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I turn around, tears streaming down my cheeks as I hold back a sob. I see Lucas standing in the doorway with Seth and Hunter behind him. His eyes widen and I wonder if I look as terrible as I feel.
“Are you okay?” Lucas asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
He lifts a hand and I flinch, holding up my arms. Seth is coming up behind Lucas and he pushes him to the side. “Rachel,” he says, wrapping a blanket around me and pulling me inside, “are you okay?”
I burst into tears, unable to stop myself from sobbing into his shoulder. He rubs my back while the door closes and leads me to the couch. Seth kisses the top of my head and strokes my hair away from my face. “It’s okay now,” he whispers in my ear. “Everything is going to be okay.” He kisses my forehead again. “God, Rachel. I’m so sorry.”
I close my eyes as I lean into his hold, wondering for a moment if this is all just a terrible dream.
23
SETH
Black and purple bruises stain the side of her cheek and I see more going down the length of her arm. Her pants are unbuttoned and I have to stop myself from imagining what exactly took place. It will only piss me the fuck off more. Lucas is making some tea for her in the kitchen. The fact that we even have tea is another question I’ll need answered. But later.
I hate to see her like this.
It doesn’t help that the whole week she was gone I couldn’t stop thinking about her; constantly wondering if she was okay or if she found a proper place to stay. Once I thought I saw her walking through the town square and I quickly hid. But it was only someone who looked like her. I even thought I would run into her at work. I spent all of Wednesday night wondering what I would say to her only to discover that she changed shifts with Susan.
I should have felt happy, knowing I wouldn’t have to suffer through a whole four hours of her giving me the silent treatment.
Instead, I felt worse.
Before she even arrived at our doorstep I was considering having another bro meeting. Everyone has seemed so out of sorts lately. Ignoring each other. Not going to parties. As if we were mourning someone’s death rather than some bitch who seemed to be getting in the middle of our friendship.
In the end it really is all my fault.
I just didn’t want to share. I was acting like a fucking toddler. Even now, I hate that Lucas knows exactly what to do. He hands Rachel a cup of tea while Hunter offers her another hug. Meanwhile, I’m just staring at her like some fucking idiot. I push myself off the couch and run my hands through my hair. I pace back and forth, wondering what’s next, what we should do.
“Can you tell us what happened, Rachel?” asks Lucas.
Rachel is in the process of slurping her tea, but quickly stops. Hunter takes her mug and she sighs, leaning into the crook of his arm. Why can’t I be like that for her? Something for her to hold onto during all this. Rachel pushes back her hair, releasing a shuddering sigh. “I’ve been staying over at Josh’s place.” She sniffs and her face crumples as if she’s about to break all over the couch.
She dabs at her eyes with the blanket while Hunter asks, “Who’s Josh?”
I also don’t know who this Josh is, but Lucas’s gaze has turned dark. Even for him, he looks like he’s going to smash his fists into the TV. “Four-eyes,” he mutters.
“What?” Hunter breathes.
I scowl down at the floor while I remember that wormy little bastard. I knew something wasn’t right about him. I knew he was lurking around her too much. My hands fist at my side and I feel something boil deep within me as I imagine him smacking her, grabbing her legs and pulling him back to him as she screamed.
“We were watching some movie on TV,” she says in a high pitched voice before she swallows other sob. She’s sniffing and dabbing at her eyes again. “And then he… he…”
Rachel doesn’t say anymore and she doesn’t have to. I already know exactly what he did.
“We should call the police,” I hear Lucas, but I ignore him as I stomp over to the entranceway and shove on my shoes. Or maybe they’re Hunter’s. I don’t care. I open the door and hear Hunter shouting, “Where are you going?”
I don’t bother turning around as I say, “I’m going to beat that mother fucker’s face in.”
I slam the door and run down the stairs. I hear footsteps behind me.
“Seth,” calls Lucas.
I don’t stop. I can’t stop. It’s freezing and I was stupid enough to not grab my coat. Did Rachel run in this weather without her coat on? God. That mother fucking bastard is really going to eat my fist.
“Seth, stop!” Lucas shouts.
I feel something tugging at my shoulder and raise my fist, about to slam it into Lucas’s face. Anyone’s face. So long as it stops this feeling from surfacing. I see Hunter and not Lucas standing right behind me, tugging my shoulder. I can’t be taking this anger out on my bros. They didn’t do anything. I lower my hand with a sigh, my gaze going heavenward.
