The Unexpected Trilogy: Burdened

Nothing Else

Ch. 5

Toby has this deranged look on his face, like he's been waiting for this the whole time. Impossible. I stare at him, then at Michael, then at Bella. I'm in-between two bodies, both vulnerable, both dying. I glance around the room. Nobody can see us in here, and I Realize how much I loathe bulletproof glass.

"Toby ," I say, pleadingly. "Stop, please. You- you don't know what you're doing. Stop! Stop!!!"

His smile fades and he stares at the gun in his hand. His head shakes as he runs his fingers through his hair, but he raises the gun back to me. I wonder where exactly he's pointing it at, but I look at Bella, so sad, so scared. I wouldn't let this happen all over again. I sigh, and stand up. I gotta calm him down, I just gotta. I stride up to him, hoping to flirt.

"Toby," I whisper while stroking his shirt. "Why would you do this?" I gesture to Bella and Michael. I close my eyes and look down, saying a silent prayer that Michael would forgive me. I look up and bat my lashes, rubbing my hands up and down his chest. I lean in and part my lips, hoping for him to do the same. He does, and he closes his eyes, leaning in faster than I am.

When his lips touch mine, I know what he's thinking. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull my body closer to his. His hands grab my waist and he pulls me as close as possible. He pushes me back to sit on the arm of the couch, and I wrap my legs around his waist, drawing his intentions in closer. The gun falls, and I know I've drawn him in. I flop on the couch on my back. My words from when I was in the hospital come back to me: "A ruined family is a bad one. I couldn't do that to a friend. I just couldn't."

Toby stops kissing me to come around the couch, and he comes all over me. I don't know how Bella went through with this with him. He stumbles all over you and he digs his elbows and knees into you. I go with it, and he plants little kisses all over my face and neck, while I know that he can't wait to get me alone. I make little noises, faking that I like it. For the next hour and a half, I feel a lot of pain in my lower back, and I regret ever doing this.

When I open my eyes, I'm in Bella's bed, and Bella walks in with a glass of water in her hand. She has a wrap around her head, and her wavy blonde hair is clotted with dried blood. She takes one look at me, gives me a deadly glare, slams the glass on the nightstand, and turns to the door.

"Toby!" she spits. "Your looover is, sadly, back with us!" she frowns at me and stomps out of the room. Only seconds go by before he strides calmly into the room. Once the door slams, courtesy of Bella, he's all over me, checking my temperature, blood sugar, and anything else you could possibly think of.

"Haili," he's murmuring. "Doyoufeelwarm? Howaboutcold? CanIgetyouanything?"

'Blah, blah blah...' I think. 'What about the thing from last night?' I roll over and attempt to act distinctly pissed off at him.

"Haili?" he sounds worried. "Is everything okay?" I look over and stare at him. I want to say, "Are you effing kidding me? No I'm NOT effing okay! I'm effing TRAUMATIZED!" But instead, I stroke his cheek with the back of my hand. "No, Toby," I whisper, my eyes filling up with tears. "We just ruined your relationship with Bella." The tears start to run down my cheeks, and he wipes them away.

"Well, we'll have to work it out, now won't we? Just like me and Bella, we'll find a way."

"But what about Alexsi?" I ask.

"What about her?" he asks, his eyes tracing the outline of my hot mess of a hairdo.

"You still need to give Bella child support, and soon, you'll be giving me some, too."

He has a shocked look on his face, like I just assassinated someone in front of him. "What? What are you talking about?"

I look at him. "Didn't we...?" I trail off, hoping for him to get what I was referring to.

"Haili, we just kissed. Nothing else. You should sleep now. You hit your head pretty bad last night." He turns off the light, leaving me alone in his king-sized bed, wondering what happened last night.