Chapter Sixteen
I wake up the next morning to the sound of David's soft snoring. I open my eyes up to see Ben's face right in front of me. I jump up and hit my head on David's headboard, and Ben laughs.
"Nice one, Juliette." Ben says, chuckling. David stirs in his sleep, and both Ben and I freeze.
"Go." I whisper to Ben.
"Meet me after breakfast in the courtyard. Got it?" Ben nods and glitches out. David opens his eyes and looks at me.
"Good morning, Love." He says sleepily.
"Good morning, David. Get up, it's time for breakfast." David groans.
"Can't we just skip breakfast?" He whines.
"No." I say sternly.
"Now get up and get dressed. I'll meet you at the top of the stairs in ten minutes. Got it?"
"Okay, if you say so." David says, sighing. I smile.
"See you later." I get out of David's bed and walk down to my room. As I'm looking in my closet for something to wear, I notice I'm still wearing the funeral dress. I decide to keep it, as it is a really pretty dress. I change into a Pierce The Veil T-shirt and black jeans. I step out of my room and see Marsa come out of her room.
"Hey Marsa." I say.
"Hi Juliette." Marsa responds. There is an awkward silence.
"Well, I got to go make breakfast now. Bye." Marsa hurries down the stares and I furrow my eyebrows. What was that about? She seemed nervous about something. I wonder what.
As I continue to wait for David, Chloe appears at her bedroom door and walks over to me.
"Hey Juliette." Chloe says.
"Hey Chloe."
"I got to go help Marsa make breakfast. See you in a few."
"See you." Chloe walks down the stairs and I sigh. How long is David going to take? After a few more minutes, I get impatient and walk back to David's room. I knock on the door. No answer.
"David, hurry up." I say impatiently. Still nothing. I sigh and tap my foot. What is taking him so long?
I finally decide to open the door and see David with his back to me, naked.
"David, hu- Oh my gosh I'm sorry I'll go wait outside!" I say quickly, slamming the door shut. I can feel heat rush to my cheeks as I lean against the door. I'm so stupid. Of course he was changing! What else would he be doing, traveling through Narnia?
After a few more minutes of waiting, the door opens and David comes out, a smirk plastered on his face.
"Juliette, if you really wanted me that much, you could have just said so." He says, causing me to blush even more.
"Shut up." I say. We walk down the hallway and down the stairs. We walk into the dining room, hand in hand.
"Good morning, David." Chloe says.
"Good morning, Chloe." He answers, sitting down.
"How are you?"
"I'm okay. I'm kind of excited for New Years in a few days." Oh yeah, New Years is in a few days. I forgot. I guess I was too busy being dead to notice.
After breakfast, I go to the courtyard. I walk through the garden to the pool, where I sit in one of the lounge chairs. Just as I'm starting to relax, I hear a noise behind me. I turn around in my chair and see someone disappear into the garden. I stand up and follow after them, going into the tree section. As I'm looking around at all of the tress and bushes, someone lightly taps my shoulder. I turn around and see Ben standing there, smiling like an idiot. I hug him tightly and he slowly hugs me back.
"Ben, I missed you so much." I cry unto his shoulder, letting all of my emotions about the last few days come out.
"I missed you too, Juliette." Ben answers.
"But you're back now. You came back."
"I came back for you."
And then we kiss, because we both know it's true. When I was talking to Alisa, I realized that it would be better if Chloe and Marsa went up there. They could never rebuild their lives completely, not after what David did to them. But Ben would be stuck on Earth. He can't leave. He'll be trapped on Earth forever, unless someone destroys the game Ben's soul is connected to. He can never leave otherwise. And, he can't just do it himself. He needs help from someone else. And I'm the only one who knows how to help him. I'm the only one willing to even do it, too. That's why I came back. Not for David, not for Marsa, not even for Chloe. I came back for Ben.
After we pull apart, I smile and so does Ben. God, I love Ben's smile. It's so cute!
We talk about random stuff. That's one of the things I love about Ben. We can act like best friends, and be romantic at the same time. I could never have that with David. That relationship is based on David's lust, not love or friendship.
Eventually, I have to go to lunch, so Ben and I bid each other farewell and I reluctantly leave the courtyard. I walk to the dining room and sit down at my usual seat. I'm the first one there. That's strange, since Chloe is usually the first one here.
At that moment, the kitchen door opens and Chloe steps through it. She sits down at the table and there is a moment of silence.
"So, how long have you been helping Marsa with meals?" I ask, breaking the silence.
"After you fell off of the staircase." Chloe responds.
"I needed something to occupy myself from what happened to you, so I asked Marsa if I could help her with meals. She agreed, and I realized how much she needed help since Ethan died. And now, it's just kind of a habit." I nod in understanding.
I was about to ask her if I could help, too, but at that moment, David walks into the dining room.
"Hey Juliette, Chloe."
"Hey David." Both Chloe and I say at the same time.
As we eat, David suggests we should take down the Christmas decorations. So after lunch, we take them all down. Fortunately, no one falls off the stairs this time, and by the time we're done, it's dinnertime. After dinner, I go into my room for some alone time.
Eventually, I decide to change into my pajamas. I change and look in my mirror at my torn up body. Some of the scars that David made have faded away, but the Always scar is till as fresh as the first day I saw it. I don't think it will ever go away.
Ben appears behind me and wraps his arm around my waist.
"Hey Ben." I say tiredly.
"Hey Jules." Ben answers. I smile. Ben has finally gotten a pet name for me. I turn around and bury my head in the crook of Ben's neck.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" I ask. Ben shifts uncomfortably.
"Jules, I don't exactly, uh, sleep." Ben says.
"Since I live in a computer, it's really more like power saver mode than anything."
"Please." I beg.
"Just until I fall asleep." Ben sighs and nods reluctantly.
"Okay, fine. But just until you fall asleep." I smile brightly.
"Deal."
We climb under the bed covers facing each other. Ben hesitantly wraps his arms around my waist, and I bury my face in his chest.
"Goodnight Ben." I murmur.
"Goodnight, Jules." Ben answers, kissing the top of my head. As I'm drifting off to sleep, I wish this moment could last forever. Of course, it can't. Everything ends eventually. Happiness, sadness, friendship, life. It all ends.
Sometimes even love.
