OFF-SIDE

𝖙𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗

Nash
After lots and lots of thoughts and discussions, we finally agreed that we're going to the bar, both for the media and to know who the fuck is playing with us, but my main reason was none of those, it was to make Octavia happier, because she's forming a shell around herself and I don't like it one bit.

"I'm gonna pick you up at 8:30" I tell her through the phone, "deal." She replies and I can feel her smile, my insides flutter at the thought, we end the call and I stare at the papers in-front of me, "what do you think, sweetheart?" mom asks smiling big at me, "they're beautiful mom, great work." I tell her and she grins again, pulling me in for a hug.

"Love youuu." She mumbles in my hair, I can't help but caress her back, "me too mom, I'll go okay?" I tell her quietly swallowing the lump in my throat, she nods "stay safe." She smiles and disappears in her office, I stride towards my sister's room, knocking once, twice, three times and no answer, maybe she's outside, I walk towards the living room but my footsteps pause.

I find her, she's sitting on the couch, head in her hands and her entire body shaking as she sobs, and when I gain my senses back I immediately crouch beside her and she stiffens when she notices me, she slowly looks up, her beautiful green eyes bloodshot, dark circles surrounding them, and her face contoured in pain, I put an arm on her shoulder and turn her over before pulling her in a hug, she weakly hugs me back as she mumbles something.

She pulls back and presses her lips together before staring at me "I can't, I can't do this anymore." She chokes, her voice strangled, my stomach clenches and my heartbeat rises, "it's okay, we'll find a way I promise you Layla." I whisper softly trying to reassure her, she shakes her head, tears still falling freely, "how? How are we gonna find a way? We need to-we ne-need the money." She stutters.

"I gain lots of money from soccer and I'm becoming better again, so my income is increasing again." I whisper and a spark of hope lights in her eyes just as it breaks my heart, she puts a strand of her hair behind her ears "I'm sorry I'm making it a big deal bu-but I jus-t I can't do this, I tried I swear I-" she starts but I stop her with a raise of my hands "stop please." I beg her, desperation in my voice, she swallows and stares at the floor.

"When Jonathan said the truth about dad's death, I just-I, dad would be so disappointed with all of this, he always told me to do what I liked and what I wanted not what I had to do." She says tears welling in her eyes again as I wipe her cheeks, we stay like this in silence for a moment,then she smiles slowly at me "you're the best brother in the world Nash, you know that?" She whispers, looking up at me thoughtfully, I kiss her forehead "and you're the best sister ever, I promise you Layla, I'll help you out of this shit ." I say softly on a broken whisper, she nods then says "and I believe you."

***

A masquerade ball, what a joke, I've been waiting for Octavia for more than 15 minutes, after we decided that we can't be there alone, just the two of us, so now we have Layla, Adrian, Victoria and even Nikolai coming tonight, and now I'm waiting with her piece of shit best friend, he lights up a cigarette and pull it to his lips, then blow a smoke in my direction, unlocking another memory.

The first time I met Octavia, she blew smoke in my face at the gym , I don't even know why the hell they were at a gym "why were you at the gym?" I suddenly ask him, he raises a brow "excuse me?" I sigh then explain "the first time I met you and Octavia, you two were at the gym with another pink haired girl." I tell him and a smile slowly spreads on his face.

"Yeah, they were...drunk." He says slowly taking his time, "and they kept begging me to take them to the gym and I don't even know why, man." He says then laughs, "it was..weird anyways, but without all this she would've never met your ass." He says and turns to look at me, putting the cigarette back between his lips, the sound of the door cracking open and I turn to look at her, "sooo sorry." She mumbles while closing the door then turns her back to us.

She's wearing a black long-sleeved dress with an open back, and when she turns around I notice the slit in the dress from the side, I suck in a breath sharply, lips slightly parting at her sight, her curly hair is in a bun, letting two strands fall, and her full gorgeous lips painted in a red lipstick.

I swallow the knot in my throat before walking by her side and slowly putting my hand on her lower back, I feel her breath hitches as we stride towards the SUV waiting for us, Layla is already inside, Adrian picks up with our pace and sits in the front seat beside my driver, Octavia sits beside Layla, and I sit in the backseat, well it's a huge car anyways, Octavia snatches the cigarette from Adrian's hand and pull it between hers, is it weird that I'm jealous of a cigarette? Nope not at all.

Blowing a smoke out the window, she suddenly turns around "is this bothering any of you?" she asks and I shake my head and so does my sister, but the driver interrupts "I'm sorry to bother you but it really makes it hard for me to breathe." He says and Octavia doesn't waste a second before throwing it out the window, "I'm really sorry," she says sweetly flashing him a smile and he flashes one back, my driver is in his mid-thirties, and I'm seriously thinking about getting a new one, in his mid-eighties probably,
But what if she's into older men? Jesus.

***

My sister slowly steps out of the car, she's wearing a v-neck green dress that ends at her mid-thigh, and I'm already considering murdering a few people who'll look at her, Octavia follows her and so does Adrian, and I already notice Victoria and Nikolai waiting for us at the entrance.

We walk towards them and he raises a brow "you are on time." He mocks, his tone full with sarcasm, asshole "I-" Octavia starts to talk but I interrupt "it took me too long to find a tie, is there a problem?" I ask raising a questioning brow at him, daring him to say anything, he knows that I'm lying but he drops it.

Victoria flashes us a huge dimpled smile and hugs both octavia and my sister, the traitor "come on let's go inside, the party is about to start." She says and we all start walking, Nikolai with his wife, Layla and Octavia laughing together, and I'm stuck with Adrian, I'm sure he feels the same about me anyways, he narrows his eyes at me "this is a bad idea." He suddenly says, "too late, darling." I say and he rolls his eyes as we enter the ball.

***

We're told to leave our phones outside, and wear some stupid masks when we're inside, black masks for men, and red for women, they cover half our face, just a hole for the nose, and eyes, "so what do we do now?" Layla says, I press my lips together trying to think of an answer "I really have no idea." I reply simply cause it's the truth.

Music suddenly starts from somewhere and people start to gather in the dancing ball, Nikolai suddenly says "well, enjoy." He says as he mutters something in Victoria's ears and they walk towards the crowd, they slow-dance, Victoria giggling and trying not to step on her feet, Nikolai just watches her making sure she doesn't get hurt as he slowly teach her the moves, and I notice the way he looks at her, he looks at her like there's no one else, like she's his only light in the dark.

I extend a hand towards Octavia and she raises a brow while taking a sip from her wine "will you dance with me, lenochka ?" I ask grinning at her, she slowly smiles and nods, I put my hand on her lower back as we walk towards the crowd, She whispers something, struggling to reach my ear, so I lean down for her, "I don't know how to dance." She whispers and I pull back smiling, "what?" She ask her cheeks heating with embarrassment, "don't worry love, I don't know either." I say and she laughs, and the sound seems heavenly, too good to be true.

•A vote is really really appreciated ❤️‍🩹

•Lowkey thinking abt making a Layla chapter but still dk ✋