A Lifetime to Learn

Chapter 3: I Don't Invest in a Million Dresses

"Idiot." I mumbled under my breath, leaning against the brick wall and folding my arms over my chest. 

"What happened in there?" Calum asked, wrapping his coat around me. I didn't even know I was cold until he did, but I was thankful that he understood me more than I understood myself.

"I don't know." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "He just makes me angry." I told him honestly, finally facing my brother and looking into his bright blue eyes. 

"Come here." He whispered right before I started to cry, pulling me into a tight hug which we held for a few more minutes. "Now lets compose ourselves and go back in there alright? You can't let him see you hurt." He told me, tilting my chin up towards him so I was looking him in the eye again.

"Yea." I nodded, pulling out of the hug and shaking my head. "You're right." I smiled, grabbing his hand and leading him back to the table and instantly noticing the lack of Archer. 

"He's out back." Grandpa told me when he realized where I was looking, "You should go talk to him." I knew he was right, and I agreed as much as I didn't want to. I wasn't the type of person who fought with someone and then just didn't talk it through. Actually, I wasn't the type of person who fought with anyone at all. I kept Calum's coat with me and opened the door to the back of the restaurant, instantly noticing Archer with a cigarette at his lips. 

"What do you want?" He asked, his tone venomous as he just stared forward and took a puff of his cancer stick.

"You'd think an Oncology intern would be aware of the side affects of smoking." I told him, suddenly filled with anger at how he was knowingly giving himself cancer. He should have had it, and not my Dad. He deserves it. 

"I don't make a habit of it. Only take a drag when I'm stressed." He said quietly, his voice hardly reaching my ears before he brought it to his lips again. 

"Why did you do it?" I asked him, grabbing the cigarette from his hands and throwing it on the ground, twisting my foot over it to put it out. 

"Start smoking?" He asked curiously, his eyes finally meeting mine and looking like a deep shade of grey under the moon's light. 

"No. Well yes. But start a fight with me." I whispered, holding Calum's coat tight to my body and thanking him mentally for the heat it brought me. 

"I don't know." He murmured, running a hand through his hair and leaning casually against the dumpster behind him. "I guess it's just a habit." He shrugged, looking sadly down at the crushed cigarette. 

"What did I ever do to you?" I asked, my voice getting louder with each word. "All I was to you was Adelyn's best friend! I didn't do one single stupid thing! Nothing! But you decided that it would be fun to make my life suck donkey butt every chance you got." All of the bottled up anger I held just came out in one sentence, that I'm not even sure was coherent enough for him to understand. 

"You weren't just Adelyn's best friend." He murmured, his eyes meeting mine and telling me something I couldn't understand. "And you still aren't. You're just too oblivious to fucking realize it." He groaned, slamming his head against the dumpster. 

"What game are you trying to play Archer?" I asked, my voice coming across more shakily than initially planned. 

He looked at me with a mixture of confusion and annoyance before slamming his hands against the cold hard metal and pushing himself towards me so he merely a foot away. "You don't get it. You don't get anything do you?" He spat, his voice making my blood grow cold. He was so angry. So full of hate, that I begun to fear for my life. 

"N-no?" I replied as more of a question than an actual statement. "If I don't get it, why won't you explain it to me." I tried to say, but I think it came out as more of a dull ramble than a sentence.

"You know what?" He growled, running a hand through his hair and shoving me against the wall so his knee was between my legs and his hands were on either side of my head; pinning me there. "It is a fucking game." He spat, his eyes drifting over my entire body before landing on mine again. "And you're just another girl I'm going to play it with." He whispered harshly, his face so close to mine now that I could smell the cigarette fumes. 

"W-what?" I stammered, my thoughts so jumbled at our close proximity that I couldn't think of a somewhat witty response. 

He let out a deep chuckle before bringing his lips next to my ear. "You'll see." Was all he said before pulling away from me and waltzing back into the restaurant. I stood frozen for a few seconds before walking back in as well and sitting through the rest of the dinner with only my thoughts.

I wasn't paying attention to the conversation at all, and I could see that Archer was enjoying my nerves. 

I seriously need to figure out these rules.