Page 3 of Freed By Wrath

Truth is, we acted like teenagers even though we’d never actually formally met as such.

I always knew who they were. How could I not? Slash had been every girl’s fantasy growing up; Isaac, his best friend, was the responsible one and the smartest of the three, although more… temperamental. And Fabien… well, Fabien could charm just about anyone without even trying.

We’d all grown up only a few streets apart in the same small town, yet somehow our lives had never properly crossed until that Halloween, and trust me, I never imagined I’d end up sitting on a porch with them until sunrise, talking about everything and nothing while singing songs none of us knew properly, laughing until our stomachs hurt, sharing drinks, stories, silences…

Simply existing. Together.

Somehow, that ordinary night became one of the most important memories of my life.

A core one. Because there, on that porch, for a few precious hours, the four of us fit together as though we’d been doing it forever, and it was… Freeing.

There were no performances. No expectations. No measuring every word before it left my mouth. No wondering whether I was being too loud, too weird, too much.

It was just four people making noise, enjoying chaos and mostly, enjoying each other exactly as they were.

I never admitted it to anyone, but that was probably the first night I felt strangely relieved when Daniel passed out halfway through the party.

Not because I didn’t want him there. But because, for a few precious hours, I didn’t have to be someone’s girlfriend. I could be just… Val.

Not Daniel’s Val.

Not Daniel’s fiancé, or girlfriend, or lover.

Not… anything else.

Valerie. Me.

Because truth is, having a long relationship can be safe… can be good, and also, can be amazing. But there are moments we forget who we were before that relationship. And in that moment, while simply existing beside my teenage crushes, laughing, talking, being seen… I remembered it.

At the time, Slash was still dating my cousin, living what had been her dream for years, and a small part of me hated how much that bothered me.

Not because I wanted him.

It was just that every time I looked at him, he seemed so effortlessly alive.

And every time I looked at Serena… I couldn’t quite understand why something always felt slightly… off.

They looked happy enough, though. And his best friends seemed to approve, so… I ignored the tiny voice in the back of my head, the strange warmth settling in my chest whenever one of them laughed at something I said, or when the scent of cedar, cigarettes, and cheap whiskey drifted past me and transported me back to that Halloween night.

I still remember the exact shade of firelight caught in Isaac’s eyes when he laughed too hard, the way Fabien’s crinkled at the corners like he already knew every secret you were about to tell him, and how Slash’s always seemed to darken a second too long whenever he looked at me.

I haven’t seen them properly in years. Not really. Our paths crossed now and then, across crowded rooms and family events, exchanging polite smiles before I found reasons to look away.

Not because of them but because of what they reminded me of—The version of myself who laughed until her ribs hurt, who danced without caring whether she looked ridiculous, and who said yes before stopping to wonder whether someone else would approve.

Somewhere along the way, the woman I used to be disappeared beneath the woman I thought I needed to become.

Fuck. Enough.

I drain the rest of my glass and send it flying into the bushes.

This is wrong.

Thinking about them is wrong.

Missing that night is wrong.

I love my fiancé. I’m happy.