A deafening silence hung heavily between us. I could see the gears in his head shifting as thousands of questions and possible scenarios raced through his thoughts at lightning speed.
Every red light he'd glance in my direction, open his mouth as if he were about to speak, then shut it and revert his attention back to the road, jaw clenched. It wasn't until he missed the turn that lead us back home that I finally spoke up.
"Where are we going?" I whispered.
His hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. "We're gonna have a little fun. Get your mind of things."
There were so many words, so many response I wanted to snap back with but all that left my mouth was, "It doesn't work like that, Colt."
He turned down a winding road littered with red, white, and blue decorations. His teeth grazed his bottom lip as he shot a quick look over at me.
"I know, Ave." He said, stretching his arm across the console between us and gently touching the top of my hand. "But I'm gonna do everything in my power to get both of our minds off that son of a bitch before I do something I'll regret."
I turned away before could see the tears pooling in my eyes. I kept my eyes trained on the road ahead, my head shaking when I caught sight of the giant carnival sign hung between two lamp posts.
Neither of us said a word until he parked the car and lifted his hand so his fingertips brushed my chin and jerked it slowly so I was looking at him.
"I'm sorry, Ave." His voice wavered a little. "If I had known. . ."
"What would you have done, Colton?" I cut him off, my voice rising. "Who would believe me over the soon-to-be Governor's son?"
"You wouldn't have had to go through this alone." He snapped. "You shouldn't have to face him everyday."
We exchanged a long, intense look before he dropped his gaze and climbed out of the car. I reached for my door handle as he walked around, nearly tumbling out of the truck when he opened it from the outside. He caught my arm before I could, earning a quick jerk away from me.
"Avery." He took my face between his hands, wiping the tears that had broke passed the surface. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. And you're sure as hell not gonna let that piece of shit win."
Rather than respond, I took his hand and jumped out, shutting the door to the truck behind me.
"There is no winning or losing, Colton." He dropped his hands limply to his sides. "No matter how much you wish you could turn back time and stop it, you can't. What happened happened, Colt. I'll never be the same girl I was before."
*
We sat in the truck outside the house for a good twenty minutes in absolute silence until Colton finally cut the engine and sighed.
"Do you remember your first party?" He asked.
I thought about it for a moment. "Freshman year?"
"Yep. Alex Davidson's eighteenth." Colton nodded. "You were so scared. Hell, you didn't even want to leave the house that night."
I opened my mouth to cut in, but decided it'd be better to see where he was going with the story before I said anything.
"When we got there you were even worse. You clung to Landon and me like your life depended on it. You looked so lost, so afraid of everything around you." He shifted his body entirely in my direction. "Then Landon walked away and you were left on your own, without his protection. I watched you like a hawk that night, Avery. I know you thought I was drunk, sticking my tongue down some chicks throat, but I wasn't."
"What are you trying to get at, Colt? You're not making any sense."
He chuckled quietly. "You drank a little too much, nearly let some junior take you to one of the bedrooms. I stepped in, took you outside in the front yard and sat you on the curb. You broke down the moment some random ass song came on from inside the house, like full on ugly crying."
"Colton, I don't. . ." I started.
"Just listen." He held his hand up, looking irritated by my impatience.
"You told me you wished you had a normal life. That you're parents gave a shit, that you weren't thrown into the system so many times as a kid and somehow bailed out by Landon. and your grandparents." He said, then rested his hand on my shoulder. "And do you remember what I told you, Ave?"
I shook my head.
"You're a fighter. Everything you've been through in your life, you've fought through. I told you nobody, not your parents, not some future piece of shit boyfriend, should ever have the ability to take away that fight inside you."
I bowed my head as he continued.
"I know it's hard, Ave. I know that you can't come back from what happened, and even if you do, you won't be the same person you were. But I know the girl, that little girl with the tear filled eyes and clenched fists is still somewhere inside you, Avery, struggling to scratch her way back to the surface."
"Colton, I can't-" He cut me off.
"But Ave," he squeezed my shoulder, "you've got to let her. You can't keep her trapped, bottled up. It's time you let her do the fighting."
"What if she isn't there anymore?" I breathed shakily, my hand trembling on my lap. He rested his cold, calloused hand on my cheek, brushing his thumb under my eyes to catch the tears before they could roll down it.
"She is." He mumbled, barely audible. "I still see her. I still Landon's innocent little sister. I still see my Avery."
The last thing I expected to see when I tore my eyes from my lap and looked at Colton was his eyes glistening with tears.
"And I need her to fight."
*
Landon was stretched out across the couch when we walked in. For a second, I thought I'd be able to escape his anger and questioning and rush up to my room. That thought dissipated as soon as he sat upright and turned the light on.
I knew I looked like shit. I probably looked like I'd been dragged through hell and back. But he looked as if he'd died. His skin was ashen, a ghostly pale white, no color in his cheeks until Colton hung the keys by the door and nodded.
"Where have you been?" Landon hissed through his teeth.
"Out." Colton's voice was emotionless.
It only pissed Landon off more.
"Look man I don't give a shit what you do in your free time, but leave my sister out of it. She's not some little whore you can just fuck and-"
"If you gave half a shit about her you'd be asking what's wrong." Colton broke my brother off midsentence. "Instead you've been sitting on your ass doing fucking drugs like the world around you doesn't exist, pretending like it's some great happy little place."
I opened my mouth to stop them before the fighting could get any worse, the words dying on my lips when I caught sight of the red fabric sitting on top of the washer. I pushed passed Colton and rushed toward it, yanking it and clutching it tightly against my chest.
I whirled around on my brother angrily. "Where did you get this?"
He only stared.
"Landon." I cried. "Where did you get this?"
Colton looked ready to reach out and restrain me as I edged closer to my brother, starting to hyperventilate.
"Your room." He mumbled. "It was on the floor in your bedroom. I didn't know it meant anything to you, I'm sorry."
I felt Colton catch my elbow, but I pulled away and darted up the stairs before he could say a word.
I slammed my door shut behind me and locked it just as Colton pounded his hand against it, his threats to break it down becoming a dull background noise as I slid down the door and hugged the jacket close to my chest, wishing God would just give into my wishes and let me go.
****AN****
Hope you guys enjoyed!
Let me know what you guys think/thought!
~ChasingMadness24