Without You

Sequel Chapter 4 "Heartbreak is an everyday occurrence"

*3rd Person Pov*
-5 Weeks Later-

"What if he doesn't like it?" Aubrey asks Izzy and Olivia nervously.

"Oh come on, Aubrey," Izzy laughs, "You could paint yourself blue, grow chest hair, and gain one hundred pounds and he'd still love you to death."

Aubrey looks in her car mirror and she runs a hand through her hair. She loves it, of course, and she just hoped he would think it looked good. He's the one that's got to look at it mostly.

No longer did she have hair down to her waist. She didn't do anything too drastic with it but she went to the hair cuttery and told them what she wanted.

Now, her hair sits just below her shoulders and Luke hadn't seen it yet.

Well technically, he hadn't seen a few things. The hair, the now fourth earring hole in both her ears and the acceptance letter to the University of Alabama.

The hair, Aubrey wanted to change because of many reasons. She had had very long hair her whole life, she could barely stand it laying on her neck in the heat, and when braiding it, it took way too long. So she cut it to what she felt was the perfect length. It wasn't short, so she could braid it easily and put it up with no problems, but now, she could put her hair up without it still laying on her neck.

The earrings, Aubrey had had her third hole done since she was fourteen. So, she decided to go up one more before calling it. She kept the earrings simple and classy; diamond earrings in all eight of them, and not too big ones. They went in a perfectly straight row up her ear and she loved the finished look.

Finally, the acceptance letter.

--One Week Ago--

"What if she's home?" Aubrey asks Olivia worriedly as she drives her car to her mother's house.

"Then I'll deal with the witch," Izzy chides from the back seat. That didn't make her feel any better. Knowing her mother, she would still try to find a way to be mean to her.

Aubrey pulls in her driveway and the three girls get out.

"She's not here," Aubrey sighs and she opens the front door with her set of keys.

"Well look what the cat dragged in," Aubrey's mother sits on the couch, a coffee cup in her hand, and the tv on America's Next Top Model.

Aubrey's heart dropped to her feet as she hears her voice. She hadn't heard or seen her since the day she left.

"She just came to get a few things," Izzy narrows her eyes at Aubrey's so-called mother.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work? Olivia asks her as Aubrey goes upstairs to gather her clothes and some other belongings she had missed.

Thank God for Izzy and Olivia. The two of them had been total angels for Aubrey over the past few weeks. Letting her stay at their houses and even consoling her when she was missing Luke to the point of tears.

Even helping her think positive thoughts although it's been six weeks and still no letter from Alabama.

"What workplace makes someone work from six to eleven at night?" Aubrey hears her mother say as she's walking downstairs.

A bitter smile crosses Claire St. Andrew's lips.

"Did you really think I worked that much?" She laughs and Aubrey's eyebrows furrow.

"That's what you told me," she whispers.

"You must be stupid. Rick and I would just go out. I didn't want to be in this house with you," Aubrey's eyes well with tears but she doesn't let them fall.