Hidebound

Chapter SeventyTwo

The exhaustion must have caught up to me because I slept through my alarm and I didn't hear Hex leave for work.

Part of me was mad he didn't wake me but at the same time I wasn't ready to see him yet.

Thank god for Harley. She had texted me when I was still asleep saying that she'll take my shift today because she needed something to take her mind off Wyonna. I just hope she gives herself time to rest and grieve, even if Wyonna is still here.

I don't want to be alone today but I also don't want to talk about what happened last night.  No matter how much I want to vent, its a conversation that Hex and I had privately and it will be resolved privately as well.

But everyone's at work, not surprising for the middle of the week.

Teddy jumps onto the kitchen bench and rubs his head against mine as I lean on the island. He's not begging for food so I know Hex fed him this morning before he left for work.

My phone starts to ring from the bedroom and jog down the hallway to catch it before it ends.

Unknown number.

"Hello?" I answer as I make my way back into the kitchen.

A male voice clears his throat on the other end and I hold the phone between my ear and shoulder as I look in the cupboard for something to eat.

"Hello" he calls "Poppy?"

"This is she, who's calling?" I ask, waiting for them to identify them self.

It takes him a moment to respond as I listen to him breathe on the other end.

He replies just as I'm about to hang up.

"Uh, this is, uh, West Ward."

I freeze in place, both hands holding the pantry doors open but no longer searching for food.

I haven't seen West since I packed up my shit and moved out of the house we shared and I hadn't heard from him since I called him, questioning him about the strange occurrences that had been happening in my life, unbeknownst to me it was the Pollar's the entire time.  I don't know why I ever considered West being behind everything, I should've known he wouldn't do that.

After all he had been my best friend since childhood.

"Oh."

"I can- I can hang up if you want?" I hadn't meant to sound rude but he had taken me completely by surprised, after all, its been years. I didn't think I'd ever hear from him again.

"No! No, sorry. You just caught me by surprise" my voice lowers the more I talk. I close the cupboards and turn back to the island, patting Teddy as he watches me.

He clears his throat again. "Yeah, um, sorry about that, maybe I shouldn't have called" he mumbles to himself under his breath.

I can hear the awkwardness in his tone and I wonder what had convinced him to call me.

"Why did you call?" I ignore his mumbling and ask my own question.

"I'm back in town. Its been a couple of years and I can't get a hold of anyone, besides you, obviously. Do you... want to get lunch with me? Catch up, you know..?" He clears his throat again and I can almost picture the red that creeps up his neck when he's uncomfortable.

My mouth opens and closes like a fish multiple times as I try and come up with an answer.

"West, I-I-."

"As friends! Just friends!" He rushes out when he hears the hesitation in my voice.

I look at the time on the clock and see that lunch time is creeping closer and my stomach rumbles.

"Just friends?" I clarify.

"Absolutely, I mean, if you're willing to be" his words trip over each other as he stutters and rushes talking.

"Okay" I agree. Something in my gut is telling me he's being genuine and I need to get out of the house. I need to be away from the mess that's my life for a couple of hours, even if I know Hex will absolutely not approve.

"O-okay?" He sounds surprised that I had agreed and I feel a little guilty. Had I sounded like a bitch earlier? "Okay, want want me to pick you up?" He asks hesitantly.

"That would be great, I'll text you my address" I mumble before we hang up.

Teddy meows at me as I drop my phone on the island after texting West my address.

"This is a bad idea, isn't it?" I sigh as I pat his head and he meows again.

*

I'm here

I look at the text from West and then glance out the front window, seeing the car that I used to drive daily. I guess he had kept it in storage until he returned from France.

Should I really do this? It feels like a betrayal to Hex to some extent but at the same time, there's still answers I want and there's definitely answers that I owe West.

Fuck it.

I lock the front door behind me and make my way to West's car.

I can feel his eyes on me as I walk but its not the same as it once was. Instead of the intimacy that used to be there, there's nothing except pure curiosity.

"Hi" I exclaim as I open the passenger door and take a seat.

"Hi, nice place" West says as he pulls away from my apartment. We don't hug, neither of us feeling comfortable enough to do so and it makes me feel kind of sad. We used to be close. Before we dated he was my best friend and now he's a complete stranger.

"Thanks" I mumble as I click my seatbelt into place.

The car smells of him, the same he has always smelled but now I feel nothing for it. He looks the same, if not for a few extra wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. His clothes are different though, he's dressed more conservative then years ago, he seems almost professional in his dress code.

I don't question it.

The conversation is nothing more than small talk as he drives and its borderline awkward. He tugs at the neckline of his shirt multiple times and I shift in my seat, wanting nothing more than to hurry up and get to wherever we're going.

I recognise the area immediately. I used to live here with mum and dad. In fact my childhood house is just around the corner and for a moment I fear this is a set up between West and my father.

The familiar ice-cream parlour comes into view and flashbacks run through my head, not good ones either.

West had taken me here the same day I found out about Hex and was told to live as though he was dead. The realisation that I was to have a Platonic instead of a Darling happened here. I thought my life would turn out like mums and it terrified me.

But I guess West has no idea that this isn't a happy place for me, to him its just a place we used to hang out.

"The ice-cream parlour" I breathe as we walk through the doors. West looks at me with a big smile.

"Yeah, thought we'd throw it back. Have you been here recently?" He asks as he takes the lead to a spare table. He hadn't noticed the drop in my mood as I plant a fake smile across my face.

"No, not in years" I murmur as I take it in. I feel like I'm twenty-two again, nothing had changed since the last time I was here and the interior is the same.

West picks the booth in the back and I sit across from him, placing my bag by my side.

Maybe I should have driven my own car here; in case of emergency, such as the sight of dad.

The longer we sit the more I begin to relax, realising that West and my father planning against me sounds insane and its just paranoia speaking to me.

"So..." West gains my attention when he taps his hands on the table between us. "How's life been?"