✧༺♥༻∞ Chapter Four ∞༺♥༻✧

Parts of the previous night were still a blur to Demi, but the moments she did remember were crystal clear. Those memories made a cheeky smile dance upon her lips every time she thought of them. Sat at the mirrored dressing table, her thumb grazed over the key card that she'd stolen from the hotel the night before. She wondered if William had got into trouble for not returning it when he'd checked out.

Unfortunately, Demi's joy was short lived when her sister barged in her bedroom uninvited. To be honest, it was lucky she even had a bedroom - one of Ewelina's house mates was off travelling for a while.

Despite barging in, Ewelina's walk forward was slow and confused. "You're smiling," she noted when she caught initial eye contact with her twin.

"You say it like it's so unexpected," giggled Demi, raising her shoulders a little. An innocent look had smothered her features and her sister was growing more suspicious by the second. It was evident in her facial expressions.

Ewelina paused for a while, shifting from one foot to the other whilst looking deep into her sister's eyes. Demi's expression didn't falter. Instead, the blonde gestured over to the bed. "Sit down. Let's chat."

The twins had grown up inseparable. They'd known each other's school crushes before speaking a word. They'd lived in sync. They would speak through expressions; through their own little languages.

When Demi grew ill, their relationship became frail; strained. She longed to have their relationship go back to how it had used to be, but she couldn't figure out how to put things right. Meanwhile, Ewelina had closed herself off to everybody as a result of Demi's illness. She'd become cold and untrusting.

Ewelina breathed out a sharp, "Talk then." She bit down on her lip and looked into Demi's direction, staring just behind her and towards the wall. Sometimes it was still difficult to look her sister in the eye after barely seeing her during the past couple of years. She'd visit the hospital sometimes, but it wasn't the same. It gave her the creeps.

"Sometimes people's actions make people feel or act crazy. I didn't get ill because I was weak or dangerous, I got ill because he made me ill. It was my coping mechanism." Demi's tone of voice was silky-smooth, almost as if she'd practised this speech a thousand times.

Ewelina was nonplussed. Her sister had mentioned this mystery man before, but she would never explain what he did to her. All she knew was that Demi had come in contact with a man two years ago who made her want to scream from rooftops.

"Nobody's going to hurt you. You're safe." She looked directly at Demi before moving to sit with her, budging her up on the seat so they could share it. Her arm sat behind her twin's back and slowly pulled her into a hug. "I won't let anybody hurt you." Ewelina pressed her lips to Demi's cheek, trying to sooth her sister's pain the only way she knew how.

Slowly, Demi's eyes moved to look to her sister's. She knew Ewelina would try and protect her, but she couldn't always be there. They weren't five years old anymore. "I know he can't hurt me anymore," she spoke in a guttural tone. "I've finally realised. And that's why I'm better now. I'm not that twenty-two year old that had to be taken care of anymore. I'm stronger than that and I can look after myself," Demi urged.

Ewelina had felt vexed and afraid the moment Demi had shown up on her doorstep. Particularly because she didn't know how to look after her. Though now she was back and it had been a couple of days, she felt more settled about the situation.

"I wish you'd tell me what he did to you, Dems. Then, maybe, I'd understand."

Demi tilted her head to the side in deep thought. She smiled at her sister, widening her lips to show her teeth. "Maybe one day."

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

Reconnecting with the outside world was a very special feeling. She'd missed waking up to the sound of seagulls making a racket in the early hours of the morning.

She savoured the feeling of fresh air as she stepped out the front door and was greeted by the sun bouncing warmly down onto her blonde locks.

After her heart-to-heart with her twin, she'd agreed to join Ewelina and Caleb for lunch at a smart Italian. Apparently those two were a thing now but she hadn't pried into the details of it. So long as Ewelina was happy.

The restaurant was large and spacious with tables smartly set up with cutlery. The floors were wooden; her heels made a loud noise as she ambled across it. On the wall were pictures of people she couldn't recognise, with a couple of flags of Italy here and there.

"There is no way you come here frequently," she commented to her sister with a laugh. There wasn't a chance that a couple of graduates on low paid jobs would be able to afford to eat here on a regular basis.

Ewelina shrugged and looked towards her sister as she sat down; her blonde curls bouncing as the air-con hit her. "We thought we'd treat you. I wanted to come here for my birthday last year but Caleb forgot and took me to Burger King instead. Classy, right?" There was snark in her tone.

Laughing a little, Demi passed Caleb a stern look. "Treat my sister right please. You've no idea what I'm capable of." The blonde pulled her black cardigan around herself a little tighter. Sure, it was Summer, but there was no need for the air-con to be on this much. She had dressed herself in a thin, silver dress though.

"Yeah, well we're already booked in somewhere nice for this year, ain't we," grumbled Caleb. He wasn't exactly the thoughtful boyfriend Ewelina deserved.

The small talk went on for a while whilst they ordered their food. A smart waiter had approached them and taken their orders. The trio chuckled over how he couldn't be less Italian if he'd tried. Did it really count if it was an Italian Restaurant with nobody of Italian descent working there at all?"

"What do you mean Joe didn't show up for work today?" an angry voice sounded in the background, speaking to the waiter who'd just taken their order. "Get somebody to call him now, and tell him he'll be fired if he isn't in, in the next ten minutes."

Demi had been giggling with the other two until her ears had heard the voice of the man in the background. Her ears began to fixate on his words; his tone of voice.

She quickly gazed over to him, hoping it wouldn't be who it sounded like. But it was.

In a panic, Demi tried to roll herself under the table, but apparently it had been too slow. Despite hoping she was safe, her eyes slowly gazed up in one embarrassing motion to see the suited man looking down at her.

"Lost my earring," she mumbled with humour in her tone, quickly getting back up again and onto her seat. Her cheeks had flushed a shade of pink.

William stood watching with his arms crossed against his chest and an arrogant look upon his face. "Yeah. Sure. That's what they all say." Despite finding it comical, he spun around on his feet and walked off to catch up with his staff.

When Demi looked back to Ewelina and Caleb, she widened her eyes, noticing them both staring sharply back at her.

"What was that all about?" Caleb questioned.

Demi fanned her face with her hands, trying to get her face to go back to a normal colour. Even the reflection in the cutlery had been enough to tell her she'd gone unhealthily pink. "N-Nothing." The blonde paused. "Okay, we might have...slept together."

Ewelina squinted with confusion and said, "Before hospital?"

"Uh...not quite. More like...last night."

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

Author's Notes:
Do you think Demi will go and speak to William or will she just want to hide and run away?

Interactive Question:
What's your favourite type of food?