A New Start || Seventeen

Chapter 56

Daena heard the scrape of a chair behind her and knew either Leah or Joshua had got up to follow her.

As soon as she was out of the cafe and on the street she got the answer as to which of the two it was.

"Daena" Joshua called after her.

"Stop" he yelled loudly.

Daena knew he would be drawing unnecessary attention to himself, but she wasn't in the mood to listen to him so she just kept walking.

After a moment or two she realised he had stopped calling after her and after a quick check over her shoulder she saw he wasn't following her either.

She was relieved. She was too annoyed to talk. She wasn't allowed to see him, her oldest friend but he was out in public hanging out with her only work friend. Daena rolled her eyes at the thought.

She had been so lonely the past few weeks. Not being able see her friends and Jeonghan had devastated her. Especially the Jeonghan part. But she had stuck to the rules because she knew it was the right thing to do. So to her it wasn't fair that Joshua had risked being seen in public with Leah.

She was glad Joshua had stopped following her and causing a scene before someone noticed who he was, or it would have only complicated the situation she was already in.

She decided to take the long way home to calm down.

-

Daena approached her apartment having finally calmed down. She was looking forward to calling Jeonghan and seeing how soon this could all be over.

However her good mood vanished again when she saw a familiar figure sitting on her doorstep.

She groaned loudly. Loud enough that the unwanted guest looked up and stood when they saw her.

"What are you doing here?" Daena grumbled.

"I came to talk to you, you just stormed off" her guest explained.

Daena pushed past them and started to open her front door. "Go home Leah" she said with a sigh.

She stepped into her apartment and attempt to close the door behind her but Leah reached out and held it open before forcing her way in.

When they were both in the apartment and the door was closed Leah spoke.

"What was that?" She asked.

Daena shrugged. "What was what?"

"You know what I mean" Leah said placing her hands on her hips.

Daena removed her shoes and sat down in her armchair.

"How did you even get here before me?" She asked looking up at Leah.

"Joshua dropped me off" Leah answered, now standing near the couch but clearly choosing not to sit.

"Of course he did" Daena laughed sarcastically.

"What is your problem?" Leah snapped.

Daena blinked up at her. Leah had never got annoyed at her before.

Daena stood. "My problem. Your hanging out with my best friend behind my back"

This time it was Leah's turn to blink in surprise. "What?" She asked quietly, all the annoyance now gone from her voice.

"You heard me. I haven't been able to see him but clearly you've been spending time with him" Daena spat.

Leah sat down on the couch and rubbed a hand over her face.

"I... that's not what happened" She replied flatly.

Daena saw the confusion on Leah's face and realised it was genuine. She sat and looked at her friend gesturing for her to continue.

"He came to see you" Leah explained.

"What?" Daena asked.

"I have met him one time before today. The time I saw him here. I haven't been meeting up with him behind your back. Are you crazy? I wouldn't do that" Leah said.

"I... but why was he there" Daena asked confused.

"I came out of the school and he was waiting in his car. He asked where you were and I said you were talking to your dad and then we were going for a coffee. I asked if he wanted to join and he agreed" Leah explained.

"But... I'm not supposed to see any of them" Daena stuttered.

"Well if you hadn't ran off you would have heard that they all agreed today that enough time had passed and the press had moved on" Leah said.

Daena looked at her. "He told you that?"

"Yes, that was the reason he came to see you, to tell you it was all over and things could go back to normal. He came to see you as soon as he could, he said he had missed you" Leah explained.

"Oh" Daena said quietly unsure what to say, she felt like a fool.

"Did you really think I was hanging out with him behind your back? I knew I was meeting you there, why would I do that?" Leah asked.

"I'm an idiot" Daena said quietly.

"I mean... yeah. But why did you react like that?" Leah asked.

"I was just so mad when I saw you together. I haven't seen him in so long and it felt unfair in the moment" Daena said looking away, she felt ashamed of her behaviour.

Leah tilted her head to look at her friend. "Are you sure that's all, you seemed maybe... jealous?" she said quietly.

"I was jealous. I've wanted to see him for weeks now" Daena answered simply.

Leah stared at her for a second. "Okay I get it. I do"

"I'm sorry Leah. I over reacted" Daena explained looking at her friend for forgiveness.

"It's fine. Like I said I get it. But maybe you should apologise to Joshua as well. He was really upset" She replied.

"I.. I'll call him" Daena stammered.

"Hey. At least you don't have to mope around anymore, you can finally see lover boy" Leah said with a smile.

Daena grinned back at her. "I know"

"I'll leave you to your apology phone call. See you for lunch tomorrow?" Leah asked as she stood.

"Yes of course" Daena said as she followed Leah to the door.

Before Leah could open it Daena spoke again. "Are we okay? I'm sorry I was an idiot".

Leah turned and hugged her. "Of course and you are an idiot but your my idiot".

Daena smiled.

Leah opened the door to reveal a startled Jeonghan with one hand raised as if he was about to knock on the door.

Both girls looked at him and then the overnight bag in his hand.

Leah stepped around him before looking back at Daena. "Have fun" She said with a wink before disappearing.

Jeonghan stepped into her apartment and closed the door behind him.

"Was that Leah?" He asked.

Daena nodded.

Jeonghan dropped his bag on the floor.

"Hi by the way" he said with a smile.

"Hi" Daena said quietly suddenly feeling unsure of herself.

Jeonghan closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I missed you" he mumbled into her hair.

Daena breathed a sigh of relief. Their time apart was finally over.