The Badboy Next Door #badboy #romance #teen fiction #forbidden #love

20 - My Cross To Carry

One; play the song above when you see the insert *Play song*

Two; I'm so sorry it took so long to write this chapter, but once you read hopefully you'll understand and appreciate the extra time it took to perfect it. 

Chapter Twenty – My Cross To Carry

I wake to the sound of pots and pans clattering against each other outside my bedroom door, and Jax yelling "Up and at'em!" I stretch my arms and legs out and groan as I roll over to glance at the clock. The neon numbers flash; 9:27AM. I yawn as I pull the sheets and covers off my body. After Jax ran to the bathroom last night, we all settled down to some stir fry and ate while we had a cozy little movie marathon. I was shocked that the stir fry didn't make Jax even more sick, especially considering he ate half a pan worth of it. We didn't get in bed until almost two in the morning.

I shuffle into my attached bathroom and peel the clothes off my body before stepping into the shower. I turn on the water and shriek as cold water hits my legs, I adjust the temperature dramatically, before I can fully step my body into the stream of water. I popped open the bottle of shampoo and squeezed some into my hand, the scent of green apples filled the air and made my stomach growl with hunger. I finish washing my hair and body and step out of the shower pulling the towel off the rack, I begin drying my hair as my gaze is pulled to the bruises on my stomach.

I pause and run a finger along the skin. Purple and green splotches of skin blended in with one another like a painting on my skin. It covered easily about half to 3/4ths of my ribs and abdomen. It still hurt to breathe heavily. I looked at the bruises on my wrist. You could easily see the individual finger marks wrapping around my wrist, of blues and browns blossoming out of my skin. I frowned at the sight of me. I dried myself off with the towel before I pulled out some clothes. I double checked that the clothes would cover up all of my bruises. I was going to wear a huge sweater, with the sleeves going passed my hands, ensuring that my wrists would be covered, it also went passed my butt, so there was no chance that it could slip up and show my abdomen. I pulled it over my head and pulled on a pair of pants and some fluffy socks as well. It wasn't exactly cool in the house, but it's not like I could walk around in a crop top and booty shorts.

After I had made my way down the stairs, I found almost everyone standing in the kitchen helping with breakfast, while Reece stood in front of the stove, wearing an apron that said, "I heart cooking with Grandma" while he sang and danced along to Rick Springfield. He was singing at the top of his lungs while flipping pancakes; at least I think that's what they were supposed to be. I looked at Brynn and caught her smiling, actually smiling as she watched Reece be a fool. I wasn't going to say anything now, but later I would talk to her about it. Reece looked up at me and smiled motioning me to come closer. I took two steps forward and he leaned in to talk to me.

"Guess what I found?"

"I dunno, what?"

He frowns at me, "You're supposed to guess."

I roll my eyes, "a giraffe?"

He pulls his head back and looks at me in a debunking way, "Never mind, I'll just show you."

He guides me through the living room towards the back of the house, we go down a hallway and stop at a big metal door at the end of the hall. It looked almost like the door would belong in a high security bank. He smiles at me as he opens the door with a strenuous pull, standing in the ajar door, I hear a click and light floods my eyes. I blink a few times to adjust my eyes to the brightness. It was a large room, with shelves full of tools, concrete floors and fluorescent lights. It was a garage.