𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥〡STEVE HARRINGTON

26

Andy's heart dropped. Instantly she felt her eyes become watery and twitchy. "Why?" She questioned, softly and shaky. She feared the worse from the woman's answer and began to feel her hands tremble.

The shopping bags dropped from Marsha's hands, sending the groceries smashing to the floor and shattering. She walked towards Andy angrily with a pointed finger and face flooded with fury and eyes welling with tears of sorrow. Grief made you change. Made you someone you weren't really like deep down.

"Your useless father has done nothing to find my daughter!" She yelled, gaining on Andy. "Saying she has run away, she has not run away!" She screamed and Andy stumbled backward to get away. "I'm sorry." She mumbled, tears beginning to fall rapidly from her eyes. It was her fault. It was her fault.

"Your family are a curse on this town."

The panic started with a knot in her chest and firework sensation exploding in her abdomen. Her breath clawed up her throat like a demon trying to escape and she wanted to speak, to tell Mrs. Holland that wasn't true. That she did everything she could to save Barb, but deep down she didn't even believe herself and instead she fled. Her shoes hammered against the concrete as she ran, heart pounding inside her chest and the world spinning around her.

It was her fault.

Steve peeled his car out the road, but before he could drive any further than a few metres he had to slam his foot down on the breaks. His heart leaped into his throat, nearly hitting the girl.

He shut the car off and climbed out. "Andy, what are you doing?" He shouted. He rushed over the girl, gripping onto her shoulders and when she turned to face him he saw just how distressed she was.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked softly. Andy's breath stuttered, face red and blotchy from tears. "I killed Barb!" She cried. A great sob escaped her and she covered her face with shaking hands. Steve chewed on his lower lip, glancing to the road where another car was approaching his abandoned one. He led Andy to the passenger side, murmuring words of comfort and helped her into the seat. He shut her door before hastily going to the driver's side and getting in.

Andy's body racked with gut-wrenching sobs that tore through her chest. "She's gone." She whispered.

Steve started the car, pulling further up the road to where he could pull over and stop safely. "And I let her die because I was cold and tired and selfish!"

Not even having to unbuckle his seatbelt as he never put it on in the first place, he leaned over the middle of the car and pulled Andy into his arms, squeezing her tight. "It's not your fault, not at all."

Her tears made the shoulder of Steve's t-shirt damp. "Maybe if I'd done that bandage up tighter or not let her try and shotgun the beer in the first place."

Steve pulled away and moved his hands to either side of Andy's tearstained face. He looked at her firmly. "It's not your fault, okay? No one could have saved her from that thing. That night you were the kindest to Barbara out of all of us and I don't know why you don't feel that way too, but it's true. It's not your fault, okay?"

Hearing someone else say what she had wanted to believe for the last year straight away made Andy feel calmer. She gulped back her tears and nodded. "Okay."

Deep down she knew her father had done everything he could to save Barbara, even though the Holland's would never know the truth in just how he had done that. Andy didn't blame Mrs. Holland for her outburst, she knew grief made you crazy. It was unfair they were sworn to secrecy by the lab, but it was the way it had to be and slowly Andy would come to terms with that, just like how she would with the events of that night. She had to move on if not just for herself, but for Barb too.