Chapter 21

                There were precisely fifteen minutes before the New Year began.

                I spotted Ryan by the end of the staircase, texting with aggravation. His eyebrows were furrowed together in frustration as he tapped the screen of his phone with immense pressure. “God, why isn’t he fucking answering?” I heard Ryan curse aloud before giving up and shoving his phone back into the pocket of his dress pants.

                “Why isn’t who answering?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest as I caught the attention of Ryan.

                Ryan seemed startled to see me before he sighed and shook his head. “No one.” Ryan lied, averting his gaze from mine. “Don’t worry about it.”

                “Jace, right?” I answered for him.

                Ryan’s eyes immediately snapped up as a wave of panic washed over his face. “W-What?” he stuttered. “Everly-.”

                “Don’t even try to cover up right now.” I snapped. “I know the reason why you wanted me out so fast before.”

                Ryan blinked, gulping as he stood up straighter. “You do?”

                I rolled my eyes. “It’s obviously because Christiana is here.” I stated. “You wanted me gone so badly because you thought I’d get upset if I found out that Christiana is the daughter of the man that my mother is dating. But, don’t worry, Ryan. I don’t see why you made such a big fuss about it. I understand that Jace and Christiana had a past, and it doesn’t bother me. They’re broken up, so why should it?”

                Ryan’s expression faltered as he looked at me with confliction evident in his eyes. Ryan gnawed on his lower lip as he rubbed his forehead with exasperation. “How could this happen?” he muttered to himself before turning back to face me. “Look, Everly, it’s not that.”

                I frowned, stepping forward as I raised an eyebrow with irritation. “What?” I asked. I thought I had it all figured out, but I didn’t. Ryan was still hiding something from me, and he wasn’t willing to tell me what it was. “I’m tired of playing games, Ryan. Tell me what’s going on, right now.”

                Suddenly, the sound of a fork drumming against a wine glass caught the attention of all of the guests. The lights dimmed and a spotlight was shone on the top of the grand staircase, where George and his family stood. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for attending my family’s New Year’s party tonight. We’re incredibly happy that we have all of our family and friends tonight in one gathering.” George raised his glass as everyone applauded. “Since there are roughly eight minutes before the New Year starts, my family and I have a few words for you all.”

               Everyone hushed as George cleared his throat, preparing to speak. “This year has truly been one of the best for me. Business has bloomed unexpectedly, and I can honestly only give one person that kind of credit. Evelyn, could you come up here please?” George paused as the spotlight went to my mother, who was standing near the end of the staircase. My mother blushed under the attention of everyone as George went down the stairs to help her up, putting his arms around her waist before moving on. “Not only did Evelyn save my business, but she saved me. I didn’t know it was possible for me to fall in love again, especially judging from my previous marriage, but Evelyn made it possible. Thank you Evelyn, I truly do love you.”

                As soon as George concluded, everyone stood up on their feet to clap. As my eyes roamed around the dark room, I could see that some people were blotting their teary eyes because of George’s heartfelt speech.

                Next up, Cole came under the spotlight and made a speech to thank everyone who had supported his music career this year. He went on about how if it wasn’t for his friends and family, he and his band wouldn’t have thrived and made an appearance on the town’s local radio station.

                Finally, it was Christiana’s turn as she stood in the center of the top of the staircase. I couldn’t help but notice how she seemed to radiate and glow under the spotlight- as if it was made especially for her. “Thank you all for coming tonight.” She started off, learning a few chuckles from the crowd. “This has been such a wild year. I’ve made so many mistakes, but I can honestly say that this year, I discovered who I was. I realized that materialistic things and being rebellious won’t make me happy. It’s my friends and family that make me happy. I really couldn’t have realized all of this if it wasn’t for the help of-.”

                “Everly, I need to tell you something.” Ryan suddenly whispered next to me.

                I shot him a look, frowning. “Now?” I mumbled. “Ryan, we’re in the middle of listening to a speech.”

                “It’s really important, Everly.” Ryan pestered.

                “My boyfriend and I just got back together, but during the time off that we’ve had from each other, he’s still been such a great help.” Christiana grinned, using her left hand as she gestured for someone to come out. “Everyone, I want you to meet my boyfriend-.”

                “Everly, please listen to me.” Ryan held onto my arm.

                “Jace Wasson!”

                Jace stepped into the spotlight, hands shoved in the pockets of his dress pants as he gave Christiana a small smile. I watched with my gut churning in my stomach as Christiana wrapped her arms around Jace as the countdown began.

                “Five! Four! Three! Two!” everyone paused as they grabbed their partners. “One!”

                The world seemed to slow down around me as the lights came back on. Couples all around me kissed their partners to celebrate their first kiss together on a new year. My eyes suddenly zeroed in on Christiana’s arms around Jace’s neck as they locked lips.

                “Happy New Year!”

*

                “Everly!”

                I ignored the voice calling after me as I continued to walk down the pavement, my heart feeling heavy and the rest of my body feeling nothing but numb.

                “Everly, please stop.” A voice cried out of desperation as a hand latched onto my wrist.

                I let his hand linger on my wrist for a moment, feeling his skin burn against mine before shaking it off. “What the fuck do you want?” I spat as I glared down at the concrete, refusing to meet his eyes.

                “Please let me explain.” He whispered.

                He suddenly took a step forward to close the distance between us, but I immediately reacted by stepping away from him. I gulped, closing my eyes briefly to try to remove the tears as I released a ragged breath. “I don’t want to hear it.” I concentrated on a pebble that was on the ground. “Can I leave now?”

                “Why won’t you look at me?” his voice broke, stirring an emotion within me. My hands trembled by my sides as I suddenly let out an unexpected cry. Tears welled up in my eyes as I brushed them away forcefully, angry at myself for being so fragile. “Everly, I know I fucked up.”

                I pressed my lips together in a thin line to ensure that I wouldn’t let any other cries escape my mouth. I dug my nails into the palms of my hands, hot tears leaving trails on my cheeks. “Then why are you here?” I croaked.

                His fingers moved to my face so swiftly that I hadn’t even noticed until I felt him brushing away the tears that were free flowing down my temples. I immediately flinched at his touch, taking a step behind. My eyes finally looked up to see that he was staring back at me with such distraught. His eyes were inflicted with pain and hurt from the way I reacted to his touch. He released a staggered breath of air as his eyes refused to look away from mine. “I’m here because I don’t want to lose you.”

                I bit on the tip of my tongue, shaking my head profusely. “You never had me to begin with.”

                “Stop looking at me like that.” He suddenly demanded, taking dangerous steps forward as his hands held onto my wrists. He pressed his body against mine and our faces were so close that I could read every emotion in his eyes. His eyes reflected so much torment and guilt.

                “Get off of me.” I cried, attempting to push him off but ultimately failing.

                “Stop looking at me like that.” He repeated, ignoring my demand. “Stop looking at me like you don’t know who I am anymore.”

                “I don’t know who you are anymore!” I suddenly screamed, emotionally wrecked and ruined. “You fucking kept it a secret from me! All this time, while you were getting back together with Christiana, I was fucking falling in love with you.”

                This wasn’t how I wanted to confess to him.

                But, my heart was tearing apart on the inside and I had no control left.

                “You fell in love with me?” he whispered.

                I was crying so fucking hard. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I was crying this hard. “You lied to me.” I cried. “You told me there was nothing going on with you and Christiana last time, but you fucking lied.”

                “Everly,” his hands tightened around my wrists, “you love me?”

                “Are you in as much disbelief as I am?” I asked. “You can’t believe that I fell in love with a monster, either?”

                Jace’s façade came tumbling down as his expression broke almost immediately. His grip loosened on my wrists- it was as if he had no more strength to hold on to me any longer. I could tell that my words pierced through his chest like a bullet, but I didn’t give a damn. Nothing could compare to the pain and utter humiliation I felt when Jace was announced as Christiana’s boyfriend. I suddenly wondered what else he was lying to me about or hiding from me. The trust that was once given to Jace was betrayed- and I wasn’t sure if he’d ever get it back from me.

                “Let’s pretend we never met.” I finally whispered after the longest time. “Life before you was so much easier.”

                Jace didn’t both to fight for me as I walked away. A part of me was hoping that he’d come running to me, but I was just being unrealistic and pathetic. I now truly knew that what Jace and I had wasn’t real, nor it ever was.

                I kept trying to tell myself to pretend that we never met, the same way I told Jace, but I found it awfully hard to go with my words.

                Jace scarred my heart.

~

Didn't I warn you guys about this??? I swear I am not trying to break anyone's heart. I was just feeling really emotional while writing this because I was listening to Stay With Me by Sam Smith LOL. Ya girl shedded a few tears midway through the writing process.

BUT, I apologize for the really short chapter. I wanted to keep this one short and simple because a lot is going on in it. I promise that this is the shortest chapter you'll probably ever read from Falling Apart.

My tumblr is vanessaahx3.tumblr.com and instagram is @vanbuns

Thanks for reading and the next update will be next week! :)