Everlastingly Loving You - Chapter 71

Sophia agreed, “We should.”

Alistair nodded gravely.

“Alright,” he said, his voice lowered.

Sophia blinked.

“You okay there, Ally?” She asked.

“I’m fine,” Alistair lied.

“You can find your way back to your quarters on your own, yes?” He asked Sophia.

Sophia nodded confusedly.

“I suppose so,” she answered.

Alistair managed to smile, “Alright, I’ll be taking my leave then.”

Sophia was baffled.

“Sure,” she answered, as he watched him walk away.

“What the hell was that?”

__

“Right? He just bailed on me, Claire, BAILED ON ME,” Sophia said, scoffing.

She didn’t seem exhausted after the round of archery, she had enough energy to make it all the way to Clarisse’s room, she was fine.

Clarisse was taken aback.

“He what?” She asked.

“That can’t be possible,” she reasoned.

She’d known Alistair had a crush on Sophia, he’d made it quite obvious the past week.

“But it is,” Sophia answered.

“He just left,” she added.

“He just left,” she realized.

Alistair was still a childhood friend of hers, whether or not he’d changed since the last time they’d talked.

“Oh god, Clarisse, he just left,” she said, biting her lip nervously.

Clarisse stared at Sophia.

“And what do you expect me to do about it?” She asked Sophia, getting straight to the point.

Sophia briefly smiled.

“You’re family, aren’t you?” She asked her friend.

“And where are you going with that?” Clarisse asked in an expectant manner as if she knew Sophia was about to ask her a favour – which she was.

Clarisse knew exactly what Sophia was to ask her to do.

Alistair was a childhood friend, and at one point, he was practically family.

“You want me to check up on him,” Clarisse raised her brow, seeking validation from Sophia.

“Set aside your differences, and check on him, possibly?” Sophia asked hopefully.

Clarisse laughed.

She couldn’t believe it.

Sophia hadn’t realized it already.

She then realized there was nothing to laugh about and none of this was funny as it was downright heartbreaking.

She noticed Sophia glaring at her and quickly stopped.

“Right, I’ll j-just check up on him,” Clarisse promised.

“Alistair, my cousin,” she added unnecessarily.

She hadn’t moved.

“What are you waiting for, me to say thank you?” Sophia asked.

“Go!” She ordered, ushering Clarisse out.

Clarisse sputtered, “Soph, it’s my quarters, you can’t just usher me out of here.”

Sophia blinked.

“Watch me,” she joked, chuckling.

Minutes later, Clarisse was outside her quarters.

She shook her head, off to find her cousin for answers.

“Time to see if I’m right.”

Clarisse scoffed.

__

After discovering where Alistair stayed in the Beldovian Palace, she hastily made her way there.

She knocked on Alistair’s door.

“Sophia, I’m fine, there’s no need to–”

He opened the door, realizing it wasn’t Sophia knocking.

“It’s you,” he narrowed his eyes.

Clarisse rolled her eyes, “Shouldn’t you at least be a tad more excited to see your cousin,” as she barged into his room.

“Hey!” Alistair sputtered indignantly.

“You can’t just barge in my quarters, Clarie,” Alistair crossed his arms.

“And this is exactly why Raphael’s my favourite cousin,” Clarisse said nonchalantly.

Alistair glared at her.

“Did you come here purely to insult me?” He asked.

“If so, the door’s open,” he gestured at the door that’d been left ajar.

Clarisse reminded herself of what she initially came to do – other than insulting him, of course.

“I came here to check on you, per she who shall not be named’s request,” Clarisse said.

“Sophia sent you to check on me?” Alistair immediately asked.

“Wow,” Clarisse said in awe.

“You’re more desperate than I thought you were,” she admitted.

“Calm down,” she told Alistair.

“And yes, Sophia sent me to check on you,” she finally answered.

She put aside his and her differences for a split moment.

“You really like her, huh?” She asked Alistair.

Alistair nodded.

“And if you do, that’d mean you know she…”

“I know,” Alistair said to her.

The two shared a moment of silence.

Clarisse patted Alistair on the back.

“Cheer up, buttercup.”

“There’ll be someone else,” she assured.

“Someone other than my best friend, perhaps,” she suggested.

“I loved her ever since I could love,” he told Clarisse.

Clarisse wondered if he knew telling her this wasn’t the best idea but went with it anyway.

“And all I see is her eyeing someone else. Someone… other than me,” Alistair heaved a deep sigh.

“I mean, what does he have that I don’t?” He asked.

“She hasn’t even known him that long,” he said, sounding like a stalker.

“And already, with me and her it’s one step forward and two steps back,” he said.

Clarisse was certain she saw Alistair’s eyes glassy.

All she could do at the moment was pat him on the back and reassure him everything was going to be okay.

Seeing a different side to him, Clarisse began to see his vulnerable side.

Truth be told, she pitied him.

Of course, she had no experience falling in love.

She was the type of person to grow up knowing she wouldn’t end up living a happily ever after or ending up with someone in the first place. That way, she wouldn’t be disappointed with whatever she got as a result.

“That’s Sophia,” she said.

“And if it makes you feel better, for what it’s worth, Sophia cares about you a great deal,” Clarisse said, her voice filled with certainty.

Alistair laughed softly.

“Then why am I hearing this from you and not her?” He asked.

Clarisse shrugged.

“Because Sophia isn’t one to share her feelings openly, nor does she realize she has certain feelings in the first place,” Clarisse answered.

Alistair showed Clarisse a grateful smile.

He was thankful she’d come. He wasn’t one to speak his feelings, and frankly, this was one of the first times he and Clarisse managed to have an actual conversation that wasn’t all just insults, shouting and quarrelling.

“Sophia doesn’t know what she wants,” Clarisse said next.

“She doesn’t know what she wants at all,” Clarisse nodded.

“And as far as I’m concerned, she and Nicholas are just friends,” she said in an attempt to cheer her cousin up.

“Really?”

“Just friends?”

Alistair burst out laughing.

“Just friends are the last thing the both of them are, Clarie,” Alistair said.

“They’re not just friends, they’re more,” he said morosely.

He scoffed, “I’ve known that the day I came here and I still decided to pine after her.”

“I’m pathetic.”

“Purely pathetic.”

“It’s as though I’m pining after a taken woman.”

“The most beautiful, intelligent and charismatic woman I know,” he said, lowering his head.

Clarisse wondered if she’d ever find a man who’d say the same for her, but she kept her thoughts to herself. It wasn’t her time to shine, it was him.

“I can’t believe I’m still saying this.”

“And I thought I would’ve gotten over this a while ago.”

“Even though I keep telling myself I could love her enough for her to love me back.”

‘For her to reciprocate my darned feelings,’ he mumbled.

He peered at Clarisse, who was watching him intently.

“You must think I’m pretty pathetic, huh,” he asked Clarisse.

Clarisse hadn’t expected being asked that question.

She stuttered her way through an answer, “N-no, I don’t.”

“I don’t think you’re pathetic. I think you’re quite noble.”

“When you’re not being a complete ass.”

“But I have no place to comment on this, I’ve never had feelings for someone,” she admitted.

“And honestly, I don’t think I ever will,” she said, her voice breaking.

Alistair leaned in, “If Sophia asks, I’m alright.”

Clarisse nodded slowly, “Yeah.”

“And this conversation never happened,” she added.

“Great that we’ve come to an understanding, Clarie.”

“Yeah, you’ve got to stop calling me that.”

“Unless you rather I call you desperate, Alistair.”

She swiftly left Alistair’s quarters with the intent to dodge Sophia, if possible. She didn’t know what to say to her.

‘Oh, he was just a little under the weather, ‘is all.’

‘Oh, he’s perfectly fine, just homesick.’

‘No, he’s not fine. He’s been having feelings for you for the longest time and you’re clearly interested in someone else, and he sees that, so he’s hurt. He’s been courting you this entire week. Also, the way you look all googly-eyed at someone else doesn’t help either. So, the answer to your question is… no. He’s not fine, he’s definitely not fine. He’s anything but fine.’

Clarisse wondered if she should come clean to Sophia, she was her best friend, even if she could be incredibly oblivious at times.

She remembered another part of her conversation with Alistair that she simply couldn’t forget.

Why? Because it was all true.

“You know what’s the funniest thing in all of this?” Clarisse remembered Alistair asking her.

“What?” She asked in return.

Alistair stifled a laugh.

“It’s that… that… the two people who don’t know that Sophia’s in love with Nicholas and Nicholas is in love with Sophia are Sophia and Nicholas.”

“They’re in love.”

“What I feel’s one-sided, and I’m just… me. Alistair.”

“So…”

“Someone has got to tell me…”

“How am I supposed to compete with that?”