Broken Promises

Chapter Twenty-Five

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

He was dead. Adam was dead. He was killed right in front of my eyes, and none of us saw it coming. None of us could do anything about it. I was still in Oliver's arms when backup was called, and not even ten minutes later, there was three more police cars. They had pulled me to the side and asked me stupid questions that I didn't know the answers to. They talked to my parents and Oliver too.

I was still caked in my brother's blood, and all I wanted to do was take a shower. So I excused myself from everyone and went to go clean myself off. Nobody said anything else to me as I walked past them all, making my way upstairs to my room. I locked the door behind me, not wanting anybody to bother me. When I undressed and got underneath the hot water, I just stood there. Emotionless. Numb.

But then I remembered all the blood and began scrubbing my body raw. Blood. It all belonged to Adam, and I literally just told him not too long ago I lied when I said I forgave him. I wished I could take it all back. But I couldn't. And that thought alone drove me to more tears. They blended in with the water, and I fell into a heap in my shower. The water continued to attack me, and I covered my face with my hands.

My brother was gone.

Why did this have to happen my family? To Adam. To me. He was one of the most important people in my life, and now he was gone in the blink of an eye. And it all started with Oliver. If there was someone to blame, it was Oliver for introducing him to Rodney in the first place.

All of sudden, rage and fury fueled my body. After making sure I was clean, I quickly dried off and got dressed. I stormed downstairs and into the kitchen. My mother was sitting at the table, head down, drinking a cup of coffee, while my dad was standing behind her with his hand on her shoulder. And Oliver? He was standing right next to the refrigerator. He smiled a smile that didn't reach his sad eyes at me, but I didn't smile back. I snarled, walking right up to him.

And punched him. I punched him as hard as I could, right in his left eye. He cursed out, and my mother gasp. Before I could give anybody the chance to say anything to me, I ran so fast out there and outside. Adam's keys were still in his car, and even though I didn't have my license yet, it didn't stop me from getting in his car, starting the ignition, and hightailing my ass out of the driveway. I didn't care that there were still police out here with an ambulance to get my dead brother out of here. I just wanted to leave.

I didn't realize where I was going until I ended up in my ex boyfriend's driveway. With my hands on the steering wheel, my gaze stayed fixated on the front door. I contemplated if I should even go knock on the door. He probably didn't want to see him. And what if Chloe was here? That definitely wouldn't be good, either.

It didn't take me long to figure out what to do. Even if she was here, it wasn't like I was trying to get Brody back. I just needed to talk someone, and I didn't want to talk to Oliver or my parents. Besides, Brody deserved an explanation on what happened before and after we broke up. And, he I wanted to be the one to tell him about Adam before anybody else did, because it was likely to be on the news tonight or early in the morning.

My hand was in the air, ready to knock on the door, when it opened. Standing there was Brody, hair wet from a shower, wearing basketball shorts and no shorts. He looked surprised to me, and without even thinking, almost knocked him over when I threw my arms around him. I started crying again. At first, he just stood there with his arms by his sides. But then he relaxed and wrapped them around me, and he let me cry.

I cried and cried and cried until there was almost nothing left. In between my sobs, I wanted to tell him about Adam, but it was nearly impossible. His fingers went through my hair, getting stuck in some of my tangles, but the pain was nothing compared to the one that I felt inside. Eventually, it was getting cold, and Brody pulled me inside the house. He led me to the couch, and we both sat down. Reaching forward, his finger grazed my face, his thumb wiping away the last remaining of my tears.