Chapter Thirty-Six – this complicates things

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" I ENTERED THE SIX DIGIT PASSCODE INTO THE PHONE. I could still hear the water running in the shower. This was a betrayal and I knew it, but I needed to know.

The shower door opened. I took photos of the last two weeks' worth of calls, went back to the home screen and locked the phone again. The blow dryer started whirring.

"I'm heading to school first mum!" I yelled, grabbing my bag and hurrying out of the house. I couldn't face her after what I'd just done.

I'm coming to school early – don't come by I texted to Parker as I got onto the bus. Looking back through the photos I'd taken, I realised I had no idea what Courtney's dad's name was. A quick google revealed that Mark Aurelio was the CEO of Aurelio Construction. There were ten calls in the past week. That nauseating feeling in my stomach wasn't going away.

The big breath of fresh air I took as I got off the bus didn't help. I continued flicking through the photos to see how long these calls had been going on for, realising it would've been more useful to look at her texts instead. What was I stooping to!? How could I even think my mum was capable of something like this? I shoved my phone back into my pocket, looking up just in time to see Parker leaning against my locker.

"You look flustered," he commented. You'd be too, if you'd just been snooping through your mum's phone, I thought.

"I don't know what I'm going to do about this whole situation with my mum," I blurted out.

"But first, we eat," he said, holding up a white paper bag and a tray with three cups in it.

"Three cups?" I raised an eyebrow.

"One coffee's mine. The other two are a coffee and milkshake. I wasn't sure if you were a coffee person," he shrugged. "Oh, and these are donuts," he added, holding the paper bag up a little higher.

Was I visibly melting right into the hallway? Could he see me absolutely disintegrating?

"You don't like donuts?" He asked, scrutinizing my expression. I guess it mustn't have been completely obvious that my reaction was positive.

"Just gimme the donut," I replied. "And for the record, I am indeed a coffee person," I smiled.

--

I didn't see Elaine until first break when she informed me that Logan was having a house party on Friday night.

"Isn't he still in the apartment?" I asked, opening my packet of crisps. Elaine shrugged.

"I guess not. It's pretty much an open invite house party – for Pemberton kids only. I'm sure there'll be security," she said nonchalantly.

There was indeed security. Come Friday night, we were let in through the front door by security. A dozen Ferraris and whatnot were parked in the driveway. That, and the opened (and empty) vintage Dom Perignon, Hennesy and other dusty bottles only confirmed that this was no average house party.

Logan's house was packed wall to wall. Did he even know all these people? "This is lowkey terrifying," I said to her as reached a barricade of bodies in the middle of the hallway. She linked arms with me and pushed past.

"I hate when people invite me to parties and I can't even find the host," Elaine grumbled. "I also hate most of the assholes here, so that's another thing." I laughed as she continued barreling past the little cliques.

"You ever considered playing football?" I grinned.

"Oh never. I hate team sports. Probably because I hate most people," she laughed. She grabbed a beer from the table and unscrewed the cap. "Want one?" She asked.

"Uh, I'm good," I replied.

She smiled. "You are too good for the corrupt wasteland that is Pemberton," said, and with that, chugged from her bottle. "Seriously though, where is Logan?"

"I doubt we'll be able to find him in this crowd." Just as the words left my mouth, he came down from the staircase.

"Daisy!" He exclaimed, putting an arm around my shoulder. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. "Elaine," he smiled, nodding in her direction. She nodded back.

"You moved back in?" I asked, not sure how to make small talk with a drunk person.

"Moved in?" He laughed. "I guess you could call it that," he scoffed. "We should start a barbeque. I've got a grill outside." We followed him into the backyard where he pulled the grill out from the shed and started shoveling coal into it.

"I'm going to get something to eat," Elaine said. "And this guy needs to sober up."

There was a loud scream as some glasses fell to the ground. There was a shrill laugh before a girl yelled out "Fuck love!!" and downed a couple of shots.

"Shit," Logan mumbled under his breath as he stumbled.

"Come on Logan," I said, pulling him back by the shoulders. It was only when he turned his head slightly that the tear on his cheek glistened in the moonlight.

"Logan, what's wrong?" I asked. That was when the tears pooled. He wiped it on his sleeve and looked away.

"It's fine. Let's get the grill started."

"Logan-Logan!" He continued, ignoring my protests. "Logan, stop, please."

"It's happening. They've filed the papers." The papers? Divorce? "I shouldn't have ordered that stupid test. I shouldn't have looked into anything, shouldn't have done anything. Hell, if I didn't exist, this wouldn't even be a problem. And now my little sister's up there doing shots with the worst guys at Pemberton."

"Logan, none of this is your fault."

"The results...my dad...isn't my real dad, is he?"

"Logan..." I didn't know how to tell him what I'd heard the night of the gala.

"You promised me! You stopped me from going up those stairs and you promised me, that when the time came, and I asked you'd tell me the truth!" He sobbed. "Tell me!"

I stayed silent. "This was the one thing I had! No matter how much I screwed up elsewhere, I had my family. And now...what the hell do I have left?"

"I'm so sorry," I said. Then the floodgates opened. He crashed to the ground beside the grill. I knelt down beside him. Without thinking, I held him, his head resting on my shoulder. Thankfully, most of the crowd stayed indoors where the booze and food were.

I don't know how long we stayed like that for, but eventually, the tears eased, and his body stopped trembling. I pulled away from him slightly and we were both kneeling on the ground facing each other. "Let's get you cleaned up," I said.

"I'm not that drunk," he said.

"That's what they all say," I retorted. "But seriously you need water and something to eat."

"I don't need that. I just need you." He took in a deep breath. "Thank you for always being there for a piece of shit like me."

Then he kissed me.

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SORRY FOR THE MASSIVE HIATUS

I went on a looong holiday and also had no idea where to take the story. That being said, even after writing this I'm like: what did I just do???????

Hopefully this was a teeny more exciting than the recent chapters! Let me know who your favourite ships are now and give me your thoughts!! 

Also as usual pls vote if you enjoyed the chapter!!

Stay cool,

Daria xoxo