Shoplifting Hearts | ✓

12. black eye

five minutes have gone by with me furiously pressing the doorbell and rapping the back of my hand against the door to darwin's house. he always answers within a minute, which means something's definitely off.

when the door finally swings open, i nearly fall over in shock.

"what the fuck do you want?" aspen stands at the door, looking much more tired than usual. a navy hoody covers his upper body while purple circles sit below his usually bright green eyes. today, however, they're dark and alert, almost intimidating.

"where's your brother?" i ask, eyeing the interior of the household. it's extremely dim due to the clouds that hide the sun and sky from view.

"he isn't ho—hey, what are you doing?" he holds out a hand and gentle pushes me back when i try to walk through the doorway.

i let out a gasp as i catch sight of his reddened knuckles. following my gaze, his eyes widen. "w-what happened?"

he remains frozen on the spot as i hold his battered hand in my own, still unable to remove my eyes from the sight.

"what's going on here?" someone asks from upstairs. a woman dressed in a robe with the same features as aspen steps out of a room. shortly afterwards, a man follows her footsteps and wraps and arm around her waist.

i gulp involuntarily, not wanting to overthink the situation.

"kyra?" a weak voice calls. i turn my head towards the source only to wish i hadn't. darwin stands on the fourth step, looking even more weary than his brother. and as i take note of the black bruise surrounding his hazel eyes, i feel my whole face crumble.