Stars Align : Chapter Ten

The scraping of metal against the white porcelain plate filled the small yet cozy living room. The air feels suspended for a while with no words being exchanged while the four of them were having their own breakfast.

‘Ahem,’ Katherine cleared as she tried to break the silence.

‘Yes?’ Tiffany looked up as she raised her fork to .

‘I want to announce something though.’

‘What is it?’

‘I’ll be going back to America soon and I would like to bring Tegan along with me,’ Katherine smiled as she squeezed the youngest’ hand tight.

Tegan gave a wide grin that stretched across her face, ‘Mummy J, am I allowed to go?’

Jessica drummed her fingers on the table, making rest of them tense up.

‘I suppose so?’ Jessica gave a light smile.

Tiffany sighed inaudibly, with Jessica allowing Tegan to leave with Katherine means that the latter herself would be leaving too.

‘I guess I’m done with breakfast,’ Tiffany stood up and went straight into the kitchen.

Oblivious to what had happened, Tegan continued asking Jessica if she’d be going to America with them.

‘Babe, I think we should talk about this another time? I have to do some utensils washing,’ Jessica placed a gentle kiss on Tegan’s cheeks before she went into the kitchen.

-/-/-/-/-/

Splashing the running water on her face, Tiffany cursed herself for not being able to control her emotions.

She could have just said she wanted to give the three of them some space to talk instead of being such an immature brat, walking away from the dining table.

Supporting herself using both her arms, she stared into the mirror. The reflection was a girl whose eyes looked weighed down by endless troubles, beads of water remained stuck on her hair while the rest rolled off effortlessly from her face.

‘Tiffany?’ somebody knocked on the bathroom’s door.

Tiffany gently patted her face with the soft towel before she unlocked the door.

‘Are you okay?’ Jessica held the latter’s arms.

‘I’m fine,’ Tiffany gave the former a strained smile.

‘You are not,’ Jessica sighed. ‘Is it because of what Tegan had asked?’

‘No,’ Tiffany shook her head. She’d never blamed the youngest girl at all.

‘Then what is it about?’ Jessica pressed on.

‘It’s about me. It’s about this constant insecure me who doesn’t know who you would go to in the end. This me who I have felt myself change so much because of you and I don’t think I can quite let you off. But I guess you need freedom, I guess you will still be Katherine even after what she’d done to you,’ the brunette said with tears in her eyes before she yanked away Jessica’s hands.

The blonde dropped her head before she quietly whispered ‘please don’t go’.

But the kitchen’s door had been left open and there was only Jessica being left there.

-/-/-/-/-/

‘Will you go with us?’ Tegan tilted her head as she asked her question.

‘I need time, dear,’ Jessica massaged her temples as she laid her book facing downwards on the bed.

‘Why?’ the youngest innocent eyes peered back at her.

‘Because there is Tiffany here,’ the blonde answered.

‘Is she more important than Mummy Katherine? Because if you could answer confidently then I see no reason why you’re still weighing out the possibilities,’ Tegan smiled.

‘I want to think. I don’t want to make a decision without proper thinking and regret it again,’ Jessica pushed her hand through her hand and sighed.

Tegan nodded before she gave Jessica a hug, ‘I trust you’ll make the right choice.’

‘I think you guys should have a talk; a real, proper talk,’ Tegan suggested as she pushed herself out of Jessica’s embrace.

And that was what Jessica had wanted to do but the fear of being rejected for a talk was always there.

The fear of not being able to bring her point across using proper words worries her the most.

She didn’t need another misunderstanding to arise between Tiffany and her. The cold war between them had left her suffocating for air for a week.

Seeing Tiffany in school during their History lectures was difficult, they no longer argued in the theatre anymore. Jessica thought she was the real ice queen, but she was wrong.

Tiffany didn’t even bother looking at her in school; she walked past her as if she was transparent. At home, Tiffany kicked off her own trainers and went straight into her room, she no longer had breakfast with them anymore, her lunch was instant noodles and dinner was dining out with her friends.

‘I guess I will talk to her tomorrow,’ Jessica whispered into the thin air while the youngest who was already halfway into her dreamland answered with a ‘hmmm hmmm’.

-/-/-/-/-/

She couldn’t hear what her surrounding was playing, her ear drums were fed with the loudest music but Tiffany could hear what she was talking to the bear, the Winnie The Pooh bear.

‘You,’ Tiffany pointed her finger straight into the bear’s face.

‘You never bothered to talk to me; all you did was to hide in your own room. All you did was to leave me notes here and there. Reminding me to take my breakfast, encouraging me to score well for my examinations, telling me there’s food left in the kitchen if I’m hungry,’ Tiffany strangled the pooh bear.

‘Why? Why don’t you talk face to face to me at all?’

‘Because you’re inapproachable all these while,’ the brunette could feel the mattress sinking next to her but she refused to look back.

‘Tiffany,’ the blonde said.

The former increased the volume in her headphones instead.

‘Tiffany,’ the blonde persisted.

The volume became a little unbearable but Tiffany still had her headphones on.

‘Tiffany!’ Jessica snapped as she pulled off the headphones.

‘What do you want?’ the former turned to look only see a distressed Jessica. She’d expected the latter to be angry or even raging but there the blonde was, looking so desperate to have a talk with Tiffany.

‘Jessica, I-‘

‘No, let me do the talking.’

Tiffany winced silently at how inappropriate her behavior had been just now. She could have talked to Jessica but no, she cut her off and made the already sad-looking blonde looking so much more depressed now.

‘I wanted to approach you. I could have sworn. But whenever I see you in the theatre, you seemed so distant. I may be seating a row behind of you, there is just this little walking space left in between us but you seemed as if you were out there. Out of place, out of the class, and out of my world. And when you’re home, you kick off your trainers and you went straight into the room even though I’m tailing behind you.’

‘I-‘

‘And even during the weekends, you lock yourself in the room. You don’t have meals with us anymore. They are leaving tomorrow, do we really have to do this? Do you really want me to leave without a word? I don’t want to remain status quo with you, with our relationship.’

A sigh escaped out of Tiffany’s mouth. All she wanted was Jessica to have a proper talk with her, had she been dragging this too far?

‘Jessi, I want to have a proper talk with you, but I want you to start it. I couldn’t and wouldn’t know what to do. I don’t want to use words to hurt you; I don’t want to hurl insults at you because I couldn’t control my own anger,’ Tiffany apologized as she look straight into Jessica’s eyes.

‘But the confusion is always there. I don’t know who you would be choosing in the end. I want it to be me yet I want you to be happy. I don’t want you to choose me because I like you. I want you to choose me because you like me,’ the brunette continued.

After Katherine came back into Jessica’s life, everything seemed to be out of place. Katherine had regained back Tegan’s trust and regaining Tegan’s trust inevitably means regaining Jessica’s faith in her too.

However much Tiffany used to like Katherine, it was the past. There were so many things Tiffany wanted to do with Jessica when she realized she’d fallen in love with the blonde. She wanted to bring Jessica out to places to have fun; she wanted to cook meals for Jessica instead of having the latter to do the cooking; she wanted to love Jessica just like how she should be loved.

But with Katherine, everything was made so difficult. Tiffany felt like an extra to be in the flat even when she owns in; she felt like the table didn’t need an extra set of utensils; she felt the living room didn’t need an extra soul for television watching.

Taking Jessica’s hand into hers’, Tiffany replied ‘I want to love you like how you should be loved. That’s all.’

‘I know,’ Jessica responded, ‘With you, everything seemed so perfect, everything falls into place easily even without me trying. But-‘

The ‘But’ had Tiffany’s heart sinking a little.

‘But I have Tegan with me. She’s the responsibility of mine even when she’s not mine. And I’ll be going back to America with them.’

This was when Tiffany’s heart plummeted to the bottom of her stomach.

‘You’ll be going back to Katherine then?’ Tiffany gave a strained smile, her voice filled with disappointment.

‘I will be going back with them. But I’m going back to you,’ Jessica smiled as she held tighter onto Tiffany’s hand.

‘You are choosing me?’ Tiffany’s eyes doubled its’ size.

‘It has always been you,’ the blonde kissed her forehead and rubbed Tiffany’s back with gentle .

-/-/-/-/-/

‘So, Passport checked, clothes checked, facial products checked, anything else that I’m missing?’ Tiffany checked.

‘Yes!’ Jessica smiled as she waved a picture of them holding hands and smiling as they looked at each other.

‘Oh, this one,’ Tiffany giggled. ‘Let’s put it in place nicely.’

‘Please don’t forget to bring me along,’ Tegan laughed as she pulled the hem of Jessica’s white blouse.

‘And my little baby too,’ the latter pulled Tegan into her arms and patted her head gently.

‘And Tiffany,’ Tegan called out, ‘don’t ever forget me.’

Pinching the latter’s cheeks, Tiffany reassured her that she’d never be forgotten.

‘Hey Tiffany,’ Katherine smiled as she stood outside of the car.

‘Hey,’ Tiffany replied.

‘I want to thank you for everything. I mean allowing me to stay in your house, taking care of Jessica and Tegan, all these. I’m really grateful to have met you since young and thankful for your kindness,’ Katherine said as she squeezed Tiffany’s shoulders.

‘You’re flattering me,’ Tiffany laughed. ‘You’re my childhood best friend, remember?’

‘Yes!’ Katherine hugged the latter as she bounced gently on her feet from left to right and repeated it a few times.

‘Okay time to stop this. We’ll be missing our flight if you two continue this,’ Jessica chuckled as she loaded their luggage onto the boot.

‘Right, time for travelling!’

-/-/-/-/

‘Bye Tiffany. I’ll see you when I see you,’ Katherine said as both Tegan and her waved goodbye.

It’s time for their departure and Tiffany almost wished she could control time.

It’s the first time in their five months of getting together that Jessica will be leaving. Tiffany almost fought back her tears as the blonde gave her a tight hug.

‘Don’t forget me,’ she whispered into her ears.

‘You’ll never ever be forgotten,’ Tiffany replied as she hugged Jessica tighter.

They stood in the pathway hugging for five minutes. It was as if once they let go of each other, they’d literally be slipping out of each other’s world.

‘I promise to call you every night and send you photos of us. And ‘us’ means Tegan and I,’ Jessica broke the hug, gently stepped on Tiffany’s covered shoes as she placed a kissed on her forehead.

‘Okay, I’ll do that too. I’ll take selfies with my food and send it to you,’ Tiffany chuckled as she locked her fingers with Jessica’s.

‘So… I guess it’s time that we leave,’ Jessica suggested as she squeezed Tiffany for one last time.

‘Goodbye love.’

‘Goodbye.’

-/-/-/-/

‘It has always been you.’ This sentence has been stuck on Tiffany’s mind ever since Jessica had said that.

At least in this whole war of insecurity, Tiffany had finally won Jessica’s heart.

Unlocking her room door, Tiffany saw a little pink note being pasted on her study table.

‘It has always been you and it’ll always be you. (:’

Tiffany laughed into the air.

She remembered what Jessica had told her. Jessica wanted Katherine to recover as soon as possible so that she could take good care of Tegan. Tiffany thought they should have a break before they start getting back together properly.

Because loving someone doesn’t necessarily mean being next to each other physically. You could still love someone even when you’re faraway from them.

 

 

Author : I apologize for taking such a long time to have this chapter written. This is, unfortunately, the last chapter for the story. An epilogue would be uploaded soon. Special thanks to my readers who persevered to read the story (: I hope this chapter is good enough and comments please (: !