Chapter 52

"Jason. What... what are you doing here?" Alison asked.

"Here." Jason stretched out his arm holding her phone in his hand. She must have left it in school earlier today without even realizing that she had lost it.

"Oh, thanks. I didn't realize it's missing." She reached out and took the phone from his hand, her fingers gently brush against his, making her fingers burning hot as the tingling sensation in her heart increases.

"You don't have to bring it here. You can just pass it to me tomorrow." She said sheepishly.

He simply shrugged and slowly sat himself down beside her looking straight at the lake. She blushed not knowing what to reply so she just clutched herself bringing her knees closer to her chest.

"How are you, Alison?" He asked, his voice sounded... sincere and worried.

"I'm fine." She replied swiftly without thinking.

"Mia can be a total bitch most of the time, don't let her get to you." He stated.

"Yeah, I should know." She chuckled sarcastically.

"You know, whatever you're dealing with, you don't have to keep it to yourself. You'd go crazy piling things up inside your heart." He said softly.

"What about you? How are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm good, been better though." He said with his eyes on the water.

"Uhm... about the bruise on your face... did your dad... do that to you?" She asked hesitantly.

"I had a feeling you're going to ask me that." He smirked.

"You'd go crazy pilling things up inside your heart." She offered him a soft smile.

"Stealing my line now?" He smiled, how she missed seeing his smile. How long will this last?

"I guess everyone has their own secret in their closets, huh." He added.

"What's yours?" She asked boldly.

"You really wanted to know mine like I wanted so badly to know yours? To know what's been hurting you. To know what you've been through. To understand a little bit more about your life. To know that I'm incapable of doing anything to help. To just wish that I could sweep you away from whatever mess you're in." He elaborated making her heart ache knowing that he felt the way she felt towards him and it was frustrating.

"Aren't you tired putting on a face for everyone to see that you're fine when you're not? Constantly blaming and asking yourself why but whatever you do, however you try, it still doesn't change the fact that it stays how it was." He stated making her creased her brows trying to fathom each and every word he said.

"Maybe I deserve it." She whispered.

"What are you afraid of? What makes you so broken? What changed?" He exasperated.

"I did something terrible and I don't want to devastate another person's life because of my ignorance, because of my own selfish self, because of me. I just can't..." She said her voice faltered along the way.

"What can you possibly do, Alison? You're the most selfless person I know and-"

"I'm not, Jason! I'm the most selfish person because you just didn't know what I did-" She infuriated.

"Then tell me what you did because you're so much more than what you thought you are-"

"I killed my best friend! I made her kill herself because of me!" She screamed wanting him to understand how wrong he was about her, realizing what she just said, she placed her hands on her mouth and started sobbing. Now he knows, I guess I deserved to be hated by him, it's all my fault that Leah's not here anymore. I deserve this. I deserve to be reminded of what I did for the rest of my life knowing that Leah won't be living the rest of her life.

"What... What happened?" He finally asked once he saw that Alison had calmed down after he tried to comfort her while she seemed to be contemplating what to say next. The secret was finally out after she blurted them out in the heat of the moment, now that he had heard the huge part of the story, she knew he already had a complete change of heart after knowing the truth, she decided to might as well tell him the whole truth that she never shared with anyone else, including her parents and Liam who didn't know that she was the reason why Leah took her own life. She knew that she had lost him, might as well use this opportunity to tell him the whole secret that had been eating her alive for more than a year now. She took multiple deep breaths before she braces herself and told him her story that had been giving her nightmares countless times including the multiple anxiety attacks.

"Leah... she had been my best friend since forever... We've always been inseparable. She's my secret chest and likewise. We would tell everything to each other, or at least that's what I thought..." She paused at each sentence looking blankly at the darkened sky with her knees hugged against her chest.