I NEED YOU NOW||KNJ||✔️

Chapter 22 (Mon, Dec 25, 2017)

The ringing of the doorbell startled me later. I just had finished the call and was eating breakfast, when the loud sound of the doorbell caused me to spill my half-full cup of tea over my pullover. Annoyed by the person who decided to ruin my breakfast, I screamed a short "Wait a second!" towards the door and ran to my room to change. It took me a few minutes, until I finally stood in front of the door again, with my hand on the handle. I was too small to look through the peephole, so I just opened the door.

My polite and expecting expression froze, when I saw who stood there.

I wanted to close the door, but my body didn't obey. The only thing I could do was staring with huge eyes at Ashley, who shifted uncomfortably on the doormat.

"Yeah, hi...", she began awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I know you told me that you never wanted to see me again, but I wanted to clarify things. I can't celebrate Christmas with that being unresolved."

I wanted to tell her to leave and slam the door into her face. But then I remembered what the old lady said to me. So I silently opened the door enough for her to come in. Her expression lit up and she entered my apartment. We walked silently through the dark hallway, not knowing what to say. When we entered the living room, she broke the silence.

"Listen, Victoria. I don't know, what you heard about me or from who. But I never just pretended to be your friend and I sincerely care about you!"

When I didn't answer, she continued. "Yes, I broke my promise to protect you. During and after the party, when I searched for you, some people told me that they saw men cornering and touching you. Do you know how afraid I was when I heard this I couldn't find you anywhere and you weren't answering my messages? I'm truly sorry about it."

I looked to the ground in shame. If this all was just a big misunderstanding, I really had worried her.

Ashley stopped rambling and looked at me. "But I just don't understand your accusations, apart from breaking my promise to protect you. Why were you so angry, Victoria?"

I took a deep breath, deciding to tell her.

"After I escaped those men, I overheard a conversation outside. It was you and... Samantha..."

Her eyes lit up understandingly, when she seemed to figure out something. "You overheard our conversation? How much did you hear?"

"I heard how Samantha said, that you only are my friend to benefit of my knowledge and wealth. Then I walked away.", I mumbled.

"Shoot! Then you didn't hear, what I replied to her, right?"

I shook my head.

"Well, I told her to get lost and never speak to me again. I don't want to have someone this toxic in my environment, who offends both me and my friends!"

I swallowed hard. She did so much for me and I just rejected her and didn't even let her explain. Tears blurred my sight.

Not she was the fake friend.

I was.

The tears finally brimmed over and I sobbed quietly, not wanting to let her see. She should not worry about me. I was not worthy to be cared for.

But of course she noticed it.

"Victoria?", she asked and bended down a bit to look in my face. "Are you okay?"

I was not able to speak, so I just nodded, trying to cover my reddened eyes and the tears with my hand.

"Don't lie to me.", she scolded me and engulfed me in a hug. The hug sent warmth into my broken heart and made me feel better.

After a long time of just standing still while hugging each other, I finally calmed down.

"Do you want to eat something?", I asked with a stuffy nose, pointing to the table where my forgotten breakfast stood.

"No, thank you. I will eat something at home." She smiled. But then expression showed worry. "Will you be all alone the whole day today on Christmas?"

"Yes, I will. But it's okay. It has always been like this."

"No, it's not okay.", she objected and seemed to think about something. "I could ask my parents if you could come to us to celebrate Christmas!" Apparently she was very excited of this idea.

"No! I don't want to be a burden!", I rejected.

"You're not a burden to anyone, Vicky! Anyhow, my mother always cooks too much so there are always big leftovers that rot because no one can eat the huge amount of food! It would be no problem if you would come! And it would be so sad if you would be alone on Christmas!"

After calling her parents to ask if I could celebrate with them, she practically dragged me to their house. There I was greeted by her welcoming parents, who showed a lot of kindness towards me the entire day. I even received gifts from them, the first Christmas gifts in my entire life. It was chocolate. As for my part, I brought them flowers. I had convinced Ashley to go to the flower shop with me on my way here to buy them a thank-you gift, even if she constantly had tried to tell me that this wasn't necessary. They were very happy about the flowers and I was happy because of the chocolate. Ashley apparently had told them about my love for the candy.

It was quite strange, but it felt as if I became a part of their family.

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944 words

Finally Victoria and Ashley are friends again! I'm sorry for all the drama that is happening and I'm kinda afraid that this book is boring due to it. :(

Did you watch the KBS Gayo? I loved how comfortable the BTS members were while performing Home and Gogo, they even wore pajamas! They really deserve it to be this comfortable, after all they work really hard and normally they dance every choreography with so much force, it must really be exhausting.

Thank you for reading this chapter, I purple you!!!<3