Page 59 of Rhys: and the girl who was always his

Almost.

But Ally still lives in the back of my mind. Like she always does.

I’ve been trying not to think about her. Trying not to check my phone every five minutes. Trying not to stare at the empty spot on the couch where she always curled up, or the hoodie discarded on the kitchen stool, or the way the house felt like it was missing its heartbeat.

She left. Not dramatically. Not angrily.

She just… disappeared.

After the seizure, after the hospital, after I told her I loved her—she vanished without a word. No goodbye. No note. Just gone.

And everyone else knows where she is.

Chase and Arden had been weirdly cagey all week like they were walking around with a secret tattooed on their foreheads. I don’t need a psychic to tell me they are keeping something from me.

I should be pissed.

I am pissed.

But mostly, I am scared.

Because if Ally doesn’t want to be here, doesn’t wantme, then what the hell am I even doing?

I let out a calming breath and peek around the edge of the barricade. Logan is sprinting towards us with way too much enthusiasm. No idea why he is here, but when he found out we were coming, he decided to gate crash.

“Okay, truce!” Chase shouts. “Time out! Everyone gathers at base before Rhys starts throwing actual grenades.”

We reconvene in the staging area—a sad collection of benches and half-empty water bottles—faces red, shirts stained, bodies sore. Arden is peeling off his mask, already bitching about the welt forming on his collarbone.

“Hayden, you tripped over literally nothing.” Arden teases.

“No, I tripped over a—" Hayden pauses, then looks down. “Okay, fine. It was air. But it wasaggressiveair.”

Logan hands me a water bottle and claps me on the back. “You look like someone kicked your puppy.”

I grunt. “I’m fine.”

Chase tosses his gear down and flops onto a bench. “Alright. We dragged you out here, made you sweat, let you shoot Arden in the crotch?—"

“He what?! I thought that was Logan!” Arden screeches, making us laugh.

“—and now, we talk.”

I blink. “Talk?”

Arden sighs and sits down with a groan. “Yeah, man. You’re spiralling. And you keep pretending you’re fine. But you’re not.”

Hayden leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “We get it. You love her.”

The words slam into me like a hit to the chest.

Chase gives me a small nod. “And she loves you too.”

I look away. The ache behind my ribs tightens. I don’t want to be talking about this right now.

“Then why did she leave?” I ask, voice low. “Why didn’t she say anything? Why am I just… sitting here like an idiot, waiting for a message that’s never coming?” I let out the words I’ve been holding back. Showing my friends just how much this is fucking with my head.

No one says anything for a beat. Then Arden clears his throat.

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