Fighter {Completed}

Chapter Thirty-Five: Come Over Tonight {Ellie}

Chapter Thirty-Five: Come Over Tonight {Ellie}

Two Weeks Later

"Listen," Sebastian says. "Are you listening?" I cackle with laughter, my stomach hurting as I lose my breath once again. I nod as I finally calm down, staring at him and waiting for him to continue.

"I'm listening," I tell him as he raises his eyebrows.

"Math is blue. Not red." I try to fight my grin, I really, really do, but it peeks through anyways. "Ugh," he groans, leaning back on the couch dramatically.

"It's fine. You're completely wrong, but it's fine," I tell him, patting his leg. He throws both of them over me, lying across the couch. Scarlet naps on the other couch, Asher curled up below her as he, too, lies in a deep slumber.

"Well, shit. If everyone else is sleeping, I am, too," Sebastian states, stretching out even further. I chuckle as I stand, moving his legs. He lays them in my spot as I head for the kitchen. "Grab me a water, will you, please?" his voice follows.

I snag one from the fridge, tossing it to him as I head upstairs to my room.

My phone rests on the nightstand, lit up by an unread message. Dread creeps around my stomach, squeezing tight as I pick it up.

Two messages light up the screen.

Cole tossed you to the curb yet?

Pain shoots through my heart, making me feel as though I'm drowning. Aches take over my bones, each one more deteriorating than the last. Before I know it, I've sunken to my bed, my phone released from my hands and dropped to my nightstand as I pull the covers over me.

I just want to forget it all. Please, just leave me be.

Why won't you just let me go?

My phone dings again as I close my eyes, drowning out the world.

Stop. Don't let him do this to you.

Cole's words ring loud in my ears as I think back to our conversation yesterday. Keenan had been unusually quiet since the lake trip. Yesterday was the first message in almost a week. I'd known as soon as it came through. All my people were sitting in the same room as me, so who else could it be? My mind fades into the memory.

"Ellie, you alright?" Cole asks. I nod without thinking, still staring at the message. Seconds later, my phone is ripped from my grasp, locked and thrown to the couch as Cole takes my hand in his. Pulling me toward the stairs, he only stops once we reach my room. While the party rages on downstairs, loud music bursting through the walls, I remain locked away in my room with Cole.

"Don't lie to me," he says, one hand caressing my jaw, my eyes closing in content. Sparks dance from his fingertips, almost sending me into a coma. There's alcohol on his breath, but it's just as addicting as his masculine, woodsy scent that rolls off of him in waves. "What did he say?"

"He said that he'll be waiting when you finally get tired of me."

His eyes hold a glassiness that's due to the alcohol. But the spark...that's from anger. Steely orbs glaring at the bed to my left as he stands statue still.

"I'm okay, I promise," I tell him before he can open his mouth again. He grinds his jaw, hands gripping me tighter. His anger doesn't leave him, nor does it fade any.

An idea comes to mind of how to calm him down, and I act on it before he has the chance to think about this anymore. "Give me your phone," I tell him. Curious, he does as I say.