Project Alaric: Book One ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Six

Alaric Benson

I stared at my phone for the millionth time, debating if I should just get the fuck over myself and talk to him. I knew I was going to eventually, but I needed a second to breathe after yesterday. There had to be an explanation. Especially since Emery started blowing up my phone only about twenty minutes after I'd left with Axton and Apollo.

When he showed up, I knew I wasn't ready to see him. I had to get my thoughts in order. Whatever he knew–I wasn't sure what that was, honestly, meant we had to talk about it. His texts didn't indicate what he knew or didn't. But I doubted he knew I'd been there. All he probably knew was that I was gone, and wouldn't go to the door to see him.

Axton and Apollo spent a good portion of the afternoon in my room, talking things out with me, and I still wasn't sure how to approach this. I wasn't an expert in relationships. But after seeing your boyfriend sit there while his friend told him how we were probably toying with him–how we weren't good for him–I didn't know what to do.

And I started to wonder how much of what Jason said was the truth. Was I good enough for him? Were we healthy for him to hang out with? Hell, we didn't operate life the proper way–I already knew that. But when you go through significant trauma, you tend to mold the only way you can. We were doing the best we could. We still socialized. And no, Axton wasn't a bad person. Not by a long shot. What other people saw was nothing to Axton's character. He didn't want to get close to people. He'd been let down so many times–it was difficult. But he'd gotten close with Emery. And out of Apollo and Axton, Axton was the one who hoped things worked out.

But what did I do with the fact that Emery did nothing to fight for us? We had an entire conversation about this. He told me that he wouldn't hide me. That he would fight for us. And I told him that I'd be right there beside him. To support him. To fight for us. All of it. But was I even enough? What if the way I lived ended up making Emery resent me? What if he thought more about the choice he made and decided it wasn't what he wanted?

The RING doorbell alert chimed on my phone, and my friends, I'd assume. Going against my better judgment, I opened the app, only for my eyes to widen. Axton barged into my room with his phone in his hand, and Apollo wasn't far behind him–phone in hand, too.

"Am I seeing this correctly?" Axton asked.

Apollo sat next to me. "I think we are all seeing this correctly, Ace."

Axton hummed. "What is that in his hands? Is he crying?"

Emery was on the front porch with something we couldn't identify in his hands, and it did appear that he was crying. That part made my heart twist painfully. And behind him was Declan. I wasn't sure what Declan was saying to him, but it only further proved Emery was crying when his head dropped for a moment. When he picked it back up, you could see his tears, and they'd gotten worse.

The longer I sat there, the longer Emery waited by the door.

"Do you want me to tell him to go?" Axton asked gently. "I'll be nice about it."

I didn't say anything for a minute. No, I was trying to figure out what he was doing with...whatever that was in his hands, while he cried. He was crying. My heart was screaming at me to go to him, but my brain was stopping me. Part of me felt dead, but the other part was kicking and screaming.

"Go let him in."

Axton and Apollo were both off the bed and racing down the steps. I threw on a shirt and slowly made my way to the banister. I didn't walk down the stairs. I waited. Staring down into the foyer as Declan slid inside behind Emery. I tried to see what he held in his hands, but his back was to me as he faced Axton.