hexes for exes

chapter twenty-three, the things we never said

ZETH NEVER HEADED back. Livia and Amphion were both far too tired to continue on, too mentally clouded, but Aurelius and the younger kids weren't ready to leave yet. The two of them ended up finding someone who was planning on leaving, who was going to drive to centre Briarville, and hitched a ride.

The two were dropped off as promised, and they began making their way back home.

At eleven o'clock in the evening, the streets of Briarville were still not abandoned. There were plenty of bars open, with all manners and assortments of people heading in and out. Neon and fluorescent signs lit up the town centre, but as they got further and further away from the main district, the sound got quieter and the light got dimmer.

Soon, it was only the two of them by the beach, illuminated by the moon. The only sound was their footsteps and the rattling of leaves as the soft breeze blew by.

Livia began the conversation. She hadn't said much since her conversation with Sarah. She'd been too busy thinking. Engrossed in the past, thinking of those things Sarah had accused her of. Thinking of the better times, when Melody was here to soothe out any conflict that arose.

"Do you think Zeth...?"

"I don't know," Amphion admitted. "Depends on if they said anything on the way back, I think. But he hasn't even texted me. I don't know what he's doing."

"Nothing happened then, probably," Livia muttered.

"Or he didn't want to ruin my mood," Amphion snorted. "He's that kind of person."

"Yeah. He is."

"You look really tired."

"Just mentally," she sighed. "I... I wasn't ready for all that tonight. I was already tired enough from dealing with Mark Arron."

"I'm guessing that it didn't all go well with Sarah. I saw her leave the party."

"She accused me of a lot of things. Some I can understand, some I don't."

"Oh?"

"I'm not going to share," Livia said defensively. "It's just between me and her, and I don't think she wants me to share anyways. But she said a lot of things. I think I understand everything a lot more now."

"Do you?"

"I think so."

"Do you still... like me?" Amphion suddenly asked, stealing a glance at her before turning away.

"Not like last year, no," Livia said firmly. "I think it was all a bit ridiculous in the first place."

She heard him let out a faint breath. "I'm sorry about the things I said about you last year, by the way. We don't... we don't all dislike you. We never had. Sometimes I got really annoyed at you, but it was never like, a big thing."

"I get that," Livia whispered. "I mean, sometimes you have the right to be annoyed anyways. I know I can be really pushy and overbearing sometimes. You were right about that. I was really bossy. Still am, sometimes."

"It's not always a bad thing," Amphion offered.

"But a lot of times, it is. And I think it's affected my relationships negatively far more than I ever thought."

"You learnt that from talking with Sarah?"

Livia didn't reply.

"Right," he muttered. "Privacy. Right."

"Whatever Sarah said," he continued after a bit, "it probably has some truth to it, but she's probably exaggerated it a bit. You two had always been quite horrible to each other, but, well, it was always quite mutual. Which is why none of us ever really intervened."