Hit And Run With It

Chapter 15 - Caleb

A/N This chapter is dedicated to summersetbelle because she has been so sweet and a dedicated reader thus far. ^.^

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Seven words.

Seven little words were all it took to cause my world to come crashing down. Even though the words fell past her perfect rose petal pink lips, that sentence cut me to the core.

I don't need you to protect me.

Her voice echoed through my mind as I was driving nowhere fast, desperate to escape all that had happened tonight. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel too hard, causing the urge to push the accelerator to the floor.

I can already hear her concerned voice fill my mind, telling me to slow down and that I'm going to kill myself, and a flash of pain crosses through my chest as I realize that I fought so hard to protect her, when in the end, she ended up slipping further away from me.

Before I realize I'm doing it, my left blinker is on and I'm driving down Owen's street again. The party is probably the last place I should be right now; I should be on Belle's porch, begging for her to open the door so that I can talk to her, but I think I've caused enough damage for one evening.

Driving up to Owen's, I notice that the party has very quickly died as a result of what happened with Brett and how fast Belle and I ran out of there, but there are still some hardcore party-goers still mixing drinks and having a good time.

Glad somebody's having fun.

I don't even bother knocking on the door, because I know that Owen is probably passed out on a couch by now. My hearing matches the rest of my senses as I walk through the foyer and into the adjoining kitchen in silence, feeling absolutely numb. I grab the first bottle of alcohol and pour the rest of it into a cup, downing it quickly and searching for more. I need to drown my thoughts and pretend - even if it's only for the rest of tonight - that everything is fine.

I don't stop drinking anything in my sight, even when other people come into the kitchen looking for more. I think I need it far more than them tonight. Each drink I down causes the rough edges of the evening to become blurred and soft; somewhere there is the Caleb in my head, the responsible voice, that is telling me that I need to stop, but I need to shut him up. His voice gets quieter with each swig and after about an hour I am absolutely wasted.

I take the rest of an obscure bottle of liquor with me as I finally stumble out of the kitchen and back up the stairs to where I found Belle on the floor, pinned down by Brett, completely helpless, paralyzed and calling out my name...

I see red and hurl the bottle in my hands at the nearest wall, causing it to shatter satisfyingly. Someone jolts awake on the bed, sitting up and cursing in a slur.

"Davis?" Owen questions, rubbing the sleep from only one eye.

"Hey, sorry man," I apologize. "I didn't realize it was you up here."

"Yeah, I can't believe I actually dragged my ass up here," he chuckles, throwing the covers off of himself and sitting up.

"Hey, go back to sleep. I didn't want to wake you up in the first place, that's why I came up here," I explain, putting a hand up to stop him from getting up and walking all the way over here.

"It's okay, I wasn't sleeping very well anyways," he says, walking barefoot across the carpet to join me at the entrance to the balcony.

"Heyyy! Where's your girl at? Where's Belle?" he asks, just realizing now that she isn't attached to me at the hip anymore.

"I think...," I take a deep breath. I can't believe I'm getting emotional over this, but she drives me crazy and I'm the one who messed it all up. Before and now. "I think I lost her, Owen."

"Well...," he starts, contemplating something.

"Spit it out."

"You are the one who hit her with your truck."

"You don't think I know that?" I explode, turning on him in an alcohol-fueled rage. "That's why I need to protect her. Protect her from me!"

"And you think the best way to do that is by dating her?" He holds his hands up in surrender, but his eyebrows are raised accusingly.

I hold my breath, locking eyes with him, waiting for the answer I want to come out of my mouth. But the only answer I get is the right one.

"No." I turn back to the night sky, sighing and silently pleading Owen in my mind to tell me what to do. Stepping out onto the balcony, I can smell a trace of Belle's scent, and the tidal wave comes back to hit me harder than before, the alcohol proving to be a futile buffer against the sea of emotions sloshing around inside of me.

"Look," Owen starts, sighing and following me out onto the balcony. He puts his back against the rail beside me so that I can still see his face. "I think you need to tell her, man."

I drop my head, the guilt of the accident and the effects of it on her gnaws at my brain. Owen dips his head to meet my eyes, making sure I'm hearing him.

"I'm serious, Caleb. She needs to know. Before anybody else can tell her."

My mind instantly flashes back to earlier when I found Brett straddling her in the bedroom. He was leaning down, saying things in her ear while she lay on the floor completely paralyzed, his for the taking.

What was he telling her about? As much as my blood boils wondering if it was simply sexual desires, I can't imagine what it would do to her if she found out through him that I was the one responsible for the accident. Me, one of select few people she trusts, that is actually keeping the biggest secret from her.

"You know I can't do that," I say into the night, more to assure myself that me keeping this from her is the right thing to do.

"It's you, or someone like Brett who tells her," he points out.

As much as my jaw clenches at hearing that prick's name, I can't deny the fact that if Belle was to find out, I should be the only one to tell her.

"Fine," I sigh, rubbing my hands over my face. "I'll tell her. But I'll do it in my own time."

"Davis-" he warns.

"No, I'm serious. I need to know that she's ready to hear it. Right now isn't a good time." I look turn my head to look at him, but his elbows are draped over the railing and his head is tilted back with his eyes closed.

"Whatever. Just do it, okay? She's a nice girl. She deserves to know what happened to her."

Despite the feeling that I don't want her to ever find out, Owen is right. She doesn't deserve me at all. I'm the idiot that entered her life on a wrecking ball, and even before that, Caleb Davis was not the kind of guy who could've gotten a girl like her. Only in fate's twisted cruel mind is this the way that we are together. But fate did cross our paths, however catastrophic. And I am determined not to screw this part of it up.

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I'm sorry this update has taken forever, but I haven't had hardly any time to write, and then there was that weird glitch with the clubs and publishing. :S

I hope you all enjoy! Got to foreshadow a little towards Caleb's past... ;)

Until next update.