After that bombshell, Sloane demurely left the table after her little outburst. She could hear her parents talking about her through the thin walls as she walked back upstairs.

"Did something happen between her and Elijah?"

"I don't know. She hasn't mentioned him for a while."

"Maybe it's just the stress of the move."

"I hope so. I'd hate for her attitude to ruin their visit."

How ridiculous of her own parents to think of her like that? Not even an "Are you okay?". Well, if Sloane was going to tackle her problems, she would do rather do them alone anyway. Only one person has to get their hands dirty.

Her phone was staring at her, patiently waiting for her to check Eli's message to her. She gave in, this could be the first step to getting rid of him for good. 

The notification stood in front of her floral wallpaper.

𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙟𝙖𝙝𝙝𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙤𝙣: 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚 (5:58𝙋𝙈)

What did that even mean? Happy to be away from him? Away from Dublin? Why was the message so vague? She wondered how to reply without looking like she had to think before texting.

𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙: 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 (6:30𝙋𝙈)

What she said was true to an extent, but if she really didn't want Eli to see her posts, she would have blocked him the night of the argument.

Almost immediately, he started typing again. Sloane watched the three dots appear at the bottom of the screen, then disappear swiftly to be replaced by a long paragraph.

𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙟𝙖𝙝𝙝𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙤𝙣: 𝙖𝙢 𝙞 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚?? 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨. 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣'𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞 𝙙𝙤. 𝙨𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙩 (6:35𝙋𝙈)

At that point, she got lost in all the memories her and Eli shared. The good, and the bad. She was no longer thinking with her brain, rather her heart.

𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙: 𝙞 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙗𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙩. 𝙞 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙨. 𝙞 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞'𝙢 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙛𝙛 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙖𝙮. 𝙨𝙤 𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙞 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙞 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. (6:42𝙋𝙈)

His reply was almost instant, as if he was copy and pasting from a script.

𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙟𝙖𝙝𝙝𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙤𝙣: 𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙤𝙗𝙗𝙮? 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙. 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞 𝙢𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙨 8 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙞 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩. 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙞 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡? 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩. 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣. (6:43𝙋𝙈)

This was when the guilt struck. The guilt of maybe not fully seeing through his feelings. The guilt from characterising him as a villain, making it so hard for him to look good in her eyes.

𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙: 𝙞 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧. 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙞 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 '𝙩𝙧𝙮' 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧. 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙜𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙚 (6:47𝙋𝙈)

𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙟𝙖𝙝𝙝𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙤𝙣: 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠. 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙙'𝙨 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙣𝙚 (6:50𝙋𝙈)

So he did care after all.