Forgive and Forget

Caroline having sent out 911-texts to both her and Nikki on their day off, Elina found herself sitting curled up in an armchair in the other blonde’s sitting room in an apartment just outside of the Liverpool city centre, with a wide smile across her lips. They were celebrating Caroline’s engagement to her college sweetheart Samuel by drinking bubbly and eating greasy pizza.

She might have only lived in the city, heck the country even, for just a couple of months, and she hadn't known either of the girls for any longer, but still she would call them some of her best friends. And so hearing that youngest one of them had just gotten engaged, to the man of her dreams, she couldn’t help but feel over-the-moon happy for her.

“You do know what this means right?” Nikki said as she swallowed her mouthful of pizza, washing it down with a large zip of bubbly.

“What?” Caroline watched the oldest in the trio, and the only brunette, with wary eyes. She knew Nikki very well...

“We’re going to have a massive engagement party for you,” Nikki grinned widely, her hazel eyes sparkling dangerously.

“You don't have to do that,” Caroline smiled sheepishly.

“Of course we do,” Nikki disagreed. “This is a big thing, and it needs to be celebrated as such,” she insisted.

“She’s right,” Elina agreed with a smile as Caroline looked over at her for support. “It does need to be celebrated, but I’ll keep her in line, I promise,” she assured the younger blonde before winking at the other girl and taking a sip from her tall-stemmed glass.

“Mom’s going to organise the main party for all our family, but I’d be really glad if you two took care of the other one,” Caroline admitted with a smile. She knew firsthand about the brunette’s love for a good party and so far Elina had proven to be one hell of an organiser when she really put her mind to something.

“Great, I have so many ideas,” Nikki all but squealed, causing Elina to laugh slightly as she took a bit from her pizza, only to groan out loud as her phone rang.

“It’s my day off, leave me alone,” she complained as she put down her slice and untangled her legs before standing up from the comfortable armchair. Straightening out the dusky purple Henley-shirt she was wearing, she climbed over Nikki’s outstretched legs and walked out in the hallway, picking up her phone from the table. Glancing at the number, she frowned slightly at the unfamiliar number flashing across the screen but answered it nonetheless. “Hello?”

“Hi,” her younger brother’s voice greeted her half a second later. “I kind of need a favour.”

“What are you on about?” the frown across Elina’s forehead deepened at his words as she turned around and leaned back against the table that was cluttered with keys, phones and a couple of notes as well as some letters that had yet to be opened. “And don't you have your phone with you?”

“Ran out of battery,” he replied quickly, too quickly. “I kind of need you to pick me up from somewhere,” he added softly, as if hoping she wouldn't hear him.

She did.

“Where are you?” she asked, her tone suspicious and dangerously calm.

“I'm out, playing some ball...” he dodged, only to clear his throat uncomfortably and confirm to her that he was indeed not telling the whole truth.

“At the Academy, at the park behind the house....” she hinted, urging him to jump in when he felt like it.

“No...” he trailed off quietly.

“You said that Joshua was going to be dropping you off at home,” she pointed out.

“Where are you by the way?” he once more sidestepped her question.

“Sam asked Care to marry him, so we’re celebrating,” she told him frankly. “Where are you?” she demanded to know.

“Some of the guys asked if I wanted to hang out with them, and I told Landon that I’d already cleared it with you,” he admitted softly.

Pressing her lips together, already pretty good hunch who those “guys” were, she fought the urge to curse at him. She wasn't his mother, she had to remind herself. “Where are you?” she questioned after taking a breath to calm herself down.

“McKinley Park,” he revealed. “Are you mad?” he asked after a moment of silence passed between them.

“You should have called,” she stated evenly.

“I'm sorry,” he apologised, and she could hear the sincerity in his tone.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she stated before ending the call. Fighting the urge to smash the phone against the wall on the opposite side of the hall, she placed it down on the table with a little too much force before pushing herself away and rejoining her friends in the sitting room.

“Is everything okay?” Caroline asked concerned as she could clearly see the distress across the other blonde’s face.

“Yeah,” Elina sighed as she fell back into the armchair with a huff. “Simon just decided that it was time to throw some of that teen rebellion my way, completely out of the blue,” she revealed as she reached for her half-finished pizza slice.

“What?” Nikki frowned confused, she was an only child, she didn't understand things like that. Even if both Elina and Caroline would probably guess she’d been quite the rebel during her teens.

“One of his teammate’s at the academy, his brother was going to give him a ride home today, and he was supposed to either go straight home or go with Landon,” Elina revealed. “But apparently some of the “guys” asked him to join them instead.”

“And...” Caroline pushed, despite having a pretty good feeling she knew where this was going.

“He lied to Landon and told him I was fine with him going with them, and then he did just that,” Elina smiled humourlessly. “Without checking with me first.”

“Does that sound like him?” Caroline wondered softly as her friend finished off her pizza.

“Not really,” Elina said softly. “But he’s...” she trailed off. “I mean, I get it, this is the first time he’s living away from mum and dad and it’s pretty different not having them around all the time,” she reasoned slowly. “And he’s growing, and he’s getting better at football, he’s becoming friends with people who are living his dream. I would do it too,” she admitted with a slight smile. “But...I just can’t be soft on him, or he’s going to walk all over me,” she pointed out.

“I am so glad I'm not you,” Nikki stated frankly. “I wouldn't be able to do it.”

“I’ve spent 18 of the past 24 months keeping up with intoxicated charter-tourists and their terror-like kids, this should be a piece of cake,” Elina reasoned with a smile as she wiped of her hands and once again stood from the comfortable chair.

Saying goodbye to the girls she considered some of her best friends, and congratulating Caroline on her engagement once again, she grabbed some water in the kitchen before walking out in the hallway and shrugging on her pea coat. Tying her sneakers, she grabbed her keys and her phone from the table before leaving the apartment and jogging down to where she’d parked the car earlier in the afternoon.



Crossing the dimly lit park, Elina had her hands buried in the pockets of her chequered coat and had to fight to keep from letting her temper get the best of her as her heels clicked against the pavement. There was no doubt in her mind who had been to ask her brother to come hang out that afternoon, and it wasn't like her suspicions lessened as she pulled into the parking lot and found a lone silver Lamborghini standing there.

“Hey,” she announced herself evenly as she approached the two guys who were kicking a ball between them.

“Hi,” Simon smiled slightly as he looked over at her. “You're not mad, are you?” he asked softly once she reached them and stopped at the edge of the grass, not feeling up to getting dirt on her suede boots.

“No, more like disappointed,” she told him with a polite smile, letting anyone who knew her know that that was much worse than her being angry at them. “But I need to have a word with Fernando, alone, so you should go wait in the car,” she announced pointedly.

Mumbling a quick goodbye to the Spanish striker, he took the keys from her outstretched hand and jogged back the way she’d arrived, knowing that even if she had once again embarrassed him in front of one of his idols, role models, it was better to not have her yell at him too.

Waiting till she knew that her brother was at least halfway back to the car, she slowly turned to face Fernando who hadn't looked away from her since she arrived.

“I'm to blame here,” he began saying, his accent still sending shivers down her spine. Shivers she stubbornly ignored. “I ran into him at lunch and I invited him along.”

“I don't care about that,” she said honestly as she tilted her head slightly to look up at him.

“You don't?” he asked surprised. Judging from their other encounters, he would have expected at least some yelling.

“Of course not,” she smiled at him. “I mean, I’ve done my fare share of stupid things during the years, and if I had the chance to hang out with my idols when I was his age, I would have lied too,” she said simply.

“Then why are...?” he began asked, uncertain where she was taking this.

“I blame you,” she continued smiling sweetly. “You should have made sure that he’d called me, or texted me, about this,” she told him frankly. “He’s the worst liar you’ve ever met, so don't tell me he said he did, he can’t even lie about what he had for breakfast this morning, much less if he’d called me to let me know about this little outing.”

“Elina...” he tried to say.

“I'm not done yet,” she glared up at him. “The guy I know,” she had to stop herself. “The guy I knew would never do something like this, but...” she trailed off as she licked her lips. “I hope you know what you're doing,” she said softly. “That you're serious about this friendship with my baby brother, because if you're using him as a way to get to me, I won't stand for it,” she stated. “Frankly, it would be pathetic, and you should know that it would never work.”

“Do you really think that lowly of me?” he questioned her, anger flashing in his dark eyes. “That I would use someone’s dream of being a football player to get closer to a girl?”

“Well, that’s the million dollar question though, isn't it?” she asked rhetorically, arching her brow slightly. “I mean, we don't know each other, so I wouldn't know that, now would I,” she pointed out.

Unable to disagree with her, he could only watch her silently. They guy she’d gotten to know those years ago, that was still him, but he could understand how she wouldn't think so. He had lied to her, and not just for those few weeks, but for months afterwards, for over a year, and that had to hurt. He couldn’t really think badly of her for protecting herself, and her brother, from a guy she – in her mind at least – didn't know.

“Keep hanging out with my brother if you want to,” she told him. “He seems to really like you, and I don't doubt that you're a good person,” she said with an almost smile. “But hurt him, and I’ll hurt you,” she promised him.

“He’s a cool kid,” he replied simply.

“Good,” she nodded once before taking a step backwards. “And I would appreciate it if your friendship with my brother didn't interfere with my life,” she added with a forced smile before spinning on her heel, beginning to head back to where she’d parked.

“Why are you so hell-bent on staying angry at me?” he questioned, forcing her to stop before slowly turning around to face him once again.

“You never knew this about me, but I don't take trust lightly,” she said slowly. “When I trust you, I trust you. And if you violate that trust, there are no three strikes,” she shrugged slightly, watching him for a moment before looking away and taking a deep breath before once more turning around, heading away from him.

It was true, she didn't easily trust people. She did however go with her gut and even that got her burned ever now and then.