Close As Enemies

Twenty-Three.

Now Playing... Lost 

    Four Years Ago

"Molls, just come to the party with me. It won't be bad." Wes pleaded, leaning forward in my desk chair, and I sighed, placing my book on my nightstand.

"You know parties aren't my thing."

"Look. If you go, I promise I'll stay with you no matter what. Okay?" I continued to stare at my book, even though by then, I wasn't even reading. He dramatically sighed, throwing his hand over his heart. "Now you're ignoring me? My h-heart can't h-handle this pain."

I rolled my eyes, the corner of my mouth quirking up. "You're so dramatic. Why do you want me to go so bad?"

He chuckled, sitting beside me on the bed. "Because you're my best friend. I promised you I would give you some of the best times of your life, didn't I?"

"I guess." I mumbled, sighing as I closed my book and looked at him. "Since you promised that, I promise to never ignore you again."

He gasped, pretending to faint. "You're an absolute angel."

I rolled my eyes again, giggling. "Go get dressed and come back, you dork."

Wes left to change clothes, and I stood in front of my closet, my hands on my hips, as I tried to decide on something to wear. My eyes caught sight of the blue dress Wes had bought me for my birthday, and I immediately grabbed it, slipping it on quickly. Once dressed, I braided my hair to the side and applied some eye makeup.

Just as I was about to walk out the door, Wes walked in, smiling softly at me. "You look beautiful, Molls."

My face heated up, but I shot him a quick smile before walking in front of him. The party was only a few houses down from my house, so the two of us walked to it. A lot of people were already there, and nearly everyone I knew was drinking and dancing. I was only fourteen, so I was against drinking, and even though it was wrong for everyone else to do, I couldn't judge them for their decisions.

"Come on, Molls. Relax some." Wes nudged my shoulder, and when I glanced at him, he held out a bottle to me. "Take a drink."

I took a swig, the alcohol burning my throat as it slid down, causing me to gag. He chuckled before downing his and throwing it away. Just as I was about to talk to him, a girl from my math class started talking to me, and when our conversation ended, I turned around to see Wes had left. Panic knotted my stomach into a mess of nerves, and I started walking around to see if I could find him. When I finally spotted him, he had another girl pressed against the wall, whispering in her ear. My heart dropped at the sight. It wasn't because I had feelings for him, but because he promised he would stay with me, but I should've known better. It was somehow always too good to be true.

"Hey, you look pretty down." I whipped around to see a blonde haired boy. His deep blue eyes bored into me as he smiled. "Wanna talk about it?"

I hesitated at first, but then he grabbed my hand and led me to the back porch. When we were alone, I sighed, playing with the bracelet on my wrist-- ironically, it was a gift from Wes. "It's just... my best friend left me alone when he promised he wouldn't."

The guy nodded, his hand rubbing my back gently. "He sounds like a real jerk. You don't deserve that."

The guy pulled me closer, and I leaned my head against his shoulder, to hurt to care. "He is, but he's still a good guy. He just makes dumb mistakes sometimes."

"Molly?"

Whipping around, I come face to face with none other than the man himself. His eyes were narrowed into slits, and when he looked at the guy who had been comforting me, his eyes burned red as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me away. His grip was so tight on my wrist, I yelped, but he kept dragging me toward the front door.

"Wes, let go of me!" I tugged my wrist, but his grip was too tight. "You're hurting me!"

His grip loosened, but he didn't let go of me until we were a block away from the party. When he faced me again, he was glaring, and his arms were crossed over his chest.

"Who the hell was that!? Why was he holding you like that?"

I rolled my eyes, glaring back at him. "Why do you care? You're the one who left me and broke your promise."

"Oh please." He glared harder. "You're the one who was whoring it up with Sam Johnson."

My jaw dropped as a pang hit my chest. "Did you just call me a whore?"

"If the shoe fits..."

"I thought we were best friends." I croaked, looking away from him, but all my mind could focus on was the look in his eyes that told me he wasn't kidding.

"Best friends?" He bitterly laughed. "I wouldn't consider you my best friend even if I wanted to. When will you get it, Molly? I hate you! I wish you would leave! Better yet, I wish I would've never met you!"

He started to storm away, but not before I got the last words. "Yeah? Well, I hate you too, Wes."

My heart knew that was far from the truth, but a part of me needed to know if he would hurt like I did when he said he hated me. The truth was, I could never hate Wes, even if I wanted to.

He froze, glancing at me over his shoulder. For a second, it seemed like he hesitated, like he was going to say something, but then he continued walking, and as I watched my best friend walk away with my heart in his hands, a single tear escaped my eye.

***

I bolted awake, sobbing hard. Pulling my knees to my chest, I begged my mind to forget, to let go of the things I couldn't change, but it was relentless when it came to remind me of what I had lost and would probably never get back.

My bedroom door flew open, followed by the sweet scent of Wes. He sat beside me on the bed, wrapping his arms tightly around my small frame. "What's wrong?"

I wiped away my tears, burying my face between my knees. "Why?"

"Why what?"

I peeked at him, my eyes blurry from tears. "Why did you leave me?"

My words had rendered him speechless, and all he could do was pull me into a hug. I wasn't complaining, though. His hugs had always felt like home. Once I calmed down, Wes lifted my face and wiped away my tears, smiling softly at me. He opened his mouth to say something, but then someone knocked on the door, so we left my room and walked downstairs. When Wes opened the door, a little girl with blonde curly hair and the same green eyes as Wes stood in front of us.

"Nova?" Wes leaned down, pushing some of her curls out of her face, and she gave him a toothy smile, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

"Wessy!"

Wes lifted her up, holding her in his arms. She buried her head in his shoulder, her little fingers clutching the back of his shirt. He faced me, a small smile on his lips. "Molly, this is my little sister, Nova."

Nova lifted her head and stared at me before smiling. "She's pretty."

"Where's Aunt Grace?"

"She couldn't come." Nova grabbed her bag by the front door and handed Wes a piece of paper. "She gave me that note."

Wes read over the note, and he frowned. I glanced over his shoulder. The note had said that his aunt's cancer returned, so she was busy with chemo treatments, which she didn't want Nova around at such a young age. Wes sighed, stuffing the note in his pocket, before he picked Nova up again, smiling.

"I missed you, Nova."

She giggled, laying her head on his chest. "I missed you too, Wessy."

As I watched Wes hold his sister, my heart skipped a beat. A part of me had forgotten all the good parts about him because of everything he had done to hurt me, but since he returned, each passing day gave me something to remember, and I slowly felt myself remembering the old Wes-- my best friend.