his way over to her.

"Hey babe are you thirsty? I will go some drinks for us at the bar." I quickly rush over to where Alessandria is, but before I could get there, Liam sits next to her. As I watch them laugh and toast a drink together, I decide to just go back in the house.

Alessandria's POV:

When I'm with Liam I have genuine fun, I almost forgot we are at a party. As I sip my pina-colada, I look around to see Cole walking back in the house.

"I'm sorry Liam I have to use the restroom. I will be right back." As I get up and head inside the house, I can't seem to find Cole anywhere.

As I head upstairs, I hear a sigh coming from Cole and Chloe's room. When I take a peek, I see Cole holding a necklace. I take a closer look, and I can see it's the pendant he got me the last time we came here together. Why does he still have that? My curiosity distracted me and I tripped over my own foot, and I fell into the doorway.

"Wow who looks like the stalker now?" He gives me that smug grin, and I quickly get up.

"W-Why do you still have that!?!" I point to the pendant.

"Oh I didn't know that you'd actually remember this." He shifts the pendant through his fingers.

"Of course I would. It was the last gift you gave to me." I sit next to him on the bed.

"There's a nice party going on out there, and you're in here sulking."

"What makes you think I'm sulking?"

"You're upstairs in a dark room alone, holding a necklace from years ago, and sighing in bed. It's not rocket science."

"What does it matter anyway? Isn't your boyfriend waiting on you at the bar?" Then I turn his face slightly towards me.

"Stop reflecting onto me Cole. What is this really about?" I ask while he avoids looking at me.

"It doesn't matter Alessandria. I will invest into your company later, and you won't have to worry about me anymore." Suddenly he tries to walk out of the door and I grab his arm.

"Cole! I know there is something bothering you! So please just talk to me." He pulls away from me and continues to walk out. I don't understand what's going on with him. Did I say something? Wait no this is not because of me!

As we finish off the night with drinks and partying, Cole couldn't seem to speak let alone look at me tonight. I don't know why he's feeling like this, but I'm really worried about him.