Snaked

Everything But Save Me

Avery's pov

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," someone says.

"Shut up, Julie. Let me sleep," I say, nuzzling my face into the pillow

"Oh, Avery, it's not Julie," the voice says again, making my eyes flick open in a panic as I look over to see Caleb leaning against the closed door.

I look around the room and notice that it was the room I was in last night before the boys and I performed with Julie. "How did I get back here?" I ask quietly as I try to remember what happened. I furrow my eyebrows together in confusion as he opens the door and walks out just before Willie walks through the door before Caleb closes it behind Willie. I hop off of my bed and run towards him before wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him as he wraps his arms around my shoulders in response, pulling me closer.

I pull away from him and realize I'm still wearing that horrid black dress. "I would've put you in something more comfortable but I didn't wanna make you feel uncomfortable when you woke up," he says, rambling.

A smile and shake my head at him. "It's okay, thank you." I finally look at his hair and notice that it's shorter than last time, making me confused but I dismiss it.

"Is, uh, Alex okay?" He asks, stuttering.

"I think so? I mean the last time I saw him was when Caleb took me- wait, how long was I asleep?" I ask since I feel like I've been asleep for days.

He sighs and rubs the back of his neck before looking down at me. "A few months, at least," he says, whispering quietly almost so that I don't hear him.

"No. No, no, no," I say as I back away just a small bit in shock before I start pounding my fits against his chest. "This is your fault. You're fault Willie. You had a choice to bring us here and you fucking did. That's not fucking fair," I say as I stop pounding against his chest as my energy starts to run out and I start crying against my fists that are resting against his chest. I push him backward until his back is against the door before falling to my knees. "That's twenty-six years I've lost, and one's all because of you," I say as I cry before I feel him pull me to sit in between his legs as he holds me close against his chest.

He sighs and rests his chin on my head. "I know, I know. It's all my fault."

There's a small knock on the door, making Willie and looking up at the closed door. "Willie, come on we gotta go," a female's voice says from the other side of the door.

Willie sighs before I scooch away from him so that he can stand up before he holds his hand down to me to help me stand up. I grab it and he pulls me up before I cross my arms over my chest before he opens the door revealing a beautiful girl that looks me up and down before he leaves and closes the door, leaving me alone in the big empty room.

I back up until the legs reach the bed before I sit down and put my face into my gloved hands. I don't cry, though. I think of all the ways we went wrong and what I would've done to stop us from being here. I feel something move beside me so I lift my head and see a small black kitten playing with the strings of a white dress laying beside me, making me smile softly. I lift it up and bring it in front of my face, making it swipe at me. "Well you're a cute little thing, aren't you?" I say, smiling softly but sadly at it.

It meows at me loudly, making me put it down into my lap as it walks in a circle before laying down and looking up at me with big green eyes.

"I see she likes you," a raspy and familiar voice says from the doorway, making me scowl. "Oh, don't look at me like that, I saved you."

I laugh doubtfully. "That's cute," I say, moving the cat off of my lap and onto the bed. "You did everything but save me."

"You were going to disappear if I didn't take you. Did you really want to not exist at all?" He asks, moving toward me.

"You could've let me die, though. That was your whole plan, right? So why didn't you let me?" I ask, standing up and walking toward him.

He hesitates before looking down at me. "You figured out that I needed you for leverage, so I had to follow through," he says with no emotion on his face or in his voice. He looks down at me and doesn't say anything else for a moment, making me uncomfortable but I don't want to look away. "Get dressed. You have a show to do," he says winking at me before turning around and leaving.

I roll my eyes and pet the kitten before grabbing the dress and getting changed. Once I'm in the new dress, I fiddle with my hair and brush my teeth before opening the door, jumping when I see Willie waiting for me. "Jesus, dude, don't you have anything better to do?" I ask, walking past him.

"Nope," he says with a small smile as he joins me. He places a hand on the small of my back, making me flinch slightly before he removes it. "Sorry," he says, his smile fading.

"It's fine," I say, stopping in front of the stairs when I see crowds of people talking and dancing as loud music plays. I take a deep breath before sighing and looking up at Willie, hoping he would tell me what to do.

"You don't have to come tonight, you just found out you've missed five more months of your life, I'm sure Caleb would understand," he says, looking down at me with soft eyes.

"Caleb wouldn't give a shit," I say, looking back down at the crowd. He opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. "Let's just get this over with."