My Brother's Playboy Best Friend

9

I feel a burning feeling in my throat. Everybody is looking at me. My face heats in embarrassment. I want to get out of here.

Neil places a gentle hand on my back. "Are you okay?" he asks.

Nausea makes everything spin around me. Everything is too loud suddenly. I feel like I'm going to burst. I shake my head. Neil takes my arm and stands up, pulling me towards the bathroom.

"I think she's going to be sick. Go on without us," he tells everyone.

As I turn around, I pretend I didn't see the clear disappointment on Vince's face. He doesn't get to feel disappointed. He doesn't get to call my name like he did earlier either. He doesn't get to pretend we're anything anymore. He didn't want me back then, he can't want me now. It's ridiculous. Soon, I'm on my knees in front of a toilet, vomiting in it. Neil's rough hands hold my hair back and rub my back reassuringly. He gives me comfort I didn't know I needed. I wipe my mouth and sit there, on the tiled flooring. I try to steady myself. Suddenly, Neil gasps and starts pulling at the collar of my shirt.

"Wha—" In a second, he gets my jacket off and I'm left in my camisole only.

I frown at the mixed feelings I read in his eyes. Surprise, worry, fear, anger. What in the world... My drunk mind doesn't understand his reaction right away. But when I finally look down to see what he saw, I rip my jacket out of his hands and wear it quickly. None of my bruises are fresh and most are healed, but some left nasty scars all over. Neil has small tears at the corner of his eyes when he locks gazes with me. My lower lip trembles. What can I say to him? How can I convince him to keep this a secret? How can I keep him from ruining everything? He cares too much to pretend he hasn't see anything and lying to him is useless. He knows me too well. I'm fucked.

"Hazel... Why? No, how?" he says slowly.

I avoid his insistent stare. "Neil..."

Carefully, he holds my shoulders. His hands are warm through my jacket.

"Who did this? Please, trust me."

I hesitate. I do trust him, of course.

"Okay, but I need you to listen to the whole thing. And... don't tell Parker."

"Haz, this is a lot you're asking for. Parker—" I shush him.

"Parker won't get it. He will put me over himself like always. I can take it for his sake."

Neil seems like he's about to cry.

"What are you even talking about?" he asks with a bit of anger in his voice.

Out of lack of better option, I tell him everything. From scaring Vince's girlfriends, to being wrongly blamed for hurting Eve, to the way Vince and her set me up. At the end of my story, I'm sobbing and he keeps telling me that I didn't deserve this and that he would have done something if he knew sooner.

"There's nothing to be done anymore, Neil. She could ruin Parker. I can't let her do that."

Neil shakes his heas vigorously. "You can't let her hurt you."

I smile softly in fondness. "She hasn't done it in a while. As long as I stay away from Vince, I'll be alright."

"I can't believe he would have done this to you," he says, eyes shiny with tears.

I laugh, sorry for myself.

"How come?" I ask for the sake of asking, not really thinking it through.

"Well, we joked about how much you liked him often. He seemed... flattered, respectful almost. I wouldn't have expected him to hurt you like this, deliberately. I thought you were like a sister to him," he explains and I regret asking.

I don't want to know how great he is. I don't want to know how odd it is that he hurt me because he did, without any second thought. You wouldn't hurt your little sister like this. Nothing makes sense but I don't want to think about it.

"It's stifling in here," I mumble.

The bathroom is a small room with way too red walls. It's warm and it smells like vomit, piss and alcohol. Not the best place to cry broken hearts. I wash up under Neil's gentle gaze.

"Let's get out of here, alright?" he offers, a hand on my waist to keep me steady.

"Okay."

We walk out and up to the table. The players and cheerleaders are now playing Never Have I Ever. We arrive just in time to see Vince drink to a player's sentence. Never have I fallen in love, was the sentence.

"We'll get going if that's alright?" Neil asks Parker, who nods.

We're showered with more or less sober goodbyes while Vince and Eve just glare. Vince at Neil, Eve at me. As we make our way into the streets of the suburbs, I try not to think about the fact that Vince has, despite not believing in love, fallen in love at some point. Worse, he's admitting it? Did he lie to me the first time around? Why tell the truth now? To torture me further? How cruel. I let Neil hold me tighter and closer. I need it.