The Stripper And The Anxiety-riddled Dork

A Pointless Endeavor

Chapter 25
< 1 Day left until the Wedding/The Rehearsal >

Small spots of black appeared in the corners of Codi's vision. It slowly consumed more and more of what she could see, it beginning to narrow to only keep Lucas in her line of sight. Her hands tightened around her elder brother's wrist as she looked at him dead on, angered Brown slowly turning into bewilderment and even fear when his eyes met Codi's livid hazel.

"How could I do that to you? How could I do that to you?!" Codi spoke, her voice steadily growing as her hands had tightened so much around his wrist that Lucas released his hold on her sweater and pulled his arm back towards himself.

"Nel was my best-friend. My only friend! And you fucked her behind my back!"

"She cheated on me, you awful excuse of a brother!!" Codi continued, her jaw flexed as she kept her gaze on Lucas. The vein that was on the left side of Codi's head and even curved around her eye, began to throb and slowly started to become more prominent.

"She was my girlfriend, you piece of shit! She was my friend! And did you ever think about how I would've felt about you fucking my friend?! No, of course you didn't! Because all you fucking care about is yourself!" Codi screamed as she pushed at Lucas's chest and made him stumble back at the hidden force behind the shove.

The brother simply looked at his sister with a bewildered expression. Codi's hands curled tightly into fists as 24 years of neglect and repressed emotion came bubbling out, her tunnel vision narrowing onto her parents.

"None of you give a damn about me!"

"Codi, That's not tru-" Dax started only for Codi's glare to harden as she cut him off.

"Where were you on my 5th birthday, then? All I wanted to do was to go to the Zoo. The fucking Zoo! And you couldn't even bother to pretend to enjoy yourselves! You just dumped Win and I on Silus and disappeared!"

"It was one time, Codi." Dallas commented. The irritation in her voice made the vein throb even harder. The steady thumb of her heartbeat in her ears turning into a painful hammering.

"Oh? Where were you on my 6th birthday then? Or my 7th, or my 8th, or my 9th, or the rest of my birthdays? Because you sure as hell weren't near me." Codi growled, Dallas's throat bobbed once as her daughter turned onto Dax. The quiet man had straightened his back when his daughter's glare had turned on him.

Hazel eyes became a vibrant gold as they glistened. The hotel lobby's fluorescent lights making Codi's eyes even brighter.

"And you." Only Venom and sadness were behind those two words. Dax blinked as Codi had taken a step towards him only to stop.

She didn't want to be near any of them.

"Where were you? Where the fuck were you when I needed you? Where were you when I came out and all that damn wife of yours did was smack me around and yell at me for something I can't bloody control?" Codi yelled, her voice cracking near the end as one of her hands moved to clutch her sweater where it rested at her chest.

"You did what?" Dax questioned breathlessly as his gaze went to his wife. Dallas looked away as her own mother and niece looked her way as well.

Codi scoffed at his reaction.

"Of course, you didn't know. You never bothered to pay attention. None of you did." She huffed, her hand dropping back to her side as her chest heaved lightly. The vein slowly backed away from the skin's surface as Codi's heart began to ease up on its rapid beating.

Her vision slowly started to remember other colors and regain its original depth as Codi's wrath dissipated as quick as it had been brought on.

Exhaustion quickly taking Wrath's place while Codi's shoulders slumped.

"All I wanted...All I wanted was for my parents to love me. Just 5 minutes of your time. Just ask me how my day was. Constantly hoping you'd be there when I blow out the candles." She sighed.

"...We do love you, Codi." Dax had spoken after a moment of silence, Codi's lips quirking into a lifeless grin before it dropped with a huff.

"...No, you don't. You only tolerated me."

Silence surrounded the lobby as Codi looked down at the marble floors.

"I'm done here. I'm done with pointless hope. I'm done with all of you."

"Leave me alone. I don't want to hear from any of you anymore. Never should've come here in the first place. What a pointless endeavor." She huffed as she moved to walk towards the Hotel's entrance/exit, her father's voice making her still once more.

"Codi, we need to talk about-" Dax started.

"What's my favorite color?"

"W-What?" He questioned, Codi looking at him from over her shoulder.

"My favorite color. What is it?"

Silence.

That was all her family had to say.

Silence.

"You can't even tell me because you never bothered to find out."

"24 years of my life. And you didn't bother to be there for any of them."

Codi stalked away without another word, the only sound in the lobby being the soft smack of her shoes as she walked away.

They weren't deserving of a goodbye. They weren't deserving of anything anymore.