The Accidental Wife (Emily and Julian)

I have been at the gym for the past forty minutes and I'm completely and utterly out of breath and out of shape too. I used to be stronger than that. The tremendous amount of weight I have lost doesn't escape my notice. I have gotten so weak over the past couple of

months, and I need to change that.

The game is in two days and I don't know if I'm going to attend it or not. His family is going to attend and mine too. Apparently, it's the last game in the season and Silas is expecting an incredible offer from a prestigious team, so they're all going to attend to support him. After taking a shower, I put on my heavy hoodie and another jacket. I'm starting to get cold easily, so I need more than one heavy layer to keep myself warm. "Long time no see, Rosie. "I stop in my tracks as I recognize the voice. I turn around and find Caroline in front of me. It's been so long since I last saw her.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

"Hello

here." I smile at her. I miss her so much and I miss Alexa and Natalie too.

"How have you been?" she asks me. She is

"I stop, unable to say that I'm fine. "I've baking normally, as if I hadn't abandoned all of them.

better."

I'm actually meeting Alexa and Natalie in fifteen minutes. Why don't you join us? We can catch up." she invites.

I shift my weight between my legs, not knowing what to say. "Haven't I messed up enough, Caroline?" I hate how defeated I sound, but I don't have any energy left in me to act strong.

"No, you haven't. Come with me." Not giving me the chance to say anything, she links her arm with mine and guides me to a restaurant nearby.

"I'm not well dressed, Caroline," I say before we get inside as I look at what I'm wearing. I'm in leggings and a hoodie- Silas's hoodie.

"Luckily, this

me

this isn't a fine dine restaurant." She grins, pulling me inside with her.

Knowing I cannot run away from this, I follow her inside. Alexa and Natalie are already here. My heartbeats quicken when I see them and all I want to do is run. They take me by surprise when they smile widely at me. The two of them practically jump from their seats and For a second, I find myself frozen, but I quickly snap out of it and hug them back. I miss them so much. Not only do I miss them, but I need them too. I need the friendship we used to have.

"We miss you so much," Alexa says when we pull apart. This group hug was free therapy. I needed it so much.

"I miss you more," I

e." I admit, taking a seat. "I... I didn't think you'd want to see me again after I abandoned you." I shamefully look down. I don't understand the kind of forgiveness they're granting me.

"While we don't understand why you thought it would be better to walk away from us, we don't hate you, Rosie. We may be upset, but we don't hate you," Natalie says with a small smile, managing to put me at ease.

I don't know what to tell them. I don't think there's anything I can say to them to make up for what I have done. I realize that I have turned into somebody I don't recognize anymore. Somebody who pushes people away and is on the verge of giving up completely on themselves.

A waiter comes to take our order and I find myself at a loss, not knowing what I'm supposed to eat, especially since I don't have the appetite for anything. I decide to take Caesar salad although I know I won't be able to finish it. "We haven't seen you in a while, so fill us in! What's new?" Caroline asks, initiating a conversation. GO

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"Nothing much." I shrug, not knowing what I should exactly say. "I broke up with Everest," I start and allow myself to look at them instead of avoiding their gazes. The wide smiles on their faces indicate how they weren't fond of him either. "I'm glad I did."

"It was obvious that he was a jerk, but why did you break up?" Natalie asks me. She is the only one who had a close encounter with him on the day we all went to the team's house.

"He was using me. He was only dating me to get my father to give him a nice job," I tell them.

"I heard that he was an a***le, but I never thought that he would stoop that low," Alexa comments.

"When I was with him, I always had a feeling that something was off, but I never knew what it was until I heard him talking about me with his friend," I tell them, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"If you don't mind me asking, is your memory back?" Natalie cautiously asks, and quickly adds, "You don't have to answer if you're not comfortable."

"I'm not sure if I remember everything or not, but it is mostly back," In

"I reply.

"That's great! So, you now have a better memory of us, right?" Caroline joyfully asks and I nod with a real smile on my lips. I cannot comprehend how they're going this easy on me. Shouldn't they give me a hard time for what I have done? "Are we going to see you at the game?" Alexa wonders. It's a question I don't have an answer to. "Why are you hesitant?"

"I messed up really bad with Silas. I don't think he'd want to see me there." Even after what Maisie has told me, I don't think Silas can look past what I have done and said.

"Silas loves you so much, Rosie. Stop being hard on yourself," Caroline says, and I find my eyes brimming with tears. told him I wanted him

"I

him out of my life, Caroline, after he

"Why did you do that?" Natalie asks as she reaches for rought my drunk a**home and spent the night taking care of me. I'm a terrible person." My tears betray me as they roll down my cheeks. I quickly wipe them and place my hand on the table.

s for my hand to give me moral support.

*Because he was with Maisie, and I didn't want to ruin their relationship. I also felt like I was using him, and I couldn't just do that to him. Add to this the fact that I'm in love with him and I regret leaving him even though I'm the one who dumped him, but I can't just walk back into his life and be like 'Oh hey, Silas, maybe we should give each other another try!' I have caused enough damage." I rest my head against my palms as I let all that I have done sink in.

"Silas and Maisie broke up, so there's no relationship that you may ruin now. You weren't using him at all. You were going through a lot and Šilas wanted to be there for you just like all of us. Even if you dumped him, I can assure you that he totally understands all that you have been through. Don't waste what you both have because of a hard time you experienced," Caroline says.

What she has just said resembles to a great extent what Maisie has told me. I can't help but wonder if the universe is trying to send me a message.

"Listen, if you really love him, you shouldn't give up. It's better to try than spend your time wondering what would have happened if you tried. First things first, attend the game with us Natalie tells me. Part of me wants to agree, but the other part is petrified. "And to make sure that you're not going to bail on us, we're going to have a sleepover the night before and get ready together. We will tell Sabrina of course!" Alexa grins, and I find myself nodding as I smile.

Would you like to have a sleepover at my place?" I offer.

"It's either your place or Caroline's place since Natalie and I dont have enough space where we live," Alexa says.

B BO

"Are you guys friends with Maisie?" I ask them.

"We're not that close to her, but we do get along," Natalie says.

"Maybe we should tell her too. I don't want her to feel left out. She is such a great person and I don't think it's right to leave her out of this sleepover," I speak truthfully. I still cannot believe that she met me to try to mend things between Silas and me. She is an amazing person. "We can definitely tell her," Alexa agrees and so do the others.

"So which place? Yours or mine?" Caroline wonders.

"Mine is closer if you don't mind coming over." I look at them, trying to see if any of them isn't fond of the idea, but they all seem fine with it.

"Your place it is. Wait for us tomorrow!" Caroline smiles brightly

It's been a while since I last felt excited like that.