OFF-LIMITS

02.

Chapter two | Adrian
Fuck it, I shouldn't have come here, I really shouldn't, but it's important and I had to deal with this whether I liked it or not, "hey." I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn my head already recognizing whose voice this is, I slap his hand away and stare at my brother for a beat, raising a brow "yes?" I ask running a hand across my jaw, "long time no see, bro." He says smiling stupidly.

The corner of my lips lift a little, I don't reply though, because someone interrupts, "Damien, where are-" her words die just as her footsteps stop, her eyes finding mine as always, and her neck bobs as she swallows, she looks away first which isn't surprising as she interlocks her hand with Damien's, like the very good girlfriend she is.

What a joke, my blood boils with the need to separate them at least a fucking mile away, Damien's hand tightens around hers as he pulls her closer to him, his eyes meeting mine as he raises a brow, like he's reminding me who's actually with her, but what my young bro doesn't realize? Is that his cute perfect girlfriend might be with him, yes, but she'll always be mine, whether she fucking liked it or not, we both knew it since the moment I laid eyes on her years ago, she chose to run away from that truth for some stupid reason, but I didn't, And I'll keep getting in her way until she fucking wakes up.

But not today, I finish my glass of whiskey and place it down, slowly I turn my attention back to Brendan, the person who is behind our presence here today, he's talking about how he discovered his art and some shit, I don't really pay attention to it because someone else is still on my mind.

I look back at her, taking in her look, her face is so beautiful it aches to look at her most of the time, she has her hair in a ponytail, giving a good view of how perfect her face looks, or the way the dress fits her perfectly, the color literally matches her personality if that makes sense, she's all bright, always smiling, always here for people, always talking about things that excite her but somehow, she becomes silent in my existence, and I've never been more annoyed by something

✿ ✿ ✿

This night is coming to an end and I can't explain how happy I'm, "do you want anything?" Nash asks, he's Octavia's husband, and kind of a friend, our relationship is complicated, "just water." I reply and a smile spreads on his face for some reason, "water please." He mocks my accent as he grabs a cup of water from the waiter, I roll my eyes at his normal attitude, I'm not even surprised at this point, just living with it.

Octavia is sitting on his side and Brendan on hers, Layla and my lovely brother sit across from us, and surprisingly Layla is exactly in-front of me, but of course, she isn't even looking in my direction, she's busy helping Damien with something that's so fucking important, the waiter comes again dropping food in our plates, "how has everything been at the shelter, Layla?" Octavia asks her and her whole face lights up, making me feel something weird that I'd rather not explain.

She looks at her smiling so big at the mention of her shelter, she loves animals so much to the point that she's been saving money most of her life after she quit modeling a couple of years ago to open a shelter of her own, and she did it and I wish I could tell her that I'm proud of her, but I can't, "it's been great, we've been getting more donations and everyone is happy with it, some of the animals even found a home, mostly dogs because people tend to like them more—I don't know though I prefer all of them, they're just so-" her words die when the fucker beside her interrupts, "I think that's enough talking they'll get a headache, babe." He laughs and her smile slowly disappears, Nash glares at him, and I'm sure the look I give isn't different from his.

"The only person who gives us a headache is you, Damien, let her fucking talk about what she loves." Nash says harshly, and I internally cheer for him, Layla smiles awkwardly "no it's fine nash, I was already done." She says and her eyes meet mine for a split second before she looks away again, "well isn't that nice of you nash." Damien replies smiling at him, I fight the urge of getting up and punching him.

"Guys it's fine." Layla says looking between both of them not liking how she's becoming the center of attention and Nash drops it, obviously for his sister's sake but Damien takes it as a win as his grin widens more, the stupid fucker, if I know a thing that Layla hates the most, it's definitely making people upset, or even uncomfortable in the slightest bit, even if they were fucking mean to her and that itself irritates me.

Octavia changes the topic of how she's been feeling lately, and how she's dealing with the therapy sessions she's doing for people, a couple of years ago, Octavia started therapy sessions for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, and I've never been prouder of my best friend, I knew her since we were sixteen, we met each other at the perfect timing, we were both at our lowest, and we helped each other reach the shore, I'll always be grateful for her, and I'd die saving her if I had to.

Everyone catches up to things but my eyes are on her, she's been staring at her food for more than ten minutes, just messing it up with the fork so it appears like she's eating, but I've known her for long enough to know this trick, earlier in her life after quitting the modeling industry, let's say it didn't affect her in a good way, she was diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia a couple of years later, and she's been getting better but I still see the pain through her eyes, the emptiness that never goes away, maybe the way she tries to cover it by being loud and always smiling, always reassuring people, always caring for them while no one does the same for her and it's fucking heartbreaking.

Damien leans closer to her and I hear him saying something that sounds like "just eat." My hand tightens around the fork, but I don't change my blank face, after her diagnosis, I searched about it, knew what she was thinking, what the battle inside her mind seemed like, and well surprisingly to him, telling her to eat won't make her magically change her mind and eat it, I tried to help her but she pushed me away like she always does when someone gets too close, she pushes them away because she's scared of getting too close, she's scared of the loss, because she believes that there's no such thing as "forever"
Well, there aren't but there are better things.
And one day I'll make her experience them.
Meanwhile I'll make her regret ever choosing him over me.

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