Playlist - Feel It Still by Protugal. The Man

Luna

I staggered on my feet, as I walked to my front porch step to find Mia- waiting outside. Only, she didn't look like Mia at all. This person in front of me looked like the opposite version of her.

“Mia?” Emotions caught in my throat as I took her in.

She picked herself from the ground. Her condition was bad than I could probably anticipate. Her body was covered with a black hoodie and she had baggy jeans on, probably because of her growing pregnancy.

I couldn't not notice her baby bump which was evident on her tiny frame. She seemed to have lost much weight, and it pained me to see her this way.

She tried to stay nonchalant, but tore up before getting a word out or her mouth. “I told my father about this. I can't stay in that house anymore.”

I dropped my bags, and immediately went to her. I engulfed her in a tight embrace and made soothing hand motion on her back. “It's okay,” I reassured her. “Everything will be fine. I'll make sure to keep you away from him.”

She cried even more and my own tears started to spill. Her situation wasn't comprehensive to me. I couldn't believe I let her rot in that hellhole knowing what must be happening to her.

“I'm going to hurt him so much,” I vowed. “I promise, I'll make me him pay.”

“No, no, no…” She said in-between hiccups. “”It's not what you think.”

“You're suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. First, come inside. You need to lay down.” I led her in by her elbow and made her rest on my couch.

I went to bring my luggage inside. Mia eyed my luggage, probably wondering where I had gone. She said nothing for plenty of time.

I sat back in front of her, waiting for her to say something, anything.

“You need to tell me what happened with you. I have questions for you. A lot. Firstly, why are you letting him have so much control over you? You need to stop suffering. End it all.”

“It’s not what you-”

“Yes, it's not what I think,” I raised my voice, slightly. “So, please, make me understand. What's it anyway?”

“I lied.”

I blinked up at her, wondering if I had heard that right.. “Huh?”

“Not entirely.” She still confused me with the ambiguity of her words. “Some details were fine, but it's plenty more you need to know.”

“Stop with the guessing game. Tell me what you have to say.”

“Chase wasn't acting on his own. I mean, few things he did because he wanted, but he was blackmailed into impregnating me.”

I stared at her, unsure of what she meant. Did she knew about Chase’s late night drop at my place? I suspected, she did. Or Chase made me think that way.

She continued. “Everything I told you before disappearing on everyone was true. Chase did all those things to me. We eventually did start….” She stopped trying to find words. “you know… but it was all consensual. Nothing was done without my permission. Our thing went on for a long time, until I had enough with the way Chase was treating me in public and-”

“I know the details. Tell me the truth.” I clasped my hands together. “Who the fuck blackmailed him into impregnating you.”

“It was his mother.” She dropped her gaze. “Initially, Chase actually hated me and my mom, and when his mother gave him an idea to have fun with us, then he went ahead with it.” She wiped away a tear. “You know, there was a time when I actually thought that he loved me. I feel so betrayed.”

“Oh, Mia.” I went over to sit beside her. I patted her back, offering moral support. “He's not worth it.”

“That's not it,” she said, and scooted up. “As our relationship moved on, Chase grew fascinated with the control he had over me. The last few months were spent with him convincing me that he actually loved me.

“And I actually believed him.” Her lips quivered. I felt so bad for her right now. How did I let her stay with that mind-fucker Chase after knowing the truth? I really loathed my recklessness.

“I could have never suspected his ulterior motive in seducing me. You know his mother wants to sham my image as well as my mother's through Chase’s doing.” She sobbed. “He's such a bastard, Luna.”

“Mia.” I hugged her tightly. I couldn't comprehend her words. It was just too much to take in. Chase had really crossed the line this time. This was done out of plain vengeance, this was a massacre of Mia’s mental health.

“That bastard said that he wouldn't let his mom ruin anything between us, and that he would convince his father into accepting our love, but, but-” she tried to catch her breath.

I made her sit straight and patted her back. She needed someone to console her. She needed her mother. I debated whether I should call her mother, but one look at Mia told me that she wouldn't be able to survive the disappointment and shame her mother would have to endure if this situation became public.

“I have to get it out of my chest.” Mia said those more to herself than me. “Turns out that his father is a bigger bastard than him, and after Chase told him about everything, the only question popped in his mind was whether my mother knew about it.

“Both father and son share some psychotic need of having control over me and my mother. I think it's in their DNA,” she snorted. “Mr. Henry didn't want my mother to find out about this, and arranged for Chase to marry one of his business associate’ daughter.”

Charlotte Richards.

Everything clicked into my mind. I finally understood why on earth was Charlotte marrying Chase. She wanted to fit into Torrance family by agreeing to her father's wish. That's probably why Axel and Charlotte weren't together, and of course because of Axel’s antics as well could be one of the reasons.

But why the hell Chase agreed to marry Charlotte?

“Oh, Mia.” That's just terrible. “I know I haven't been able to save you from this drama and God knows if it was up to me, you wouldn't have got into this mess to begin with. I wish you had told me about this from the beginning. I could have stopped things from accelerating any further.”

“There were so many times where I wanted to…” She didn't complete her sentence, but I knew what she had to say.

She wanted someone to know, but the act itself was so forbidden, she couldn't even trust her best friend with the bits of secret.

“I regret now not-”

“No.” I didn't let her speak anymore. “You have nothing to regret. Everything will be fine.”

“Will it?” She asked me teary-eyed.

At the moment I didn't even know what will happen tomorrow, but she needed me reassure her. Even if we both knew that nothing will remain the same anymore.

“Trust me.” I made her look into my eyes. “Everything will be alright. Things will remain alright. We'll be alright.” I placed my hand on her bump. “You'll be alright. With or without this baby.”

“I've grown too attached to her.” She held her bump. “I can't imagine not having her with me.”

“Her?” I asked, puzzled. “You know it's a her?”

“Nope.” She shook her head. “But I can feel it.” She gave me a genuine smile, the one that had been missing on her beautiful face.

“Can I ask you something?” We both walked to my room upstairs. I helped Mia climb the stairs.  She nodded and I contemplated whether I should ask her or not. “Why did-”

A meow interrupted my question and I suddenly remembered that I had a cat with me.

“Damn it!’ I cursed. “Why do I always forget about you?” I picked Ash up in my arms.

“Oh, please don't tell me that you kidnapped him from his home?”

Mia knew all about Ash and always suspected that someday I would just abduct him in broad daylight.

"Of course not." I was offended that she would think such a way.

Ash slipped from my hold and purred onto Mia's feet.

"Ooh, he likes me better," she teased me.

"He does not."

"Does."

"Doesn't."

In the midst of our bickering, I felt something warm at my feet.

"Oh, shit." Mia and I both cursed simultaneously. Turns out, Ash peeped on my legs.

Mia bursts out laughing. A good healthy laughter. I watched her laugh and later joined her at the my darned situation.

"Alright. Let's get you cleaned up."

                               ***

We were silent for a very long time afterward. I washed myself up and changed my clothes. Mia had relaxed on my bed, staring at the ceiling.

It was very unlike us. Whenever we were together, there was always jokes, teasing, eating pizza, gossip, watching a movie or going out for shopping. But this time there was only silence and questions looming between us.

“Are you fine?” I broke the ice by asking her the question to which the answer was obvious. Of course, she wasn't. She was far from being anything but fine.

She blinked a few time before nodding. “I try.”

“What did you tell your father?”

“Everything.” She repositioned herself. Apparently, being pregnant wasn't comfortable to her. “I told him about everything and he's furious with me, Luna.” She met my eye, going into detail. “He's most importantly angry at my mother and blames himself for letting her have full custody of me.”

I raised my eyebrows, silently asking her to continue. “When I first told him about this thing he wanted to hunt Chase down and kill him mercilessly, and knowing who my father is, I knew he wouldn't hesitate to go ahead with it. I somehow managed to convince him not to do it, but he has a condition…”

I prompted her to say more. “And?”

“I want you to do me a favour. Please, I beg of you,” she pleaded, tearing up.

“Mia.” I took her joined hands in mine. “I'll do anything for you.”

“This is very tough.”

“After the heartache you've gone through this is the least I could do for you,” I reasoned with her. If my help could get her some sort of peace then I would do anything for her.

“But what is it?” I asked, she shifted her face, not looking at me. “Tell me. Don't be afraid.”

“Are you willing to kill?”

“Pardon?” I might have heard her wrong. I asked to repeat herself, but she didn't. Okay. She wanted me to chill?

“You heard me,” she didn't back down. My smile slowly faded at the seriousness of her tone. I tried to withdraw my hands from hers but she held it on tight. “First listen to what I have to say.”

“No,” I gasped, unable to picture what she had to say to me. “I love you, Mia,” I said truly. “I really do, but I cannot commit a crime. It's too bloody dangerous. I'll do anything for you, but killing is not one of them and never will be.”

"Just fucking listen to me," she berated, rasing her voice. “I know I'm asking a lot from you, but this is my only chance to finally let Chase,” she paused lowering her gaze. “Not play with my heart anymore.” A tear fell from her eye. “I love him so much, but he only loves the idea of having me only for him.”

“But I won't make any promises.”

“That'll be fine.” Her eyes gleamed with hope.

And then she slipped all her guts. My eyes widened every time she opened her mouth and by the end, my eyes were nearly popped out. I couldn't believe what I've heard.
What felt like an eternity before I finally spoke. “What about the baby.”

Her hands immediately went to her bump, protecting it from her own words. “If she's a fighter then she'll survive.”

“But the blow could-”

“I know it will kill her, but it's my only chance.”

I paced my bedroom floor. Indecision. I wasn’t sure what I should do next. I was fucked in this extremely fucked up situation.

“What’s your answer?”

Before I could tell her anything my doorbell rang. And it rang again. I glanced over at my clock, and it was too early for anyone to show up. And the doorbell rang again.

“Do not open,” Mia warned me. “It's Chase.”

Looking at her expression, it showed immense pain. She clearly didn't want to face him. But the pounding started on my door and if my aunt found out what caused dent on our front door, I would be in shitload of trouble.

“I'm sorry, I have to open, but I'll send him away.” Even my insides didn't believe my sentence. “You stay here, and don't come downstairs.” Okay, that would be impossible for her.

I trudged down the stairs and headed towards my door. Taking in a few deep breaths, I nervously opened the door.

I was pushed aside and came face to face with Chase Motherfucker Henry.

“You cannot just barge inside my house. Get out, quick “ I held the door open for him, motioning him to get the hell out.

He rubbed his face, I think to calm himself and then spoke. “I'm going to ask you real gently and you're going to answer my question.” I just scoffed at his words. “Where is Mia?” He spoke as if I was a child.

“I. Don't. Know.” I spoke in the same tone as him. “And her whereabouts shouldn’t be a bother to cause you are nothing to her.”

My words spiked his barely contained rage and he snapped at me. “Fucking answer me, bitch.”

I flinched at his words, but I wouldn't let him get satisfaction of scaring me. “What the fuck do you want?” I pushed him away, but he didn't even budge from his spot. “I'm getting sick of you.” 

“Sweet, Luna, you don't need to meddle in my life or what I do with what's mine. I know she's in your house and despite your whining and bitching, I'm still going to take her with me and if you try to stop me.” He gently smoothed my hair. “The consequences will be dire.” He then added,”for you.”

“Fuck you.” 

He grabbed my arm, twisting it ever so slightly and turned me around so that my back was to his front. “You make everything so hard for me. Why couldn't you just mind your own business. You're going to get your ass in trouble.” He lowered his face to my collar bone.

I writhed against his hold and soon was freed from him when my teeth sank into the skin of this arm.

“How dare you touch me, you filthy pig.” I faced him, wanting smack his body down. “Don’t you fucking do that again.” I took hold of his collar and tried to drag him away, but he didn't even move.

“Shut up.” He easily removed my hands. “Shut your mouth.”

“Leave us alone, Chase.” Mia’s voice stilled him.

I pulled away from Chase. Mia descended down from the stairs, struggling. I immediately went to her aid, but Chase didn't move from his place. He stood there firm. His posture became arrogant and his gaze never once moved away from Mia.

“Why are you here?” Anger dripped from her voice. “Weren't supposed to plan a romantic dinner for your fiancé? Or did that just went downhill for you?”

No answer from Chase. His face had hardened and he stared daggers at Mia. Something was not okay between them.

“Tell her to leave us alone.” He meant me. Even if Mia asked me to, I wouldn't be leaving her alone with him. “I would like to speak to you in private.”

“Whatever you have to say will be spoken in front of her.”

He combed his hair with his fingers getting frustrated by not having his way. “Fine.” He spoke with finality. “I'm going to give you two options. First, drive home with me and pretend like yesterday never happened, and live your life the way you used to,” He inched closer to us. “Give birth to my bastard, hand all the parental rights to my father and we'll live our lives like we used too.”

“Where does your beautiful fiancé fit in this equation?

He smiled evilly. “Don't be jealous. Of course, she'll be with me. We could just resume back to what we used to be: a secret.”

“And what happens after you marry her?” Mia folded her hands, glaring at him. “You'll fuck me in the same bed as her or do I get a separate room?”

“I'll figure something out when that happens,” he inched closer to us and lifted her chin up. “You don't have to worry about the future. I'm always going to keep us together.” I watched the exchange between them. “Now, let's go home, baby?”

“What's option B?” She shrugged his hold off of her.

“Huh?” Mia stared into his eyes, squared her shoulders, and straightened her neck. “Option B? Are you kidding me?”

“You said they're were two options.” Mia placed her hand on his shoulder. “What's the other?”

He made the tsk tsk tsk sound. “When did you grow a backbone?”

“About the time when you got engaged.” She then made the girly hand over the mouth gesture as if she said something wrong. “Wait. You aren't officially engaged, right? Still haven't picked out a ring for her, I see.”

He continued to glare at her. “Now, spill,” She continued to speak. “I'm all ears for option B?”

“There isn't any other option for you. You're going home with me,” He said, closing the discussion for him.

“How about I give you a better option of leaving me the fuck alone and never showing me your face.” He flinched slightly at her tone and covered his facial expression with the same old cold mask.

“You want to be left alone?” He asked, rhetorically. “Fine, I'll leave you alone. We are done forever. You'll never hear another word from me and it's better if you take your miserable heavy ass out of my house. Don't dare show me your stupid joke of a face ever again and do me a favour and have an abortion cause no one would ever want you or your baby.”

By the time he was finished, Mia was in tears. “It’s good that we have cleared everything.” She tried her best not to choke, but a sob eventually left her throat. “You'll never see me again.”

I expected to see regret wash over Chase’s face, but there was nothing, but stone cold anger.

He turned around and left my house like a descending storm. We both heard his Mercedes drove away from my street and that was the time when Mia lost control. She fell on the floor, crying hysterically.”

“Don’t.” I had no idea what to say except to embrace her in my arms. For the matter-of-fact I knew this wasn’t the end of both of them. Chase would ultimately try to stake his claim on Mia again and when the last time was consensual for her, I suspected this time he would use force.

I couldn't let Mia go through the pain ever again and in that moment of weakness I decided that I would and could go to any extent to save my friend. Even when it meant what she was asking me to do, I will succumb to her request.

“Mia,” I said, determined. “I'll do it.”