𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 - 𝑪𝑯𝑹𝑰𝑺 𝑺𝑻𝑼𝑹𝑵𝑰𝑶𝑳𝑶.

three!

[irl!]

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TW: MORE MENTIONS OF PAST ABUSE!

[irl!]

IF LOOKS COULD KILL, ELLIOT would be ten feet under.

there's no possible way to explain the anger consuming lily by every passing second that she reads the comment that her ex-boyfriend left—also the fact that now everyone knows that things ended badly between them.

and she's not mad at her best friend for pointing out how he did indeed break her heart—though, it's clear he did more than just break her heart—but because of the fact that elliot posting this picture indeed made alex text her.

it makes her both angry and sad because every time she's ever seen any sort of type of notification that says his name, it just reminds her of everything he's ever done to her.

and it hurts her, because everything he's done to her, it made her lose faith in love and relationships and has made it so much harder for her to want a relationship. and it also brought on a whole lot of trauma and needing things like therapy and the fact that she feels like she can never have even a single moment of peace and happiness without feeling like she can't trust someone and because of this, she ends up trying to find any reason to find a flaw of theirs or their red flags, so that she has a reason to have to leave before they can leave.

with shaky fingers—but with anger, instead of fear—she wordlessly puts her phone back into her back pocket.

then, even though she feels like she's being dramatic and overreacting, she looks at the group and takes in a deep breath, while she tries to come up with the courage to be mature about this and make sure her voice doesn't come out shaky, or anything like that.

"it was great to meet all of you," she starts, avoiding looking at her best friend. "really. you all seem cool and nice, but today has just been really overwhelming. and i hope i can get the chance to hang out with you guys at some point to get to know you, but i think i'm going to head back."

elliot sighs nervously, guilt filling her at the fact that she's not even speaking to her right now—anytime they've ever fought, which is rare, they've always just said what they needed to the other.

"wait, lily—" elliot starts, trying to grab her wrist, but lily, seeing it from a mile away, she yells in instinct, "don't fucking touch me!"

elliot flinches, but doesn't back away, since she knows that lily can't help this reaction from past experiences.

lily flinches herself and after noticing the strange stares from other people around them, lily gulps and starts to feel guilty for snapping at her—this is why she didn't try to talk to her because she didn't want to snap at her, and she knows that she's usually hurtful towards others when she's hurting.

tears fill her eyes.

"i—i'm sorry. i didn't mean to yell like that," she says shakily. "just...don't touch me, okay?"

her eyes find the rest of the group and more guilt fills her as she worries of what they may think of her now.

"guys, i'm sorry," she sighs, looking down at the ground as she backs away from them. "i understand if you don't want to be around me now," she says, her voice still wavering, but not seeing the confused and sympathetic looks on their faces—she assumes they're judging her now and wanting to treat her like she's crazy.

"um...i'm just going to go. i'm sorry, this was just a big waste of your time." she mutters, before walking away, leaving everyone confused and elliot worried and full of regret.

—————

NOT LONG AFTER LILY LEFT, no matter how hard the triplets and madi tried to comfort her, elliot couldn't stay.

she knew things would be a little hard and confusing at home, since they share an apartment and what not, but she couldn't just let her best friend leave upset like that.

and i'm sure you all think lily's being dramatic. and maybe some think that. but, no one knows her like elliot—lily has always been a sensitive person, someone that cares a lot about everything.

and elliot knows that alexander is probably not going to leave lily alone now, because he's never known what the word no means and he's always been possessive over lily. and he's been possessive over her, even when they'd 'break up'. the only difference is that they're actually broken up this time.

and it's not even about the actual post that lily's mad at elliot for. it's because of the fact that alexander saw the post. it's about how scared of him she is, and there's not a single line that he'd stop at—he's known for not caring about crossing the line.

"i'm sorry, guys," elliot abruptly says after glancing at her phone every five seconds after she had sent multiple worried texts to lily. "i—i can't stay. you know i'm always down to hang out with you guys,"

"but...one of the reasons i wanted to hang out was so that i could introduce you guys to her," she says, feeling more at ease after seeing them being completely understanding about it.

"i wanted to get her out of the house because she's been going through a lot of shit—things that she doesn't deserve," she continues, sighing as tears of her own start pricking at her eyes from how much her best friend's pain hurts her too. "but, i should've known that he wouldn't let her be happy for one fucking minute."

they quickly become confused on who she's talking about.

madi's the only who has the guts to ask. "who is he?"

elliot sighs, trying to be careful with her words—god knows lily's already upset with her, and she knows that if she reveals too much, that's just another thing that'll make her more upset. "uh, how do i word this?"

"it's...it's her ex," she says, clenching her eyes shut, trying to figure out what else to say without revealing it all. "let's just say he's not a very good person—to be honest, he's a complete fucking psychopath. and he doesn't want her to be happy. like ever."

chris and his brothers share confused looks, becoming slightly curious about what's really going on. but, they don't ask any questions—neither does madi—since they don't know lily that well and they feel like it's not really any of their business.

with that, she walks off, after giving a wordless, numbed wave goodbye.

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