Page 71 of Care: Part 1

She could feel a lone tear falling from her face that she quickly wiped away.

"He's wrong for keeping what he knew away from you, and he's aware of that. You have to remember that Natasha is his sister, and she's been the only person in his life that understood him since he was a child. He feels as though he must protect her because she is his family. As much as you hate what she did to your grandmother, Adrik hates it just as much. He loves you, Avelina. I don't know how he will react when he wakes up after days of unrest to find you not there. I'm afraid that he's going to be broken.”

"I just need to breathe," she cried out.

Her body sucked in as much air as it could get into her lungs before she threw the door open. It was all of her emotions that were curling around her neck and choking her of her every breath. Everything was becoming too intoxicating. In one ear, she heard how wrong Adrik was for doing what he did to her family to make his sister happy. In the other ear, she heard how he was only protecting his sister and how she should forgive him.

"I have to go. I don't know if I'll be back," Avelina spoke softly over her shoulder to Anton.

He nodded his head in understanding, but she could see the brim of sadness in his eyes. As she was walking, Anton called out to her. She turned to look at him only to see that he was walking towards her.

"I'll take you home."

"No—"

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," he assured her.

She let out a sigh before allowing her shoulders to drop. Avelina followed him over to his car, where he immediately grabbed her suitcase and put it in the trunk. When she got into the car, it didn’t take long for the dog to jump in.

The dog quickly licked her in her face causing her to reconstruct her face into a look of disgust. She wasn't as fearful of Sobaka as she once was, but it was still going to take a lot of getting used to. Avelina was more of a cat person than a dog person, but Sobaka was pretty cute.

"Sobaka, sit," Anton commanded the moment he got into the driver's seat. Immediately, the dog pressed her bottom into the seat of his car as a loud pant echoed through the car.

"Does your dog know English commands as well?"

"Yes, a little. Sobaka knows more Russian than English, though," Anton chuckled. Avelina gave him a sad smile before turning her attention out of the window as he pulled off down the road.

The entire ride was occupied with Avelina's thoughts. With every mile they drove farther away from Adrik, she could feel their connection melting away.

She could only wonder what his reaction would be when he saw that she was no longer by his side. She wondered if he'd find someone else.

After a long drive, they made it to her house. Anton got out of the car and wandered to the trunk. He grabbed her suitcase before placing it down on the ground. Avelina waved goodbye to Sobaka before doing the same to Anton as she entered her home.

With a heavy heart, she rolled her bag into her house. Her mind was replaying her last moments with Adrik on repeat. From how he made her feel to how his touch always managed to burn her so good. She was drowning in sadness at the possibility of never seeing him ever again.

She got another text from Vincent, but she didn't even bother to read it. Avelina threw her phone somewhere in the room and screamed. She screamed with everything she was feeling. She was screaming with her heart, her mind, her chest—she screamed.

All of her pent-up frustrations and confusions were weighing down on her. She had cried so much to the point that she could no longer cry anymore. Avelina was tired of feeling the way she felt. She couldn't wait to go to Brazil and leave all of the aggravation behind.

It would be better if she left as soon as possible.

Avelina took a deep breath and walked to her bedroom, where she began to pack all of her clothing. She played classical music as she packed. It was becoming something she enjoyed. All of the passion shed with no words aside from the soft chord was hugging her devotedly.

Suddenly, her doorbell rang.

Avelina headed over to the front door before pulling it open. When her eyes met those silver orbs, everything froze.

"Avelina."

"Adrik."