BLAKE

Chapter 81

Liam

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" 

It's new year's eve and I was supposed to be at Tom's party with Blake but I decided to check on Joane first. She hasn't talked to me ever since we last saw each other so I wanted to give her some space, to give her some time to think about everything she said to me. But she did not reach out to me and so, I decided to head to her trailer before going to Tom's party. 

I walked in without knocking on the door, I own this fucking place after all, I'm the boss here now. 
But I saw red when I walked inside. 
Joane was alone, sitting on her couch, doing some coke mixed with speed and I fucking lost my shit. 

"The fuck are you doing here?!" She stood up abruptly, pointing a finger at me. 

I walked to the coffee table and I reached for the packet of powder and the pills laying on the surface. Joane tried to stop me but I pushed her away abruptly. 
She was hysterical, shouting at me and calling me names but I couldn't care less. I walked to the sink and threw that shit down the sink. I opened the tap, watching it disappear, making sure she would not be able to get it back when I'm gone. 

"You fucking bastard, who the fuck do you think you are-" She shouted at my back and I turned over and interrupted her. 

"I'm the fucking boss here!" Her eyes widened at my outburst, she definitely did not expect me to yell at her like that and she crossed her arms over her chest angrily, her eyes sending daggers at me. "And I'm your best friend."

"You're no one to me! Why did you do this?! Why?!" She was screaming at me, her voice cracking at the same time. "Why can't you just leave me alone just like everyone else?!" 

She fell to her knees, putting her head in her hands and she began to cry. Her whole body was shaking and my heart broke for her. 
I slowly walked towards her and I knelt beside her, wrapping my arms around her. 

"Why??"

"Because I care about you and I'm not gonna watch you ruin your life." I gently stroke her back, trying to sooth her but I knew she was already too high to come to her senses. 

"My life is already ruined anyway." She sobbed in my arms and my heart sank. 
How could things have come to this? Joane Sharp, the most confident woman I've ever known, is now a total wreck. She's lost faith in herself, something I could have never seen coming. 

"That's not true..."

"Yes, it is. I have no friends, no family. You don't want me. No one wants me." 

"Joane..." My heart broke for her. "You still have me. And Blake. And Jen and Tom. We all want to be here for you but you won't let us. Staying here alone, taking those drugs... It won't help you get any better and you know it."

"I've ruined everything, Liam." She sobbed louder and my arms tightened around her. "I've lost you. I've lost Blake. I lost my baby." The pain in her voice as she cried in my arms was my undoing. At this moment, I would have done everything to take that pain away from her. 

"I'm a terrible person. The only one who truly understood me was Vince. And now he's dead." Her voice cracked and I swallowed. I had no idea Joane felt so close to Vince... Shit. How the hell would she react if she knew I'm the one who killed him? No. She can't find out now. Not now. Not ever. It would destroy her. It would make her hate me even more. And Vince... He was a fucking jerk, I know damn well he didn't give a shit about Joane. She was just another woman that he used to bang. 

"Vince only used you for sex, you know that."

"How in hell could you know?" She looked me straight in the eyes and I swear if those eyes could kill, I'd be dead right now. "You were not here for me these past months. All you cared about was Blake. Blake, Blake, Blake." She gestured with her hands and tears fell down her cheeks. "Yeah, Vince was not the nicest man on earth,  but at least he didn't let me down for someone else. He kept his promise. He didn't fall in love with anyone else."