This is the third part of a triple update. If you haven't read 26 and 27, scroll back up and get to them!

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♪♪ Although it's hard now...
To be human is to love
Even when it gets too much
I'm not ready to give up ♪♪

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ[To be Human] - [Sia]

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Numbness seeped into every part of Esmé's being as she crashed onto the sofa in the living room. Her head dipped backwards onto the head of the sofa and her heavy eyelids closed, giving her a satisfactory moment of peace. Intending to relax further into the couch, her shoulders sagged, giving her away to the exhaustion she felt.

But her moment of peace only lasted for a second. Persistent hammering on the front door popped her eyes open.

Esmé groaned, and a series of curses flew out of her mouth. The room spun briefly as she hauled herself up from the sofa. Her feet shuffled against the floor as she made her way to the door. Though all her body seeped from exhaustion, her heartbeat pounded against her ribs and her eyes held a glare that was ready to send the person behind the door six feet under.

"Oh my. You look terrible," Petra chipped in with a grimace once Esmé opened the door.

Esmé gave a low chuckle at the comment. A timid smile replaced her angry look. "Thanks?"

Petra's brows drew together, and her eyes softened, taking Esmé in. Sighing, she stretched forth her hand and pulled Esmé into a hug. "Oh, dear. Don't worry, I'm here now. I hear a warm hug soothes all worries." She patted her back soothingly.

A sudden tightness formed in Esmé's chest at Petra's words, remembering why she hadn't sought her out before. Her chin quivered at the thought of receiving comfort from Petra, and she moved to pull away from the hug, but Petra held on tighter, soothing her further until Esmé had no choice but to relax slightly into the hug.

The hug helped lift a bit of the burden Esmé felt, but her guilt didn't let her fully relax. Petra realized this and released Esmé with a deep frown edged onto her lips.

"This won't do. You need a break and I know just the perfect place for that."

Esmé's quivering squashed easily at the sneaky smile that popped on Petra's lips. She shook her head in disapproval. "I'm in no mood for the club right now, Petra."

Petra gasped, and her hands flew to cover her mouth dramatically. "The club? What exactly do you take me for?"

Esmé's pointed look was enough for Petra to get the point. She pouted and huffed, stepping into the house. "Fine, maybe that would have been an option but ... it wasn't my first! I was actually thinking of a place with more solitude and a spectacular view."

Esmé's head jerked back with a narrowed gaze at Petra. "Really?"

"Yes! Now, come on. Let's go." Petra pulled Esmé out of the house, not without sending a sad gaze toward Kian's room door. She caught herself quickly and sent a smile to Esmé, who still held her narrowed gaze.

The want to refuse the mini trip Petra had in mind for her churned within Esmé but as they stepped out of the house and the cool night breeze hit her, her thought swayed to dwell on what she needed at that moment and it was to step out of that house for a moment.

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Their destination was closer to Kian's house than Esmé expected. Alighting from the car, Esmé's stared jaw dropped. The house before her stood tall and magnificent, like the mansion it was. The exterior leaned into the lights of the surrounding lamps, seeking warmth and emitting a strange peaceful aura with the beautiful flowers that adorned the house, given it the extra homely feel.

Although, the exterior view of the building was spectacular. The shuffling of feet from people strolling in and out of the entrance screamed everything but solitude.

Esmé turned to Petra with a raised eyebrow. "This is your idea of solitude?"

Petra chuckled at Esmé's look. "You should know better than to judge a book by its cover, Ez. Come on." She led the way into the building with a grin on her face.

Esmé sighed before going after her. There was no way to turn back now. Once they got into the building, Petra grabbed a hold of Esmé's hand and pulled her straight for the elevator, trying not to be seen leaving Esmé with no time to admire the interior of the building.

Her piercing glare unfazed Petra, who had a beaming grin all the way through the elevator. Esmé soon understood why, as the look instantly died down once they reached their destination. The roof.

Cold fresh breeze wafted through her entire being, making the hairs on her body stand tall. But that wasn't what killed her glare. The night gave a view that was every kind of beautiful. From the top of the roof, it seemed like it displayed the highlights of an interesting novel in front of her, written in different shapes and colours that added a glow that echoed the beautiful galaxy of the stars.

Understanding of not judging a book by its cover surged through her. The view of the building was great but the view before her was phenomenal.

A stretched hand with a bottle of Sam's Brown Ale pulled her from the view to see Petra beaming.

"I told you you'd like it." she beamed and shook her outstretched hand for Esmé to get the drink from her.

Esmé chuckled, collecting it. "How did you find this place?" The sudden chillness from the bottle of the drink almost sent the bottle crashing onto the floor. She stared at Petra with an incredulous look. "And where did this come from?"

"Oh, that? It came from there." Petra pointed to a mini-fridge that stood by the side.

Esmé turned to see the lone fridge that looked so out of place, with its purple colour compared to the concrete surface of the entire roof. Yet right at home. It was a place that screamed solitude for whoever made their way up to take a breather. She understood then why Petra had insisted she come there.

"It surprised me it was still there myself since I haven't been here in what, five years."

The content of the drink in Esmé's mouth burst out, spraying all over the surface before Esmé. "Five years?!"

"Gross, Ez! What was that for?" Petra said, taking a step away from Esmé with a wrinkled nose. Her hands brushed over her clothing to dust off any minute amount of Esmé's drink on her.

"Five years Petra, who's saying the drink is still good?" Esmé defended herself with a shrug.

Petra held up her own bottle and grimaced. "True." She dropped the bottle on the floor. "I was just excited that it was there, which means, no one has discovered my secret place all this while is all."

Esmé shook her head. "You're basically saying those drinks have been sitting in that fridge for so long. Whose light bill have you been adding to, Petra Wilson?!" She titled her chin downwards and frowned at Petra.

"Oh, don't give me that look. I haven't been making an unsuspecting person pay extra bills. Well, he's unsuspecting, but it's not bad, I promise. I'm serious!" She added the last part at Esmé's straight look.

"Let's say I believe you, but how did you find this place and why haven't you been here for so long?"

Petra gazed around the place with her face looking like a distant memory flashed in her mind. "About finding this place. I was angry with the world then and I just needed a place to breathe with no one I know disturbing me, so I drove here absentmindedly, got into the elevator and decided to just see what was up here. The mid-day view definitely can't beat the night view but the fresh air I got was the very thing I needed and so I stayed and by nightfall. I didn't regret my decision."

Esmé smiled sadly at the tone of Petra's voice. She turned back to the city view and shivered slightly at the strange comfort it brought to her. "I can imagine."

"Yep, but today is not about me, Ez. So have a seat and relax. I told you I'd take you to the perfect place."

Turning to Petra, Esmé smiled brightly. The grin she received sent an ache to Esmé's heart. There she stood staring at her friend who was being there for her. From Petra's story, she believed the sad time she mentioned was the major reason Ronnie and Hermione were keeping it a secret from her, hoping to never see her hurt like before.

Petra led them to settle down by the edge of the building carefully. The night air swept through them as they settled down. Refreshing and comforting every single nerve that had formed in them. With the compliment of the shimmering light view dancing around in front of them, their shoulders sagged as they relaxed.

They stayed quiet, lost in the sweet turmoil of their thoughts for a couple of seconds, before Esmé broke it, grabbing Petra's attention.

"Everything just feels like a real mess right now. There's Kian redrawing into himself and then there's Persephone acting all weird today, along with the unknown Kristin. They all seem like pieces of the same puzzle but I'm missing the great detail to make sense of it all."

Petra remained silent, weighing Esmé's words in her mind and wondering what she was going to explain to her. "Did Kian ever mention his father to you?"

The turn of the question dipped Esmé's brows. "His father?"

"Yeah."

Esmé thought back to the first time she and Kian tried out to be friends. The mention of his father put a wall taller than any other back up and she decided then not to bring it up again. "What does this have to do with his father? I mentioned him before and Kian got all defensive before he told me his dad was dead."

Petra nodded with another heavy sigh. "I can imagine that. Yes, it's mainly about Louis. It's his one year death anniversary in a couple of days. That's taking a toll on Persephone and in more ways than one, Kian too."

Esmé turned, lost in her thought. As the day drew near, she totally got the pressure they felt. Although for Kian, the change was a vast difference and seemed so sudden, which was only after Kristin...

"Kristin." She snapped her attention back to Petra. "How does she fit into all of this?"

Petra chuckled dryly. "Oh, she plays a pretty big role. She was a patient Kian was attending to around the time Louis died. She was someone he really dedicated his time to, because of whatever story she confided in him with. Basically, he was there for her like I was there for you but just being a patient wasn't her wrongdoing. It goes a lot deeper than that and it's only Kian that can give you an account of what actually happened but she left him in a mess."

Esmé scoffed at the idea of Kian actually telling her, but it wasn't her primary focus. Different things that could have happened ran through her mind, but she figured nothing could come close to what actually happened if Kian had spun into a colossal mess.

"Whatever she did must have really made him angry because from just seeing her once, he's become a totally different being from the person I know."

"Yep, she's always pulled his worst strings. It's why her name has hardly ever come up. It causes a certain turmoil in him but he's also on the verge of losing his job."

Esmé turned sharply to face Petra with her eyes popped wide open. "Losing his job?! It's something that means the world to him."

"Yep. So you can imagine how he feels."

"What happened?"

"He was close to administering the wrong drug to a patient today because Kristin's appearance had him in a mess. Uncle Hugh, Chairman Hudgens as you know him, told him to get his act together for the next one week or he should consider himself jobless. He's torn and from what I see, he does not know how to deal with it and get back into control."

Kian's appearance earlier that day popped into Esmé's mind. Her heart ached thinking about the amount of pain he was feeling. He was about to lose something precious to him whilst reliving the pain of losing a loved one.

Her muscles tightened as she pinched her chin, lost in thought. Her mind raced with options of how she could help him.

"I hope you know I'm not telling you this to lay a burden on you or give you a certain responsibility, Esmé." Petra turned to her with a certain mixed feeling on her face.

Esmé's brow scrunched up. "What are you talking about?"

"This is an enormous mess that Kian has landed himself into. And concerning yourself with it would put a lot of pressure on you. You don't need that right now with your medical status. So I was thinking if you feel you can't handle it, maybe you could give him some space and come over to my house. Maybe we could work something out. I don't know."

Esmé's head tilted, and she paused for a second, narrowing her eyes at Petra. "Am I missing something here?" she said in an uncertain tone.

Petra scanned the look in her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry, I know this may be offensive but Kian has had someone leave when he was going through a rough time and I don't want you to care now and realize it's too hard for you to handle. It'll not only make Kian worse but you could get medically affected, too. The last thing I want to do is to hurt the two of you."

Although Petra didn't say it fully. Esmé got the reference. She didnt dwell on that, but on the test of her friendship with them.

After everything they had done for her, putting their lives aside and being there for her when she needed them the most. She would not walk away. After getting to know him with a bit of his guard down, she looked forward to seeing the whole guard down. It could be a selfish reason, but it was concrete enough for her to push through and help.

She turned to Petra with her determined gaze. "I can understand your scepticism, Petra, but do you remember what you told me when I was in the hospital about friendship?" She paused for a minute to let Petra recall what she and Ronnie had mentioned to her when she was getting discharged from the hospital.

"It means you're not getting rid of me even if you want to," Esmé said at the same time Petra said, "It means we're not getting rid of you even if we want to."

They chuckled lightly for saying it together, whilst tears glistered in Petra's eyes as Esmé continued talking.

"Yes. So, I want to help him, Pet. Over the time I have stayed with him, I figured there was more to him than he let on. I'd love to get to know that side of Kian and that can't happen if I run at the first sight of trouble, can it?"

Petra nodded her head with a soft smile and pulled Esmé into a hug. "And I believe no one else could do this better than you," she said, nodding in approval into the hug.

Esmé relaxed into the hug, her mind racing with a million thoughts. The drive to be there for Kian stood tall in her heart, but how she was going to do that laid heavy on her shoulders.

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😊😊

Hiddy Ho!

I'm so excited that I'm short of words! The story is picking up quite fastish from here. Are you excited with me to see how this all plays out?

I hope you enjoyed the three chapters. Soon enough we'd get to fully know what happened a year ago. 

Also, who got the reference Petra mentioned in the chapter? What's your take on that?

And was that a confession, Esmé? I mean it wasn't straight out one but it could be considered as one right. It seems someone's catching feelings.  

What are your thoughts on the chapter? I'm super excited to hear your thoughts right here. 💭👉

Also, I thought I'd let all my beautiful readers know that I'm thinking of entering this book into Wattys this year, I'm a bit scared but I believe with your support there might be hope.

Till next time! 💕