Divergent souls || 2

Fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN ⇆ ROWAN
Angelina is fucking stunning, for a beat, it feels as if I can't take my eyes off her, everyone in this event apparently can't, it's both frustrating and understandable.

The amount of glares I threw today is more than I did for the past months, "Who the hell are all those people?" Angelina whispers in my ears and I breathe in her scent that's all over me.

Might as well be Shoved deep in my bones, she stares up at me, confusion filling her eyes, "Interviewers, they'll ask, a fucking lot." I prepare her so that she doesn't get surprised.

"I thought they would be—two or three interviewers, not all those people." She mutters under her breath and rolls her eyes, I shrug, "Yeah well, My father is an important man." The words taste disgusting on my tongue actually.

She lifts her lips in boredom before her expression sobers up as they start approaching us further, we should be at the table in front of us, but actually we're just resting on the bar away from them, Dear father, Mother, and Even Silas are here, since it's the event of my father and his' partnership,

He's been glaring at almost every single person that dares talk to him, which shouldn't be a surprise to them, his eyes are currently on his phone though, attention plastered to whatever is in it.

I pull Angelina to me slightly as everyone starts asking questions, to us, and Silas, who doesn't pay them attention, "Is she your new girlfriend?" One reporter asks and I shrug, not entirely giving them the answer to avoid further questions as much as possible.

They get the hint and Move on to the next question almost instantly, I feel Angelina tensing in my arms but her expression is nothing but confident, as always, "How did you two meet?" Another guy hurries to ask and Angelina straightens.

"We actually grew up together." She offers with a tight fake smile, more attention is brought to us, cameras flashing and numerous questions being asked, I've always hated this part of life, the invasion of fucking privacy all because my father is a known man, as if that justifies it.

"We'd love to hear the story from both of you." He exclaims further and I tilt my head in annoyance, I'm mostly annoyed for Angelina, I don't want her to back off from this, she holds her head higher.

A small smile spreads over her face for the act, as she looks at me with a soft expression, one I've never seen her wear, one that doesn't suit her; because even if Angelina fell in love, she loves hard, with force and determination.

"We were friends at first, kids and all." I start, my voice welcoming as a fake smile spreads over my face, I tighten my hold on Angelina for comfort and she slightly relaxes, before glancing back at me, "He protected me, made me laugh, and most of all, he loved me and made me feel at ease, it was just platonic though." Angelina goes on.

I inhale a breath to embrace myself, "Until high school, I think I've always loved her though, whenever Angelina was around, everything felt peaceful and just comforting, I didn't understand that back then because I thought that's how friendships work." My words make the reporters inch closer. Curious and interested.

"Turns out it was love all along, it was obsession maybe. It is." I explain, earning smiles and some 'Awws' but I can feel Angelina's glare settling on me, it sends heat rushing through my body.

We throw lies here and there, the emotions inside of me heighten and I wonder for how much longer I can hold back without bursting.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

"A moment with my son, darling." My mother smiles warmly at Angelina who nods softly as she excuses herself, leaving only my mother and I together, her forged smile slowly starts to slip away since no one is around.

My throat clamps shut at the look on her face, "Is something wrong?" I ask after what seems like an eternity of her...disappointed stare, she sighs, "You're not around." She observes, the urge to roll my eyes spikes but I hold back.

Like her golden polite son would.

"I miss my baby boy, Rowan." She smiles, it's heartwarming, and it makes my heart clenches in my chest, my fingers itch to pull her close, but I hold back, for numerous reasons.

"I'm not your baby boy anymore." I smile, maybe to ease the harsh stakes of my words, she gulps, looks on the floor, "No you're not." Her words are filled with...sadness, agony even.

I wait awkwardly for her to add another thing to this goddamn conversation, "You still hate me because I didn't stand up for you the last time?" She shrugs nonchalantly, as if what she just said is fucking normal.

I grit my teeth, "I don't hate you." The need to add unfortunately to my sentence is so fucking close to the point where I have to bite my tongue, "it's not what it looks like." She rambles on.

The same fucking words, every single time.

My mother lacks creativity as always, but it's the fact that she's speaking as if I don't have the right to be angry, as if watching your kid get beaten up with a belt is completely fucking normal, as if doing it yourself to him sometimes is completely normal too. She's a fucking joke, everything about this family is.

They don't even deserve the label, and it took so much fucking time to realize that myself, to realize my worth, it happened somewhere after I hurt Angelina and then all the way in college.

I'd throw parties here and there, wishing it would distract me, I'd plaster a personality for each person so that they can like me, But even after all of this, I was back to point one, the thoughts were always there, the only difference is that they were buried deep, which caused internal wounds.

Wounds that I can't remove right now, but I can be proud of myself, and while I still struggle sometimes, a lot actually, there is a change, I can feel it, in the way I react to my mother, father or even other family members.

Old me wouldn't say anything if someone made a joke about me, if someone insulted me, it Felt like my tongue is cut, right now, it's still wrenching from the inside, but my mouth works just fine, no longer stuttering or feeling like the world will end if I speak back.

Now since I lowkey fixed my fucking problems, I need to pay for what I did years ago, I didn't realize how much it would hurt Angelina because I was too deep in my own pain to notice.

I read that somewhere though,

Hurt people hurt people.

It took a while to settle inside my mind, but when it did, it felt like everything made sense, so right now, there are no more excuses or holding back, and that breakdown with Angelina days ago was because I was extremely upset to the point where it felt like it was just like before.

But it wasn't, I woke up the next day with victory rushing through my body, at my reaction, sure I felt like I was going to burst, but I handled my emotions, I validated them, I saw them.

That's enough for now.

What isn't on the other side, is the fact that I have a feeling that Angelina won't hear me out, or maybe I'm gaslighting myself into feeling that so if she doesn't, I don't get disappointed, even though I know that it'll hurt just the fucking same.

The sickening possibilities won't stop me now, and it's time for Angelina to realize that.

A vote is really appreciated.