Chapter 18: 15🖤

Chan shuffled his feet as he stood outside Diana's apartment. He could hear the music outside. The bass making the door shake a little. He felt a couple of people fome up behind him, and he knew it was time to go inside. Exhaling, he opened the door and was immediately met with the stench of alcohol and sweat. The place was cramped. Diana had moved the furniture to make space for more people to hang around.

He noticed a couple of familiar faces, but no one he talked to on a regular basis. His eyes landed on Diana. She was pouring something in a cup, and the way her hand shook, he could tell that she was drunk. Which sent red signals to his brain because Diana usually never drank alcohol.

Making his way through the crowd of people, he  came up behind her and placed the bottle of vodka he had brought on the table.

"Hey," he said, making her turn around.

"Christopher!" Diana exclaimed and threw her arms around him. He caught her body, barely escaping the spilled alcohol from her cup.

"You came," she said, pushing back strands of hair from her face.

"You invited me," he replied. She looked beautiful. The alcohol had made her cheeks red with heat, and when she smiled, Chan found himself smiling back. A face flashed before his eyes. Brown eyes, red lips. He felt his smile dim.

Diana scanned the crowd behind him. Then asked, "Is Veronica with you?"

The sound of her name made his whole body tingle. "No," he shook his head. "She had to work at the inn."

Diana smiled wider. She grabbed an empty cup and filled it with vodka. Holding it out to him, she said, "I will finally get to spend some time with you."

Chan accepted the cup but didn't drink. "What do you mean?"

Diana looked sheepish, fidgeting with her dress. "You know, we can finally spend some time together. Every time I ask you if you are free, you say you are with her."

He didn't like the way Diana was referring to Veronica. The disdain in her tone. "She is my girlfriend, Diana. I am supposed to be spending time with her."

He didn't miss the way Diana winced when he called Veronica his girlfriend. She tried to keep her smile in place, but Chan could see that it was no longer genuine. "Yeah, but now you are here, and that's what matters."

She waved at someone and excused herself, leaving him. Chan put back his cup. He had a feeling that he should be in his senses that night.

The party progressed around him in full swing. People were dancing to the music playing through the speakers. A couple of them were making out aggressively. He couldn't help but think about the last party he had been to. When he had danced with Veronica. Just the mere thought of that moment made him restless. He got this urge to leave this party and run. But run where? To whom? He didn't want to think about these answers. Didn't want to recall how good it had felt to hold her in his arms. How being close to her had made him lose his breath. And he was still trying to catch it.

It didn't help that Veronica had decided to put an ultimatum on their pact. It made sense. He knew that. They couldn't keep living like this. But the moment she had talked about breaking up, he had felt a punch in his stomach. Like someone had pushed him off the ledge, and he was falling.

He didn't know why he felt that way. After all, this was always supposed to end. And yet, somewhere deep in his heart, he was panicking. Already counting down how many days he had left with her. Which was insane. Because at this moment, he should be trying his hardest to be close to Diana, not sit on a sofa and sulk.

Maybe he did need some alcohol to calm his mind. Before he could walk back to the alcohol table, he saw Diana walking towards him. A slight sway in her step. She plomped down next to him. Chan felt his heart beat up.

"Chan," she said, her words slurring. "Just the person I was looking for." Had she gotten drunker?

"Diana," he started, turning towards her. "Are you okay?" He was concerned for her. But maybe she was just enjoying herself.

She snickered. "Are you worried about me?" She hooked their legs together, her eyes fixed on his face.

"Of course," he replied. "You can tell me if something is wrong. We are friends."

Her mouth soured. "Friends. Is that all we are to you?" she leaned forward, closing the distance between them.

Chan gulped. He felt his whole body heat up. The bass made his heart thump to its beat. Isn't this what he wanted? What he had intended to achieve when he proposed that deal to Veronica? Then why were his palms sweaty?

"You are drunk," he commented but didn't move away.

Diana grabbed his shirt. "Are we just friends? Tell me you don't feel more? Want more?"

Chan tried to move away, but she didn't let go of him. "You broke up with me. What do you want from me now?"

Diana scooted closer to him, their hips pressing together. "I don't know," she whispered. "I thought I was doing the right thing. But seeing you with her, I-I wasn't prepared for that."

This was not what he had expected to happen he had decided to come here. He didn't know that without even trying that hard, Veronica's plan had worked.

"You said you wanted more," Chan replied, recalling her words.

Diana shook her head as if the action could make what she said go away. But it couldn't. No matter how much she wanted. She had told him that he wasn't enough for her. That what he could offer her wasn't enough for her. And now Chan felt like he wasn't enough for anyone. Wasn't good for anything. How does one wash that away? How did he move forward from that?

"I was wrong," she said, leaning in. "Now all I want is you." Chan watched as she closed her eyes and brought her lips closer to his. He moved his head away. Surprising himself.

Diana opened her eyes. "Are you serious?" He heard the shock and outrage in her voice. He knew her enough to know that the outrage was because she couldn't comprehend that he had rejected her advances. He was shocked at himself, too.

"You are drunk," he said, again, and moved away. Her eyes hardened as she got up and walked away from him.

He exhaled. What had just happened? This was insane. Diana had just tried to kiss him. And he hadn't wanted her to. But did this mean that what he and Veronica had set out to do was over? That they didn't need to carry on anymore? Would they break up earlier than Veronica had planned for them?

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He fished it out. The screen read Veroniva name.

"Hello?" he said, picking up the call.

"I didn't know who else to call," Veronica replied, her voice frantic. He got up from the couch and started walking towards the apartment door.

"Where are you?" he asked, leaving Diana's apartment and getting into his car.

Veronica's voice shook as she said, "The hospital."

🖤

Chan found Veronica sitting on one of the metal chairs in the hallway. He had come as fast as he could. The receptionist had told him to follow the red stripe, and it would lead him to the waiting area.

He rushed to her side, taking the empty seat beside her. "Veronica?" he said, gently tapping her shoulder.

The way her eyes lit up as they fell on him made his stomach do somersaults. "I am so sorry, I know you were at Diana's party, but I didn't know who else to call, and I was really panicking -"

Chan grabbed her hands and pressed them between his. "I am glad you called me. Now tell me, what happened?"

She sagged back in her seat. "I don't know. I got a call, and all I heard was Charolette and an accident, and I just rushed here."

"Have you seen her?" he asked.

Her lower lip quivered a little as she shook her head. "She was unconscious when they brought her in. They said they are running some tests. I-" her voice broke. She took a deep breath. "Selena and Nate are out of town visiting a friend. I couldn't call them."

"She's going to be okay," he said, squeezing her hands.

She nodded, closed her eyes, and leaned her head against the wall. He watched her, wondering what was going on in her head. He knew Charlotte was like a little sister to her. Family. He couldn't imagine getting a call like this regarding Hannah or Lucas.

The door next to them swung open, and the doctor came out. Veronica shot up from her seat. Chan followed her.

"How is she? What is wrong?"

The doctor was a man in his forties with salt and pepper beard and glasses. His eyes were kind and comforting as he said, "She's okay. She hit her head pretty bad, which is why she lost consciousness. She has a hairline fracture in her elbow, but other than that, she's good."

He felt Veronica sag with relief next to him, a weak smile on her face. "Thank you, doctor. Is she away now?"

"She's sleeping, but you can wait in her room."

Veronica turned towards him. "She's okay. Thank god, she's okay."

"I told you," he replied, glad that nothing bad had happened. "You go sit with her, I will call Selena and Nate."

"Are you sure?" She asked, skeptical. "You don't have to stay."

Chan rolled his eyes and put his hand on her shoulders, making her turn towards the room Charlotte was in. "Go." Her faint murmurs of protests died on her lips as she entered the room.

Turning around, he pulled out his phone and called Nate. He did his best not to freak them out, mentioning that Charlotte was okay withon the first five seconds of him picking up the call.

They were coming back first thing tomorrow. He heard the relief in their voices as soon as he mentioned that Veronica was there with Charlotte in the hospital.

Gingerly, he went inside the room Charlotte was in. Veronica was sitting in a chair next to the bed, her eyes scanning Charlotte's sleeping face.

He squatted down next to her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, not moving her eyes away. "She looks so small. She must have been so scared."

"She's okay, Veronica. Everything is okay."

"Yeah," she replied, looking at him. "Did you call Nate and Selena?"

"They are coming back tomorrow," he told her and got up. "Do you want anything?"

"You don't have to stay, Chan," she said again. But how could he leave her? No force in the world could stop him from being by her side. He looked at her, sitting there in that chair, trying so hard to mask her anxiety.

He smiled. "I will be back with some coffee."

❤️

Veronica shifted in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position. Her heart still hadn't returned to its normal rhythm. She kept remembering the phone call. The way the world had blanked the moment she had heard Charlotte and accident in the same sentence.

She had been waiting outside her room, pacing the floor on the verge of a panic attack when she had dialed Chan's number.

And he had shown up. The moment her eyes had landed on him, she had felt some of the anxiety leave her body. His presence alone had managed to calm her.

As she sat there, watching Charlotte sleep, she tried not to think of what almost happened. Her mother's voice spoke in her ears, "Everyone you love leaves you."

She loved Charlotte like a little sister. She had known him since she was eleven. She could still remember how she loved to carry her pink glitter bagpack everywhere with her. The way she made Veronica watch every single Disney movie with her.

The door opened, and Chan walked in, carrying a cup of coffee in his hand. She didn't understand why he hadn't left? He didn't have to stay. He still had time to go back to Diana's party. Every time she saw him, the calm that came over her body confused her. She didn't know what to make of it.

"Veronica?"

Veronica's heart jumped to her throat, and she almost leaped from her chair. Charlotte had woken up. Her eyes were taking in her surroundings, trying to make sense of where she was.

"Charlotte," Veronica said, trying to keep her voice gentle. "Honey, how are you?"

Charlotte's brain must have finished doing the calculations because she replied, "Oh, Mom is going to kill me."

"I think she'll be too happy knowing that you are okay," Chan said, coming around the bed. "To think about anything else."

"Do you remember what happened?" Veronica asked, gripping Charlotte's hand in hers.

Charlotte gulped, blinking. "I was going back home, and the next thing I know, someone just rammed their car into mine from the side. I didn't see it coming."

Veronica's breath hitched as she imagined the scenario. Dread pooling into her stomach. Before she could say anything else, the door opened again, and a nurse walked in.

"Ah," she said, noticing that Charlotte was awake. "Good, you are awake. I will call the doctor."

Veronica watched as the doctor came back in and asked Charlotte some questions. He turned towards her and said, "She's not concussed, so that is good. We still want to make sure that everything else is okay, so we'll do a CT scan."

Veronica nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She felt overwhelmed. She knew that Charlotte was okay. Her brain knew it, but the panic wasn't leaving her body. As if it was preparing her for something worse.

They were getting ready to wheel Charlotte out when she said, "Veronica?"

She rushed forward, wondering if something was wrong. "Yeah, Sweetie?"

"Is it after midnight?"

Veronica scrunched her eyebrows, wondering if she had heard the question wrong.

"It is," Chan replied, checking the time on his phone.

Charlotte looked at her, a smile on her face, and clasped their hands together. "Happy Birthday."

Veronica's throat closed up. She hoped she managed to smile at Charlotte before the nurse wheeled her out. The moment Charlotte was out of the door, she collapsed back on the chair, her head in her hands.

The tears came like a tide, and she couldn't stop them. She had been so afraid. Afraid that something bad had happened to Charlotte. That she was going to lose someone she loves, again. And despite all that she had gone through, the fact that Charlotte had still bothered to remember her birthday.

She felt hands covering her shoulder as Chan sat beside her. Wordlessly, he let her cry. They stayed there for a while before Veronica managed to gather herself.

Sniffing, she said, "Are you tired of lending me a shoulder to cry?"

He just shook his head and gently cupped her face. "Never. I have very water-resistant shoulders."

Despite the terrible joke, Veronica snorted.  Wipping her eyes, she got up, and she said, "I will call Nate and Selena and tell them that Charlotte woke up."

Chan nodded and then said, "Veronica?"

She looked up from her phone. "Yeah?"

"Happy Birthday." Getting up from his seat, he wrapped her in a hug.

Veronica exhaled softly at the familiarity of his embrace. "Thank you."