Chapter 21- Taunting Secrets

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It had been forty minutes since Andre called Amelia. To say I was getting impatient was an understatement.

Amelia wasn't one to be late, especially this late. I had a feeling that something was wrong, but Andre simply said that they were probably on their way. I still paced in the living room, thinking of all the possibilities that could've gone wrong.

Before I could leave in search for her, Andre's phone rang. He picked it up and mumbled out a "coming" to whoever was on the other side. Then he shut the call and turned to me.

"That's them," he said.

I sighed in relief.

Then Andre left to get the door for them, leaving Jamal and I alone. I sighed again and joined Jamal on the couch.

"What are we doing today?" I asked.

"Probably watching a movie," Jamal said, his eyes still trained on the basketball game that was on TV.

I nodded and switched my attention to the TV as well. Nearly five minutes later, the door opened. I scoffed, thinking that all my worrying was for no reason. The girls were just fine.

"We're here!" Gemma announced.

I didn't bother looking over, trying to act as casual as possible.

However, something made me turn my head in their direction anyway. It was like there was a pull that made me shift my attention to the door. When I did look over, I saw Andre walking through the door with Gemma in tow.

Behind them, a girl followed through as well. Her long hair was falling down her body, nearly down to her waist. She was wearing a pink sweater and bright jeans to go with it. And for once, I could properly see her face.

I nearly had a heart attack.

I found myself standing up in surprise, as I stared at Amelia. Everything else in the room seemed to vanish as I saw her standing by the door, nervously pulling at her sleeves, a habit I noticed she had. Her hood was no longer there, and it gave me a better view of her face, especially, her eyes. But goodness, damn me.

She looked surreal.

Her wide brown eyes were fleeting everywhere, not as much looking as she was observing. Her hands slowly rubbed up and down her arms, and I had the sudden instinct to just go up to her and-

Suddenly, I felt a smack to the back of my head.

I grabbed my head in shock and whipped my head around to face Jamal.

"What the hell dude?" I said.

"Stop drooling," he whispered over to me.

My jaw clenched and I looked away from him angrily, and turned back to Amelia. The trio was finally making their way over to us, and I found my palms getting sweaty.

'What the hell, Leo?! Get your shit together. It's not like you've never seen a girl before!' I scolded myself.

Quickly, I let out the breath that I had been holding, and faced the group with more confidence. Now, Andre was apparently going to pick out a movie for us to watch, and the rest of us started taking seats around the living room. I found myself subconsciously heading for the spot beside Amelia.

I was suddenly curious.

Not because of the way she changed, but more as to why she was late. From the moment she stepped through the door, I knew something was wrong. Her face was set in a small frown, and she pursed her lips as if she was holding back from saying something.

'Did Gemma force her out of her hoodie? Is that why she looked uncomfortable? Or was it something else entirely?'

Whatever it was, I wanted to know.

Andre finally put in a movie, and Jamal and I groaned at his choice of Back to the Future, a movie he put on almost every other day. Gemma grinned at his choice, but Amelia simply stayed silent and stared at her clasped hands that rested in her lap.

I had the sudden sure to grab them in my own.

I let out a small growl and looked away from Amelia.

As soon as the movie started, my attention was switched to the TV. Despite seeing this movie so many times before, I found myself grinning and even commenting on many occasions. Since this was Andre's favourite movie, he shushed us every time we made a sound. The pizza had arrived before the girls came, so we pulled it out nearly ten minutes into the movie.

It was a fun night, until Andre was suddenly cold.

"Get my blanket please," he whined.

I sighed, since this was his third time asking this.

We shook our heads in disagreement, and I kicked his shin, telling him to get his blanket by himself. Andre simply tutted out his chin and stuck his tongue out at me.

Suddenly, Andre had a wide grin plastered on his face as he looked at me. I gave him a look of confusion, but as his eyes trailed down to the girl beside me, I finally realized what he was about to do.

"Hey Amelia..." he said.

She snapped her attention to him, momentarily snapping out of the daze she was in.

"Can you get my blanket?" he asked sweetly.

I shut my eyes in annoyance and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Of course, Amelia agreed, and even got up nearly a second later. Before I could help it, I grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her place. She gasped and looked down at me.

"I'll get it, Moonie. Andre's just being a dick," I said, turning my head to glare at him.

"It's okay," she responded.

I looked back up to her to see she was smiling down at me.

"I don't mind."

The smile didn't reach her eyes.

Without thinking twice, I got up as well, and due to me still holding onto her wrist, I ended up closer to her than necessary. She took a step back in surprise, making me drop her hand.

"Well then I don't mind either."

With that, I started walking in the direction of Andre's room. Unsurprisingly, the sound of soft footsteps was not far behind me. Inwardly, I smiled.

When we made it to his room, I turned on the light, blinking rapidly at the brightness. We had been sitting in the darkness for far too long, it seemed.

I sighed and walked further into his room, ripping his blanket off from his bed. I grabbed it under my under arm, and walked over to Amelia. I then held out the blanket for her to take. She hesitantly grabbed it from me, her fingers brushing mine ever so slightly.

The thing about Andre's blanket was that it was huge. Not only was it also huge, but it was extremely heavy too. I watched Amelia struggle with the hold of it, a smirk making it's way onto my lips.

She grumbled under her breath, trying her hardest to find a way to compress the thing. I didn't bother telling her that it was no use, and instead, continued watching her.

As she struggled with it, something fell out of her jean pocket. I looked down at it curiously, and saw that it was a piece of paper of some sort. Since she was busy with the blanket, Amelia didn't realize she had dropped it.

Confused, I bent down to pick it up. It looked like a note of some sort, and I straightened out my back after picking it up. I was only about to hand it back to her when I caught a glimpse of what was written on the paper.

"Isn't it a pleasure to walk around smiling when you are the cause of someone's death."

I couldn't help it.

A shocked sound left my lips as I looked up to Amelia. She frowned at me, and ever so slowly, her eyes trailed down to my hand that was now clutching the paper tightly.

Mortified, the blanket fell from her arms and formed a heap on the floor.

For a moment, we didn't say anything. All I could do was stare at her, and her at me.

Suddenly, Amelia took long strides towards me. In seconds, she was near me. She quickly and desperately reached out for the paper, but I pulled it back and held it above my head. She gasped and looked me in the eye. Because of her rush to get to me, her hand came and rested on my chest as the other was still hanging in the air. Since she was so close, I could see the worry in her eyes more clear than before.

But right now, the note was more important.

"What the hell is this Amelia?" I asked through gritted teeth.

Her eyes widened in fear and once again, she lunged for the paper. This time, she successfully got it. As soon as it was in her possession, she started making a beeline for the door. But I wasn't letting go of her this easy.

In a swift movement, I grabbed her wrist, spun her around and pinned her against the nearest wall. A strangled yelp left her lips as she stared at me with her mouth agape.

"What are you doing Leo?!" she exclaimed, trying to leave.

I slapped my other hand against the wall beside her. She shrunk into the wall, angrily looking up to me.

"Let go," she seethed, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

I shook my head.

"Who wrote that Amelia? And why to you?" I asked incredulously.

All of a sudden, she put her hands on my chest and roughly pushed me away. The shock of the push caused me to stumble back a few steps. I could only stare at her as she breathed deeply, her eyes holding a terrified and angry look. This time, she didn't try to leave. Instead, she stayed in her spot and glared at me. Her breaths came out in short puffs and she pointed an angry finger in my direction.

"You couldn't stay away, could you? You just had to find a way to pry into my past. Screw you, Leo! You really are like the rest of them," she said, nearly crying by the end of it.

I glared at her and in one swift movement, I had her against the wall again. This time, I pinned her arm behind her back so she couldn't get to me. She let out a small whimper, and I nearly cracked hearing this.

But I knew I couldn't.

I needed to keep going. I needed to know who did this and why.

I just had to.

"I have no fucking idea what you're talking about Amelia, but don't compare me to others who've hurt you in the past. I fucking care about you Amelia!" I suddenly said.

She shook her head in denial.

"You're wrong. You can't Leo. You can't care about me," she whispered.

A lone tear escaped her eye and trailed down her cheeks. I frowned in defeat. My grip on her hand loosened, and I couldn't help but get closer to her. I was nearly a breath away from her, my body pressed up against her. She didn't fight it, and I couldn't pull away.

"Who hurt you Amelia?" I asked, softer this time.

Suddenly, she wiped away her tear with her free hand and looked up to glare at me.

"Why should I tell you Leo? So you can announce it to the world too?"

This was the last straw. I was now shaking to the point that I was sure I'd hurt her if I didn't let her go.

I was seething with rage.

How could someone make her feel this way? How could someone have the balls to say something like this to her, that too in a note?

Who could break her trust this way?

It was in that moment I decided. I don't care who it was or what happened, but I was going to make sure they had hell to pay.

Not only because they hurt her this way, but because they hurt her to the point where she lost trust in everyone.

Angered with all these thoughts and her lack of trust in me, I found myself getting angrier. Before I knew it, I pulled my hand back, ready to slam it into the wall or Andre's dresser, anywhere to let out the anger.

However, as I brought my hand back, something switched in Amelia.

She suddenly snapped her attention to my hand, her face contorting into the most painful expression I have ever seen. Before I could do anything, Amelia suddenly fell to the ground, an agonizing gasp escaping her lips as she did so.

I stared at her in surprise, my angry mood shifting to worried almost immediately. I fell to the ground in front of her in an instant, already regretting my moves.

'Shit, shit, shit,' I cursed in my head as I sat in front of her.

She now had her hands covering her ears, her body shaking vehemently. I watched her slip into a whole different world, one I knew too well. Unable to do anything else, I simply sat hovering in front of her, only saying her name.

"Amelia? Amelia?" I tried.

She didn't respond, and continued to rock herself back and forth instead, her hands still on her ears. I reached for her again, this time, covering her hands with my own.

"Moonie, stay with me here, okay?" I said desperately.

For a moment, she froze, her body relaxing as she breathed out. I took this as my chance to speak.

"Just listen to me, okay? I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to know. I don't want them getting to you." I said desperately.

Somehow, Amelia slowly started lowering her hands. My hands dropped to my sides in relief and I slumped in my position.

"No. That's not why you want to know."

I frowned in confusion, turning to face her in worry again.

Suddenly, she snapped out of it and stared at me with wide open and terror-filled eyes. It was as if she had a revelation in the middle of her thinking.

"You just thought it'd be cool to see how far you can take it with the murderer's' sister. That's all anyone ever wants," she whispered.