Regret

Chapter Thirty Six- Flirtatious As Ever

A/N: This chapter was almost 6000 words so I've had to break it in two. Anyways, it's been a while since I last updated so feel free to go back to the last chapter to jog your memory on what happened. Sorry for the late update and I'll post the next one as soon as I can. Enjoy :)

"Taylor, come on. It's just me now. The others have gone." Cass's muffled voice came from the other side of the door as she waited for me to finally let her inside the bedroom. Both she and Caleb had been trying for what felt like hours, but I refused to let them in while everyone else was still in my house.

I would have felt bad for abandoning them, but I didn't want any of them to see me at this moment in time.

I already felt humiliated enough as it was.

I'm sure Xander had told Caleb what went down by now and I felt too embarrassed to face him. I didn't think it was very fair to make Caleb the middleman between me and his brother.

Plus, one of the downsides to identical twins is their similarity. Although they had distinguishing features that separated them from appearing the exact same, they were still extremely alike.

The last thing I wanted to see right now was either of the twins, even though I know Caleb means well.

"Finally." She muttered once the click of the door sounded around the room after I unlocked it. She let herself into the space I was using to hide away in while I scurried back to the bed, cocooning myself in the duvet for some kind of comfort.

My dad's bedroom was the only one with a mattress on the bed since we took all the others downstairs last night.

"What happened, Tay?" She asked softly, joining me on the bed as she lay beside me. "By the time we all woke up, you and Xander were nowhere to be seen. At first, I thought you were together, but then Chris mentioned how Xander's car was no longer in the driveway." She went on as she scooted further down so she could lay on her side facing me.

"Oh god, I'm so embarrassed." I sighed and used the duvet to cover my face from my reddening cheeks.

When Cass didn't say anything, I peeked behind the fabric to see her looking down at me in even more confusion than before.

"I told Xander I liked him." I blurted out, continuing before she could say anything and ask how it went. "Not only did I tell him I liked him, but I told him I wanted to be with him, that I was ready for the next step." I cringed thinking about the night before.

"How did it go?" She quizzed. The smile soon drained from her face when she noticed me giving her dead eyes.

"Well, I wouldn't be cooped up in my dad's room if it went well." I huffed, not meaning to take it out on her. She didn't flinch at the harshness in my voice and instead gave me a sympathetic smile telling me that she understood how I felt.

I don't get it. Worst things have happened to me in life, so why was this affecting me so much?

Xander's just a boy.

"He just stood there, Cass. Then when it looked like he was actually going to say something, his phone started ringing at 3 in the morning. It doesn't take a genius to know why he would be receiving a call at that time."

"Maybe it was just a random caller and it just happened to be bad timing." She added, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than me.

I shook my head at her words, already thinking of that before she got here, but then I realised that I recognised the girl's name on the screen last night. "The name Holly popped up on his screen. I didn't recognise it at first and then I remembered that he used to have a fling with someone called Holly not too long ago, I think it was the same girl calling him."