Chapter 45

"Chase! Oh, thank God you're alright!" Sophia cried as she pried herself out of Victor's arms and ran toward Chase. She engulfed him in a hug and he did the same to her, his eyes wide with shock. "It is so good to see you alive. Look at what Steven did to you!"

"Why are you here? Did my stepfather do anything to you?" Chase asked, ignoring the overly-concerned gasps that his mother was letting out while inspecting his injuries.

"Oh no, he didn't. He wouldn't dare touch me. Steven just told me he had a surprise for me. Then he kept me in this place, before telling me everything. I'm so glad that you're alive. That means that you won." She cried even more.

I watched their exchange with astonishment, taking every bit of information in. That was when everything started clicking inside my brain.

"You look so much alike."

"So you knew about this this entire time, huh?" I asked her.

Apparently, that was when she noticed me. Her eyes held guilt and sorrow as her lips tugged downwards in a frown. "Unfortunately, I did. Well, only the part of him being your father, not the gang thing. You have no idea how terrible I feel. I am deeply sorry for keeping this from you," she apologized, and I gave her a small smile.

"It's alright, none of this is your fault," I assured her and faced the crowd that was staring at us either awkwardly or boringly. "I would really appreciate it if all of you could be present here on Friday at four in the afternoon. Your assistance is mandatory, since there are very important things to discuss. You are all dismissed, rest well."

Mumbles filled the room as everyone started getting up from their seats and left. I sighed and rubbed my tired eyes as I looked at Sophia.

"You all should get some rest as well; you look so beaten up. Come on, I'll take you to some spare rooms and prepare some hot chocolate for you," she said and started walking ahead. I noticed Victor standing by the door, and I gave him a questioning look.

"I thought I would take you to your room, so I stayed behind to do so," he explained, answering my unasked question.

"Don't worry, Victor. I believe Sophia knows her way around. You may go rest. You seem tired," I told him, and he slowly nodded.

"Yes, Amelia," he said and walked away. Someone squeezed my shoulder and I looked at Wesley, who gave me a sympathetic smile.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and hugged me close while following Chase's mother. "The closer we get to the end, the less I like this plan," he muttered, low enough for only me to hear.

I frowned at his words, not wanting to think about the final step. I felt Chase's gaze on me and the question lingering behind his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but the halting Sophia distracted us all.

"These are the two largest spare rooms in the building, so I thought it might be perfect for you guys.­ Since there are only two, you have two options. Either the girls sleep together in one and the boys in another, or you all sleep as couples." She giggled.

I smirked at this while Chase blushed furiously, and Wesley and Lindsey shared awkward glances.

"We aren't exactly a couple." Lindsey coughed, and I snickered.

"Alright, guys. Try not to make too much noise, you don't know how old these beds are." I winked at them, and they both glared at me. I laughed and Sophia gave me a mischievous look.

"You should listen to your own advice, Amelia," she mused and I only smirked.

"Better tell that to your son, you know he can be... sensitive," I shot back. Her face paled and a loud cough escaped Chase's throat as he choked on air. Soon enough, her pale face turned bright red and I laughed at their expressions.

"That was a little... inappropriate, but alright," she muttered while Chase recovered. She then muttered something else about making some hot chocolate and scurried away. I had to hold in my laughter as Chase gave me an aggravated look, mixed in with a death glare.

Our little moment was cut off with a yawn coming right out of Wesley's huge mouth. "All jokes aside, we should all get some rest after drinking our hot chocolate. I'm so tired," Wesley said while rubbing his eyes a little.

We all nodded in agreement and chatted for a while until Sophia came back, holding a tray with four mugs. The smell of fresh cocoa lingered in the air, and I felt my mouth watering by the minute.

"I hope you all like whip cream and marshmallows because this is my all-time specialty." Sophia grinned and motioned us all to take a cup. The cup was warm under my touch and there was some whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and tiny marshmallows topping the hot chocolate.

I took a huge whiff of the delicious smell and enjoyed every second of it. "This smells amazing," I said before taking a careful sip. The warm liquid quickly ran down my throat and I smiled in content. A snicker from my side caught my attention and I raised my eyebrow at Chase. "What's so funny?"

"You seem to be enjoying that," he mused then pointed to his upper lip. "You seem to have a little something right here."

I then realized I must have a mustache, which made me raise my eyebrow even more in a sophisticated way.

"Well, I must say, Sir Underwood, that this is a lovely and very appetizing hot beverage," I said with a fake—pretty much horrible—British accent. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I will be enjoying the rest of it inside my five-stars suite."

"Don't let me stop you." He laughed.

I laughed after him and licked away the whipped cream mustache. "Thanks for the hot chocolate, Sophia," I told her, and she smiled at me. I turned to face Lindsey and Wesley one last time. "You two get a good rest, you've been working too hard. You two deserve it."

"Thanks Lily," Lindsey said with a small smile. "You too."

With that being said, I headed inside the room while drinking the rest of my hot chocolate. Chase soon said his goodnight's and came in right after me. I placed my now empty cup on top of the nightstand, next to the queen-sized bed, and stretched my arms over my head. A faint yawn escaped Chase's mouth as his good arm made its way around my waist. He placed a chaste kiss on my cheek and rested his head on my shoulder as I closed my eyes.

I brought my hand up to caress his soft dark hair as he sighed onto my shoulder.

"Why do I have a feeling that something bad will happen?" he muttered.

I kept caressing his hair and just left the question lingering in the air. After a few moments, he detached his head from my shoulder and let out another yawn, then headed to the bathroom. I let out a short breath and buried my head in my hands, dreading the coming days. Exhaustion draped its cover over my entire body and I swore that I had never felt as tired.

After a few minutes, Chase walked out of the bathroom with a towel draped over his shoulders and a new pair of sweatpants. I would normally tease him on being shirtless, but I just simply grabbed some random clothes and headed for the bathroom myself. I washed all dirt away and winced as some wounds stung with the water. I also washed my face thoroughly and suppressed a yawn as I turned off the water and grabbed the towel to dry myself.

Once I stepped out of the bathroom fully-clothed, I took a glance over to Chase, noticing that he was laying on his back with an arm over his eyes. I smiled a little and went to turn off the lights, not wanting to disturb him.

Once it was dark, I made my way blindly through the room, cursing under my breath when I stubbed my pinky toe against the leg of the nightstand. I kept whispering a string of curses as I half-walked-half-hopped to where I hoped the bed was. When I reached it, I heard a faint laughter coming from Chase. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest as a light turned on, illuminating half of the room.

"I believe the right order was to turn on the lamp first before ­turning off the light. That way you could've avoided this...accident." Chase snickered, and I stared at the lamp dumbly.

Since when was there a lamp there?

"Alright, alright. Laugh at my pain, dumbass," I said, rolling my eyes.

He chuckled and patted the empty space beside him on the bed with his good hand, inviting me over. I said nothing as I made my way over to him and lay down slowly. He turned his head slightly toward me and I did the same, knowing he was about to say something. "What's wrong, Amelia?" he whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting strange. In fact, everyone is. As if everyone knows something I don't, and it's kind of bothering me...I'm having a bad feeling about all this," he explained with a frown.

"Perhaps you're overthinking," I assured him. "We should get some rest, it's already too late and you need to take care of your arm. Try not to lie on it."

"Alright..." he said after a moment of hesitation and turned to look back at the ceiling. "Let's go to sleep then."

Before he got to turn off the lamp, I placed my hand on his cheek and turned his face back to me. He stared at my eyes for a moment, before I leaned in and kissed him softly. He responded as tenderly and sighed into the kiss before I pulled back.

"I promise you everything will turn out alright," I whispered.

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[Edited: September 21st, 2020 by michh_44]

Ahh, promises, promises. Such a delicate thing to deal with. Only a few chapters left to unravel the big plan Amelia has in mind. Are you excited? Because I definitely am! Please leave  a comment and vote if you enjoyed this chapter. I wish you an amazing day xx