This time, Valentina woke up to an empty side of the bed, as she left it the night prior. No Hazel was to be seen even though she secretly wanted her presence.

The brunette didn't know how or why she grew so attached to the older girl, her prior fiancées never impacted her life, nor changed it in a romantic way. So why does it happen now?

It disturbed the woman how much she was wrapped around Hazel's finger, she could break her heart at any time and blame it on the contract or herself and Valentina would understand. She'd never realise how much of a risk this was, a risk that she didn't know whether she'd fully commit.

Valentina has her demons, many to be exact. Like her mother, she'd drink the pain away for even a remote chance to forget about her problems in the world. Her body swollen in pain and distress, she went on numerous trips to the hospital to the point in which Max considered hiring a therapist for the girl.

Max was her only friend in which stuck by her side, even when he dropped out of college to pursue his idea of a company, which is why Valentina loved him dearly. Max was somewhat of a good influence, he wasn't bad as Alexander, but he had a good heart alongside a wild personality.

With this, Valentina was caught doing the wildest things while drunk, sleeping with people she didn't know, skinny dipping in other people's pools, grinding on women in pubs or even drunk dialling Alexander's old numbers to make him come home.

She was all over the place in the past, but now, she found herself, well the parts she wanted to. Valentina lost her innocence and replaced it with resilience and independence, it was all she needed in a world where she knew nothing of.

On another note, Valentina knew little of Alexander, now that they re-connected, she wanted to know more. And introducing him to the Graysons would be the first step of building that factor of trust.

It was now the afternoon after she had spent the prior hours dwelling in her father's journals, reading about his dream locations, family, and herself. Already homesick, she decided to call her brother and get ready to introduce him to the Graysons.

"Alexander-" Stepping into the empty room, no Alexander was to be found. Worried, she looked frantically around his room for any sign of reason, luckily she did.

I couldn't bring myself to go to the Graysons with you, please forgive me for leaving again.

- A.A

Leaving again? What more did he know. But Valentina couldn't talk, she also ran away from her problems, they were awfully similar but at times like these, it was the downfall in their friendship.

Honestly, she looked forward to bringing him to the estate, even though it wasn't his particular setting considering his history. Mischief was always Alexander's ulterior motive, he loved causing trouble, it was in his nature.

And similar to Valentina's nature, drinking away her emotions was also in check. However, she had moved from that type of coping mechanism, or so she thought.

Like before, she had no idea of what to do, it was now her all alone again. It wasn't nice, nor did she better about it. Having Alexander in her life somehow made her numb to the problems she never faced, but now without him, Valentine came crashing down again.

She knew she'd forgive him again someday, but in this instant, she hated everyone, most importantly herself for being so selfish thinking that she could have a happy ending. Her body felt like jelly, she collapsed on the ground with tears blurring her vision. In this moment, she just wanted to be alone, like she always was because that's how it felt like.

No one was there for Valentina, not even a brother who was raised with her. She found herself running away from her problems, much like was Alexander had just done, it pained her to see such a similar characteristic between her family, but she guessed that she got it from her mother, another figure that left her.

Minutes felt like hours, Valentina stayed in the living room, making herself fall asleep by drowning herself in her tears, swimming in a lake full of emotions she had thought she left behind. But all of these had to wait because she had a life to continue. 

A life she knew she couldn't bring with her. Hazel and Valentina were very different and raised differently. So a world that Hazel brought Valentina into her life, would be a world Valentina wouldn't fit in, and it hurt Valentina to know that was Hazel and she had was temporary.

"Fuck." Valentine murmured to herself as her phone displayed a screen name she always enjoyed of Hazel Grayson. "Sorry but not tonight Hazel." She sighed, turning her phone completely off for her sake.

Tonight would be filled with sorrow, no temptations, no distractions and especially no Hazel Grayson. Valentina wanted a night, just one night to reflect on her actions, what she did to earn her spot in the present. 

She didn't need Hazel to keep calling her no matter how much she liked her, she needed time to adjust to her brother's disappearance once again, and time to mend another opened wound of her father's past.

Valentina stayed as composed as she could, occasionally she'd turn on her phone to see how many times Hazel had tried to reach her, but when she was tempted, she'd shut her phone off again, regaining her train of thought.