Page 67 of The Plan

“Okay.” I open the door wider and walk out. When I turn back around, she’s still looking at me, and the fear in her eyes makes me feel like I’m dying. Like I’m drowning, running out of air by the second.

I take a ragged breath and try calming my breathing as I walk over to her closet. I grab a duffle bag and then stuff it with as many clothes as I can fit. I know her, and she’s never setting foot in this apartment again. I'd pack everything in her damn closet, but we don’t have time for that tonight. I’ll come back for the rest. I just need to get her the fuck out of here.

I don’t pack any of her work clothes even though I’m sure she’ll fight me about wanting to work tomorrow anyway. Once her bag is packed, I walk into her room and throw it on her bed. When I look into the bathroom, she’s scrubbing her face aggressively.

I grab her towel and walk into the bathroom. She keeps her eyes in front of her. At nothing. What the fuck is she doing? I remember how she aggressively cleans when she’s mad to keep busy, but this isn’t that.

“Vid, you don’t have anything on your face.” She keeps scrubbing, and if she goes any harder, she’ll break her damn skin. “Vidia.”

“I feel it.” All of the blood on her body is gone. What is she feeling? I gently pull her hand away, but she pulls it back to her face again. I look around the ground and carefully pick up the biggest piece of the shattered mirror.

“Look, Vidia. Nothing is there.” I hold the piece of glass to her face, and she examines herself. She looks away and starts hyperventilating.

“I can still feel his hand on me, Sire.” Her hands start shaking, and I have no idea what the fuck to do.

“Vidia… Vid, look at me.” I cup her face in my hands, and her eyes finally meet mine. “What do you feel right now?” She puts her hands over mine and takes slower, deeper breaths.

“You.”

“Okay, so just think about that. Can you do that?” She nods, and after two or three minutes of her tracing my hands over her face, her breathing is back to normal.

I wrap her in the towel and lift her out of the shower since there’s glass all over the floor. I set her on her bed and turn around as she gets dressed. When I hear her walking to her closet, I turn back around.

She walks out with a pair of black sneakers matching her black leggings and oversized hoodie. I want to make a joke about her wanting to be like me since I’m also in all-black, but I keep it in.

When she makes her way back to me, something hits her window, and she hugs me as if we’d be sucked into the ground beneath us if she let go. I hug her back, and she’s trembling in my arms. I glance over at the window and notice it was just a tree branch but bring her closer either way.

I soothe her hair as I hold her. “I got you, Vid. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again. I promise.” My voice breaks, so I quickly swallow the lump in my throat, and I tuck her wet hair behind her ear.

She slowly pulls away and spins the ring on her finger. “Please don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Her voice is still so quiet, but I can hear how numb she sounds. I’m already looking at her when she looks up at me, and maybe one of us just stepped on glass, but I could’ve sworn I heard my heart just break a bit more. I let out a regretful breath as I run my hand through my hair.

“Vidia, we never talked about that night. I—”

“We don’t need to. Enough was said.”

I keep my eyes on her and shake my head softly. “Not nearly enough was said, Vidia.”

She avoids my eyes and turns to grab her bag, but I take it from her, and we walk out of her apartment with her glued to my side. Not another word said. The entire car ride is silent, and when we reach August's door, Hazel swings the door open and pulls Vidia into her arms. They silently cry into each other’s arms for a few minutes in the doorway.

“I’m so sorry I missed your call.”

“Shut up, Hazelnut.” I hear them softly laugh, but it sounds so broken, and when Hazel looks up at me from Vid’s shoulder, she mouths,‘Thank you, Traitor.’I give her a weak smile and flip her off. Her smile spreads, and she rolls her eyes at me.

They walk into the apartment, and when I go to walk to my door, I hear them both say, “Wait!” When I turn back around, they’re holding the door open for me.

Biting back a smile, I walk in, and August is on the couch with a bunch of pillows and blankets. When Vid walks over, he stands and pulls her into a hug. “I’m sorry I missed your call, V.” When they pull away, Vid turns to both August and Hazel.

“If you two missed my call because y’all were fucking, I’m sleeping next door because at leasthepicked up.” They both laugh softly, the mood thankfully lightened, and Vid smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

We all sit on the couch as Hazel replies to Vid, “We were actually arguing, but Sire only answered because hewasn’tfucking anyone since he gets no bitches.”

I reach over Vid to throw a pillow at Hazel, and we all break into a laugh. When my eyes fall on Vid’s smile, I feel my heart grow twice in size. If that's even possible.

Chapter Fifteen

Sire

Are you sure you haven’tnoticed anything out of the ordinary?” My dad sounds like he is moving around on the other end, and I reassure him, again, that nothing “out of the ordinary” has happened since the break-in.

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