Chapter 58: 58: Unraveling

BELLE

I felt utterly pathetic as I walked up to Minnie’s apartment door later that night. I had gotten many strange looks on my way here. I didn’t blame pack members for staring.

I was soaking wet, barefoot, and only had a towel wrapped around me to cover my black bikini. To add to that, I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face. I’m sure I looked like a mess.

My hand shook with emotion as I raised it to knock on Minnie’s door late at night. I knew she said she was busy tonight, but I was hoping she would make an exception, given the circumstances.

I could not go back to my apartment alone after everything that had happened. I just couldn’t.

Rustling, hushed voices, and giggling sounded from behind the door as I stood there waiting. I shifted anxiously, wiping my tears and averting my gaze when a pack member passed by me.

“Luna,” he greeted. I smiled back, although I didn’t look at them. This was so embarrassing. This was not the way a queen should be acting.

I knocked once more. What the heck was taking so long?

Thankfully, the door opened a second later. I looked up, ready to fall into the arms of my friend, only to find Liam standing in front of me instead.

“Belle?” Liam asked in shock as he took in my appearance. “Are you okay? Why are you crying? What are you wearing?”

“W-What are you doing here?” I responded. I looked around me, suddenly wondering if my state of sadness had caused me to go to the wrong room.

But, no, Liam lived in an apartment on the other side of the castle, far away from any of the royals—per Grayson’s request, of course.

Minnie, however, lived in the Mortar’s wing of the castle, with her own apartment, just like Grayson and me.

Liam seemed…~disheveled~. He had a pair of jeans on, but his chest was bare and rising and falling with each hurried breath he took in.

His hair was messy and unkempt and sticking up in every direction. His cheeks were red, and a thin layer of sweat was covering his forehead.

“Luna?” another voice asked. Minnie showed up behind Liam, looking just as rumpled as Liam did.

Her bare legs were on full display, and the only thing hiding her body was a black T-shirt that stopped mid-thigh.

~Well, at least we know where Liam’s shirt went.~

“Oh, my god, what happened?” Minnie shoved past Liam and immediately pulled me to her by my shoulders.

I would have been amused by the fact that she completely dismissed Liam to get to me if I hadn’t been so upset. She looked over my blotchy and tear-stained face, her bright red eyes filled with concern.

“I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered, pulling my towel tighter around me. My eyes traveled between the two of them as I tried to process what was happening. “Are you two…sleeping together?”

Liam and Minnie exchanged a hesitant look, slightly panicked.

“It kind of…just happened?” Minnie said. “I’m sorry, I would have told you, I just—”

“We can talk about Minnie and my situation later,” Liam interrupted. “What happened to you?”

I hated that my lip started to quiver, and my eyes filled with even more tears just thinking about talking about it. I looked at Minnie and shrugged my shoulders. “I-I, um…”

“Liam, get out,” Minnie demanded. She didn’t even look at him as she said it. She grabbed my hand and started to pull me into her apartment.

Liam didn’t move. “What? I’m not leaving. I—”

Minnie raised a hand, silencing him. “Look, my friend needs me right now. We might be sleeping together, but you need to get out so that I can take care of her.”

Liam put his hand out to stop the door when Minnie tried to shut it in his face. “I’m not going anywhere until I know that Belle is okay. I’m her guardian. I need to make sure she’s not hurt.”

I shook my head. “I’m not hurt,” I explained through my tears. “At least, not physically. I’m okay. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I could go—”

“~No way~,” both Liam and Minnie snapped at the same time.

“You don’t have to leave—” Minnie started to say.

“Was it that fucking werewolf mate of yours?” Liam demanded, cutting her off. “Did he do something to you? I swear, if he hurt you, I’ll hunt him down—”

“Grayson didn’t do anything wrong,” I explained quickly before Liam went off and did something stupid. “It was all me. I just…He just…”

And that’s all it took for me to break down in tears again.

I stuffed my face in my hands as I cried, only barely aware of Minnie ushering me into her living room. I could also hear them continue to argue about whether or not Liam should stay.

When I looked up, I could see her pushing him out her door by his chest. “I promise I’ll call you if she needs you. I think she just needs to talk right now.”

Liam’s worried gaze traveled to me. “Are you sure?” he asked me. “I just need to know you’re okay. Just tell me you’re okay.”

I nodded, a small but grateful smile taking over my lips. It occurred to me that, for the first time in my entire life, I had a support system.

I had a group of people who genuinely cared about me and vice versa, who I could go to when I needed them. I never had that before.

I had always been on my own—even when my dad was still alive.

You can’t exactly tell your sick, dying dad that you’re having a hard time making friends because you’re too busy trying to figure out how to pay his medical bills, now can you?

I had a family now. Minnie, Liam, Kyle, Elijah, and Grayson were my family. They weren’t related to me, but I knew they would always be there for me, and I would always be there for them.

And that’s all I had ever wanted. It felt so good not to be alone anymore.

“I’m okay,” I stated firmly, leaving no room in my tone for him to doubt that what I was saying was the truth.

“Tonight has just been a lot. You can stay if you want, but I seriously doubt you’ll want to hear about my love life. You might want to save us both that embarrassment of me sharing those exact details with you.”

Liam’s nose scrunched up in disgust. “Shit. Yeah, you’re probably right.”

He stood there for a moment longer, staring at me, before finally letting out a huge sigh and saying, “Can I at least grab my shoes? And my phone?”

I laughed. It felt nice to laugh. To my surprise, Minnie looked at me as if she was actually considering kicking him out barefoot and without his phone if that was what I wanted.

“Yes, of course you can grab your shoes and phone!” I said, laughing some more.

Liam gave me a grateful look as Minnie stepped to the side to let him back inside.

I looked at Minnie with raised eyebrows while he ran to her room to grab his things.

Her cheeks were painted with a deep blush—which I didn’t even know was possible for vampires—and shifted uneasily. “You’re not mad, are you?”

I immediately shook my head. “Of course I’m not mad. Why would I be mad?”

She shrugged. “He was your friend first. And I don’t ever want anything to come between us.”

“I’m not mad,” I repeated, giving her a reassuring smile. “A little surprised, maybe. But I’m happy for you both more than anything. You’re…cute together. Unexpected but cute.”

Minnie smiled. “Okay, good. I’ve been ~dying~ to tell you, but Liam made me promise to wait—”

“Hey, do I hear you throwing me under the bus?” Liam asked as he reentered the room, shoes on his feet and phone in his hand. Still shirtless, though.

He approached Minnie and bent down to cup her face and place a gentle kiss on her lips. She smiled up at him. “Call if you need anything,” he said to her. Then he looked at me. “Either of you. Got it?”

Minnie nodded. “Yeah, yeah, we got it. Now, get out of here. I have a best friend to take care of.”

Liam kissed her one more time before walking to the door. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

Once Liam was gone, Minnie turned back to me. “I’ll get you some ice cream and dry clothes. Don’t move a muscle. I’ll be right back.”

I sighed and sank down into her couch.