Chapter 27- forgotten responsibilities
JULIANA'S POV
I buried my head into Tyberias' chest and quietly let my tears soak into his jacket as I saw my mother's coffin slowly being
lowered into the ground.
It was a small ceremony. The only people who attended were us and a couple relatives who flew over from Barbados. We didn't
tell them how she actually died though, only said that she got hit by a car. Somehow, telling them that she was actually shot by
her husband who was meant to shoot me, didn't sound that believable.
"I want to leave" I told Tyberias after people began burying the coffin. He nodded and led me to the awaiting car.
Once we got inside he placed me down on his lap where I sank into his embrace. He began stroking my hair and rubbing my
back.
Tyberias always made things better.
He slowly ran his thumb over my face, wiping my tears away.
"I need to pick up Estella from Mrs Green's apartment" I mumbled tiredly.
"Don't worry about it, I'll collect her. You just need to rest." He said and I nodded.
I had hardly been getting any sleep these past few days, being kept up by nightmares of what happened. Every night Tyberias
would wake up with me and try to calm me down. I couldn't help but feel guilty that I was also keeping him up.
I felt him place a light kiss on my forehead as I slowly slipped out of consciousness.
TYBERIAS' POV
I placed Juliana's sleeping body in bed and wrapped the covers over her.
I smiled as I saw her mumble something in her sleep before subconsciously curling up into a ball.
I then left and headed to Mrs Green's appartement which was a five minute drive.
I knocked on Mrs Green's door and it was slowly opened, revealing an elderly woman who looked to be around 60.
"Mrs Green?" I asked and she nodded.
"I'm Tyberias, Juliana's boyfriend. She asked me to pick up Estella."
"Okay let me just get her" she nodded.
She quickly returned with Estella in her arms. As soon as she saw me she grinned adorably and reached for me. Over the past
couple of days, I felt myself get much closer to Estella. Due to Juliana still mourning over her mother's death and locking herself
in her room, I had to start looking after Estella.
I used to think I hated kids, but maybe it was just Luca that I hated.
"Ty-bear?" She smiled and She buried her head into my neck. She couldn't pronounce my name properly, but who could blame
her. So, she settled for Ty-bear, claiming I was big, like a bear.
"How are you, pumpkin. Have you been behaving?" I asked sceptically. She giggled. She loved the nickname I had for her.
When Maria was making pumpkin pie she found Estella hiding behind the counter eating all the pumpkins.
"Yes she has. She's been wonderful as per usual" I heard Mrs Green say and I smiled.
"Thank you for looking after her"
"It's no problem. Don't hesitate to drop her off at any time" she said.
With that, I nodded and carried Estella back to the car. I opened the boot and grabbed the booster seat and placed it in the
passenger seat next to me. I put Estella on it and strapped her in.
"Ty-bear?" She said when I started driving.
"Yeh?"
"Does Jay hate me?" She asked and began fiddling with her fingers.
"Of course not, why would you say that?" I frowned.
"She doesn't play with me or talk to me anymore. Did I make her angry?"
"You sister loves you, she's just dealing with something right now" I said reassuringly.
"Okay" she sighed but I knew she didn't believe me.
When we arrived home, Estella said she was tired so I quickly gave her something to eat and I put her to bed and went to bed
myself.
*_* *_* *_*
"Juliana?" I said as I knocked on her door.
"Yes?" She said from the other side
"Can I come in?"
"Yeh" I heard her sigh and she unlocked the door.
She had her hair up in a messy bun and she was wearing baggy sweats. Her eyes were red and puffy but she still looked
beautiful.
I looked around the room and saw about 5 empty cups lying around.
"Juliana, I know you're hurting but you can't keep living like this" I sighed and I saw her scoff.
"You don't know how it feels to have your mother to bleed out in you arms, so don't you dare tell me how to mourn her death"
She said.
"You're not the only person dealing with her loss. Are you even planning on telling Estella that her mom is dead?" I said.
I knew I was provoking her but she needed to get it out of her system. There's so much pent up anger in her and she needed to
release it, I would gladly be her punching bag.
"You're such an asshole, get out." She said and shoved me away from her.
"Do you want to know what Estella said to me yesterday? She asked me if you hated her. You can't keep yourself cooped up in
this room forever, you need to face reality" I said
"I'm here for you. You don't need to deal with it alone" I continued as I wrapped my arms around her.
She tried to push me away and banged her fists on my chest, but eventually she broke down in tears and buried her head in my
chest.
"I'm- I'm sorry. I've been selfish" she hiccuped.
"Shh." I calmed her as I stroked her hair.
We stayed like that for a couple minutes before she slowly pulled away.
"I should probably go have a shower" she sighed and I nodded.
"I'm sorry for being a bïtch these past couple of days" she continued.
"You're not a bïtch" I sighed and placed a light kiss on her forehead.
I missed that.
With that, she pecked my cheek and disappeared into the bathroom.
I looked around the room and began tidying it up for her. I took the cups downstairs and picked up the clothes lying on the
ground.
She came out about 15 minutes later with a towel wrapped around her body.
I know it was fùcked up, after her mom just died, but I instantly felt blood rush to my dïck.
She then began changing in front of me, which wasn't helping my situation at all.
"Can you take me to him?" She said once she finished changing. I cleared my throat and nodded.