29

This too

Shall pass.

It might pass

Like a kidney stone.

But it will pass.

"LILY

I jump up and look around disoriented. The sun has already set and stars decorate the sky. "LILY" I hear someone shouting again. I grab my book, which lay open on the ground next to me, and stand up. I knock off my trousers and step from behind the bush. I see that Lexi is standing less than two meters further with her back looking around at me. "LILY" she shouts again. "Yeah?" I ask as I take another step closer.

She turns around so fast that I'm surprised her neck didn't crack. She shouts "LILY" worried as she walks towards me and puts her arms around me. "What's wrong?" I ask her confused. "Everyone's worried and we've all gone looking for you. After the whole thing, you disappeared and you didn't show up for dinner. We've been looking for an hour.' Sh rattles. I'm looking at her guilty. "Sorry, after everything that's happened, I just needed some time alone. I seem to have fallen asleep.'

On the way back to the house, Lexi starts chatting about Alex and Britte, 'They really didn't mean it like that, I'm sure. Alex looks at you with so much love in his eyes and Britte is our best friend.' She insures me. I shrug my shoulders and together we step into the house. Inside, I see Jax and Alex sitting on the couch. Jax's leg wobbles back and forth as he looks ahead. Alex has his head in his hands. A little further on, Owen is pacing. Aiden and Rayen are quietly whispering to each other, just like Kim and Finn. Britte sits next to Alex with her hand back on his arm. She says a few things to him, but Alex ignores her.

When the door closes behind us, all the heads shoot in our direction. Alex is the first one to jump into action and runs towards me. He grabs me in his arms and buries his face in my neck. My arms remain slack next to me as Alex grabs me even more tightly. "I thought you were gone" he mumbles while his voice breaks. Before he can say anything else, he is pulled away from me and Jax takes me in his arms.

He looks at me with cloudy eyes when he presses a long kiss on my forehead. "I'm sorry, I should never have brought this up while you were standing next to us.' He apologizes. I'm shaking my head, "It's okay, you didn't say anything I didn't think myself.' I can see Alex's shoulders sinking even further. "Where were you, young lady?" Owen's yelling at me. Scared, I look at him with big eyes, Owen's never been angry with me before.

"I'd gone to read and fell asleep" I whisper guilty. Owen's face changes,

when he comes to hug me. "Don't ever do that to me again. Do you know how worried I was?' Says he's retreating. I look at the others one by one. I look at Britte a little longer before I look at Finn. "Sorry," I say to everyone. 'I'm tired, I'm going to go to sleep' I mumble to Owen as I walk to my bedroom.

I decide to take a shower first as I smell of earth. After a good hot shower, I already feel much better and put on my pajamas. Stepping out the door, I see that Alex is already in bed and feel that he is looking at me. Without paying attention to him, I crawl into my part of the bed and lie down with my back towards him. I hear Alex sighing, "Princess?'

I don't say or do anything. "Lily," he says more powerfully now. I turn around and look at him in anticipation. "It's not like you think," he starts. I want to turn around again but he grabs my hand and forces me to look at him. 'I had taken Britte aside because I needed tips for a date I was planning for us. And when Britte touched my hair I didn't think it was worth saying anything about it. It was only for a short time and she's your friend. And the whole chat and standing close together thing, me and Britte have known each other since we were little. We lost track of each other but we were just reminiscing,' he pleads. I look into his eyes and see that they're sincere and sad

"You know you're the only one for me and I love you, right?" he asks as his voice breaks. I nod, "I love you too," I mutter back. A little smile decorates his face as he pulls me towards him and kisses me. 'I love you very much," he says to my lips. I put my head on his chest and listen to his heart beating while he plays me my hair. 'Tomorrow I'll take you on a date. Tomorrow's a day with just us.' He whispers in my ear. I give him another kiss where his heart lies and feel my eyes close.

I wake up by Alex kissing me all over my face. With a smile, I open my eyes and see him hanging over me. "Good morning," he says as happy as a child on Christmas Day. 'Good morning' I smile back when I kiss him briefly. 'I've made us breakfast," he says proudly as he shows me the plates. After we've eaten in bed together, we get ready for our date.

'If there's anything, you call' Jax says to me when we say goodbye. Behind him, I see Britte staring at me angrily but I decide to ignore it. Alex has moved away from her, something Britte clearly doesn't like. 'Have Fun' Owen calls us when we get into the car.

'Where are we going?' I ask him while I play with his long fingers. "You'll see, Princess.'