"Hey, Selene" Clarissa greeted in a low tone with a tight-lipped smile on her face.
The hospital incident immediately rushed through my mind as I stared at her wordlessly, I wanted to return her greetings or just smile at her but my voice felt too tight and dry to use, and I just couldn't bring myself to smile and thanks to that, what could have ended as a simple greeting turned into an awkward staring contest
Drystan cleared his throat, breaking the awkward tension and dragging me out of my head "I'll be outside" he whispered into my ear and I just mindlessly nodded "Hey, Claire" he greeted her as he walked out of the house.
"Good morning, Clarissa." I finally found my voice a while after Drystan walked out "It's been long" I noted and she bobbed her head in agreement.
"It has." She affirmed and I forced a smile on my face "How have you been?" She asked and I let out a deep sigh.
I couldn't force myself to keep a stiff conversation in a tense atmosphere going, but at the same time I didn't want to come off as rude "I've been fine, and I believe you have been too" I replied and she nodded at me with a small smile "that's great then, it was nice seeing you, but I have to go now" I said and made to walk away but she immediately grabbed my hand and stopped me.
"Let's talk first. We need to, please" she said in all seriousness. I was about to decline and keep it for later, but the realization that she was one of the things on my mind weighing me down kicked in, and I just nodded my head.
"We do, so let's talk then" I stated and freed my hand from her grip.
"Can we at least sit?" She asked, gesturing to the living room and I nodded in agreement. She offered me a small smile and began walking in the direction of the room, I gave her a ten seconds breather before I followed suit.
We both sat down at the opposite ends of the couch and stared at each other for a while before Clarissa cleared her throat and began speaking, "I feel like I owe you an explanation and an apology for how I acted at the hospital" she said and looked at me; hoping she would at least find a clue on how I feel but I kept my face neutral, not giving away even the littlest emotion. She sighed deeply and continued speaking when she couldn't read anything out of my facial expression.
"Derrick, Drystan, and I grew up together. We knew each other even before our first shifts, I can still remember the day my dad brought him in from an unknown place and told us he is one of us now" my attention piqued up at that sentence and a frown etched on my face
*Drystan isn't originally from Mooncrest?* But my thought was interrupted when she began speaking again,
"And since then till now, we three have grown incredibly close to each other. We were raised as siblings but that doesn't mean we all have family love for each other." She took a breath and stared at me guiltily "I fell in love with Drystan when I was 18"
My heart skipped a beat the moment she said that, I had my suspicions but it still felt weird and oddly painful having it confirmed by her. I reached out to Eliana to tell her "I told you so" to comfort myself, but the pain pierced my chest again when I realized she was gone.
"Selene! Are you here? Did you hear me?" I looked up to see Clarissa waving her hand in front of my face and I just smiled.
"Sorry, I blacked out for a while. Please, continue" I said and she looked at me sceptically for a while before she continued.
"I fell in love with him at 18 and I thought he felt the same way, I mean he cared for me, he protected me, he talked to me the most in the entire pack." My chest constricted painfully for a reason I couldn't place my hand on as she listed all that out "But that's where I was mistaken, he never loved me in that way. He genuinely took me as his little sister and I fucked our relationship up by confessing to him. I confessed to him on my 19th birthday, and 2 years later, I can still remember the look of horror and pain that washed over his face when I confessed to him. He was in greater pain when rejecting my advances than I was in" she stopped and covered her mouth to hold in a sob.
I immediately scooted closer to her and engulfed her in a hug, "thank you" she mumbled as she pulled away from the hug, I nodded in response and smiled at her
"you don't have to continue if you can't" I assured her but she shook her head.
"I'm okay, I can continue" she reassured me, and while I wanted to tell her it was okay to stop, my curiosity won and I nodded and gave her space to continue "After that day, our relationship became stiff or should I say forced? I tried my best to play everything off and return to the way we were before, but he on the other side kept withdrawing away from me till whatever we had left of our relationship broke off the moment he moved away. We talked less, saw each other less and even when we did, it was extremely awkward.. it still is tho I try to lessen the awkwardness..." She paused and forced a smile on her face as if she recollected a painful memory, I placed my hand on her knees and rubbed it gently.
"That day at the hospital, I was just overwhelmed with seeing him hurt and all. I didn't mean any harm, and yes, it did hurt seeing you as his fiancee but I accepted that fact the moment he got engaged to you. Everything was just a rollercoaster of emotions for me that day, I had no grip on what I was doing and I sincerely apologize if it made you feel any certain type of way," her voice cracked as she spoke but she didn't stop "I promise I've not made any advances on him since the talk of your marriage and I never will, again. So please do not feel disrespected, nor let that put a strain on our growing friendship" the moment those words left her lips, tears began rolling down her face.
I instantly pulled her close to me and engulfed her in a tight hug "hey! It's okay, it's all going to be okay" I mumbled reassuringly in her ears while she kept sobbing on my shoulders, but my words weren't doing anything to console her, she tightened her grip on me and kept bawling her eyes out.
"It just hurts so so much," she said helplessly and my chest clenched painfully at how broken she sounded "it hurts" she repeated and I started patting her back in a comforting manner and kept whispering comforting words to her.
The both of us stayed in each other's arms till Clarissa's sobs died down and we were left to bask in silence, my brain took up the silence as an avenue to fully process all she told me but in as much as I tried to focus on the fact that she just told me she loves my fiancee, only one thought was on my mind *if Drystan wasn't born into this pack, where then did he come from?*
It's something that's meant to be close to irrelevant, cause it truly shouldn't matter but my brain was oddly stuck on that.
"I don't know if I'm interrupting something, but Selene, we have to go" I heard Drystan say and turned my head towards him; he stood by the door glancing between the both of us with a look of uncertainty and curiosity.
"Ah...sorry, I almost forgot," Clarissa said and pulled away from the hug "I wish you a safe trip, and once again I'm sorry and I hope this eased up any awkwardness between the both of us," She said in a hoarse and cracked voice; thanks to her crying.
I smiled warmly at her and just cupped her face "you don't have to worry about a thing, we are good and once I settle all I have to in San Diego, I'll call you" I promised and a smile made its way to her face.
"Alright, I'll be waiting," she said and pulled me into another hug "safe journey" she whispered
When we both pulled away from the hug, I immediately stood up and bid her bye before I walked up to Drystan and smiled at him "Let's go"
His eyes diverted to Clarissa and for what felt like an imagined second; worry flickered through his eyes as he stared at her swollen face from crying. He sighed and turned back to me and forced a smile on his face "sure let's go."