Chapter 94


    Chapter Ny-Four: Rules are made to be broken


    I stopped in front of apartment 2B, looking at the shiny golden letters on the dark cherry wood door.


    Rock music yed inside the apartment and I could picture my best friend. The kitchen was probably a


    mess, Charity was super bad about cleaning up as she cooked.


    The sound of her off key singing was muffled by the door and I knew that she would be dancing while


    she cooked. She was always in motion, she always had an energy to her that seemed limitless. I had


    been halfway convinced that she had ADHD and no one had noticed it but me.


    I could picture her in there with her hair pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head. Her lips spread in


    a smile as she did her thing. It was a scene I had walked into more times than I could count. I was still


    nervous to see her, but I knew that I could stand out here all morning.


    Biting my lower lip, I brought my hand up and knocked on the door. It was best to just get it over with. I


    couldn’t put this off forever, even if a part of me wanted to. I worried that things were going to change


    between the two of us.


    I was pretty sure that my friend was a shifter. That there was so much about her that I didn’t know.


    It hurt that she hadn’t trusted me with this. There wasn’t a part of my life that I didn’t share with her. Yet,


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    she had not trusted me enough to tell me her secret. She must have known that Jake was like her, but


    that was another thing she hadn’t told me.


    It was beginning to feel like the world that I knew was all a lie. I just hoped there were no more


    shocking secrets that were going toe out about the world and the people closest to me. I didn’t


    know if I would be able to handle it if there was. Each thing! learned made me feel more and more like


    this was some very vivid hallucination.


    The door swung open and Charity looked at me, wringing her hands together in front of her. Her pink


    lips spread into a wide smile, but I could see the worry in fear in her eyes that mirrored my own. She


    looked like I had thought she would. Her hair was all messy, piled on top of her head. Flour was


    smeared across the top of her cheek


    She was wearing an oversized navy blue shirt that stopped at her thighs and her skin seemed to glow.


    My gaze moved down to the marks on her ankles and the ones at her wrist.


    “You’re hurt?” I said, frowning at those marks. “Did he hurt you?”


    “What, no,” she said, lifting up her hands and I realized that the bruises were healing but they wrapped


    around both her wrists and ankles. “Things got a little wild with Aaronst night, but it was all


    consenting.”


    “That’s good.” I said, unsure of what I should say. I wasn’t bothered that she’d had kinky sex. I was one


    to yuck someone’s yum. I just couldn’t seem to press through my worry.


    Charity’s eyes moved over me. Taking in the clothing that Jason had given me and the marks on both


    sides of my neck. She smoothed her hands over the front of her shirt, giving me a smile. “Good


    morning, Tillie. I hope you’re hungry. I made pancakes and coffee.”


    My stomach rumbled at the mention of food, even though my throat felt tight. I didn’t want to be upset


    with her but I was and she knew it.


    “You spent the night?” I asked, but we both knew that she had.


    Stepping to the side, Charity waved me in but I didn’t step inside the apartment. I wasn’t ready to yet.


    “I did.” The words were stilted like she was worried about telling me what I already knew.


    “What about your rules?” I asked, wrapping my arms around my stomach and clearing my throat.


    *Rules are made to be broken. Are you noting in, Til?” Charity asked, looking down at her sparkly


    blue toenails before looking up at me again. “I fixed your coffee the way you like it.”


    “Are you going to tell me the truth or are you going to pretend that everything is normal and you haven’t


    been lying to me the entire time I’ve known you?” My voice rose with each word and my eyes burned


    with unshed tears that were threatening to spill. I didn’t want to cry but I was still so worn out and I had


    been on a rollercoaster of emotions.


    “Tillie, I’m sorry.” Charity said, stepping closer to me and raising her hand up to touch me. She had


    always been touchy feely and I had assumed it was her lovenguage. Now, I knew the truth.


    She was a shifter, she had been making sure that others knew that I smelled like her. It made me think


    of a cat marking its territory. The way they would rub against their owner’s legs.


    Theld up my hand and Charity stopped, taking a half step back. “Why didn’t you tell me?”


    “I wanted to. There were so many times where I started to.” She said, her hands fluttering up in front of


    her and then dropping back to her sides. Like she couldn’t figure out what to do with herself. “I just, I


    just didn’t want to lose my best friend.”


    “You should have told me that you were a shifter. Charity, you have been my best friend, my person for


    five years. Why did you think you would lose me?”


    “I’m still your best friend, Til. You are the other half of me. You know me better than anyone else-” she


    said, but I cut her off.


    “But you didn’t trust me enough to tell me that you’re a shifter?” I asked as hot tears spilled down my


    cheeks. Not just for her lying to me but for how lonely she must have felt. It felt like the tears would


    never stop now that I was letting them out. A hough slipped from my lips and I tried to take a deep


    breath.