Forever Love (29 page)

"How is Liv? Is she ok?"

"She's fine Mom, she's just woke up. She's a little beat up but she should be fine, I left her and Phil alone, thought they might need it."

"You're such a considerate boy."

"I'm just gonna have a word with Brady." My Mom nods to that and I plonk myself down on the seat next to his.

"How is she?" He ask warily, obviously a little nervous at my reaction considering the last time he tried speaking to me.

"She's good, she's gonna be alright."

"Listen-"

"Listen-" We both speak at the same time, resulting in a nervous laugh from both of us. I hold my hands up in the air for Brady to say what he needs to say first,

"I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry. I know what I did was wrong, I never should have broke your confidence and I know this is all my fault."

"Its ok dude, it wasn’t all your fault. Frankly, most of it would have probably happened anyway, whether it was today or tomorrow doesn’t really matter now, I'm sorry I didn’t tell you about the Academy. I kept meaning to but you were so excited about college and I kept wussing out and then when that whole thing happened with Cindy, I turned into a complete pussy and kept putting it off."

"It's ok, you were right, I should have put her first anyway."

"What're you gonna do now?"

"What do you think? I'm gonna go get my girl of course." Brady's goofy grin lifts my spirits a little bit more.

For the first time in a fucking long time, I feel confidant, confident that Liv and I have faced all the shit we can and we've come out the other side. I rest my head against the back of the chair, closing my eyes and waiting for Phil to come out so I can get back to my girl, as long as I have her nothing else matters,

Chapter 30

Liv

I've never seen or heard my Dad cry before today. I've never seen any emotion other than mild disappointment or goofy happiness on his face. I want to lean over and offer him comfort but with three broken ribs and a fractured shoulder, it's not the easiest thing to do. I don’t know what was more painful, getting hit by a car or having to disclose the full details of my fucked up life as well as being raped.

Right now, the bombshell of mine and Noah's secret relationship pales in comparison to this. I don’t know how I've gone so long believing I'd take what happened to me to the grave. I can't imagine what it's like for a man, for a Father, to find out their daughter was violated. It’s a situation I've tried to avoid for years. I could have gone to him, I could have gone to the police and yeah maybe it was the Bitch that stopped me, maybe her words stuck with me. I didn’t wanna be seen as a victim though, never realized that by shoving it down and burying it deep that it would do more damage. Now, looking back, I would do things differently. I would have gone to the police, I would have got help, hell I would have never gone to that damn party in the first place.

I remember Noah telling me he wanted to slay all my dragons, lying here with my Dad at my side completely devastated, his hand squeezing mine tightly as if it will erase the past, my dragons seem incredibly small. I don’t even know who they are anymore. Tommy Benson has long been gone, the Bitch is out, I don’t know if being hit by a car has given me some kind of clarity but for the first time I see the situation clearly. It's not the same kind of relief I felt when I told Noah everything, not like some kind of weight has been lifted. It feels like that weight has been blown to smithereens above me and now all that’s left is a pile of rubble surrounding me.

"I'm so sorry sweetie, I'm so so so sorry. I wish I was there for you." As messed up as it is, this is the reaction I wanted the Bitch to have when I told her. I wanted, needed her to give me some comfort, to tell me how sorry she was at what happened, what I went through in that room.

"You didn’t know."

"Why didn’t you tell me? I would have got you out, you have to believe that I wouldn’t have left you with that, that thing if I'd have known how she treated you, what you went through."

"I thought you'd take her side I guess. You always seemed to believe her stories. Y-you left me there with h-her." I sob out, my breath hitching as tears stream down my face.

"Sweetie, I didn’t know."

"I know that now but at the time my mind was so messed up with everything. You seemed like as much as the enemy as she did." I take my hand away, rubbing my eyes and face, wiping my nose on my arm. "I don’t blame you Dad, I never blamed you but I was a kid, you moved four hours away and I know that you didn’t think when you did it but when you left her you left me too."

"Please forgive me, I love you my baby girl."

"Dad, there's nothing to forgive anymore, like I said, I was just a kid. I know better now and I love you too."

"We've got a lot of stuff to sort out."

I sigh and nod, I'm a little nervous that he hasn’t mentioned Noah but I guess there's been enough heavy stuff for one day. He stands up and wraps one arm around me, careful of my injured shoulder. The grip of his hand on my good shoulder slightly digs in with the force of his hug. I take a deep breath, feeling tired all of a sudden after a nightmare day. I blink my eyes rapidly as they start to feel heavy.

"I'm gonna let you get some sleep. The Doctor said you should be able to come home tomorrow. I'll send Noah in, I doubt I'll be able to keep him away." I don’t want him to stay away either, I want him with me forever, that’s the last thought I have before I feel the days events finally catch up with me, sending me into a deep sleep.

***

Oh my Lord, if I thought Noah was obsessive and over protective before, shit just got took to a whole other level.

"You know, my legs work fine. I don’t need you carrying me around the place like a damn chihuaha." I say, though he acts as if I haven't even spoken, still lifting me up into the backseat of my Dad's car.

The jackass even buckles me in like a child, or some kind of invalid.

"There, you're all secure now, is the belt too tight or too loose?"

I hear my Dad snort from his seat at the front, earning a hard glare from me, as if he hasn’t been just as bad.

"Have you got a damn death wish? Leave me alone and get in the car." The fucker has the nerve to roll his eyes at me before gently shutting the car door.

I take the few seconds it takes him to get from my side to his, the first and only moments of peace I've had in over a day. You'd think I was at death door with the way everyones acting for fucks sake. I only have a bump on the head and a couple of broken bones, I'm not in a wheelchair or some shit, though my body throbs from head to toe.

Noah climbs into the car, buckling himself in before turning to me and opening his mouth to start his shit again.

"Are you sure you're comfortable? Is the strap rubbing against your shoulder?"

"Noah, leave the poor girl alone. She said she's fine, if anything you're gonna give her a headache." Pam's a lifesaver, though I doubt it will make any difference.

I daren't even breathe heavily with way Noah's watching me like a hawk, I can see my Dad's beady little eyes in the rearview mirror as well. Ever since I told him everything he's been like Reese Witherspoon VS Paparazzi. Instead of going after stalkers with cameras though, this guy is basically trying to take down anything that he considers a danger, including Doctors and Nurses who he deems a bit too heavy handed. Oh yes, they couldn’t wait to get me out of that hospital, what with Noah and my Dad chasing their asses.

I look out the window absent mindedly, watching the scenery as it whizzes past. I feel a spike of static run through my hand and arm when Noah holds onto it. Its comforting to know he still has the same effect on me, that it wasn’t just some kinda fluke in the beginning.

A PING! sounds out in the car, causing me to pat myself down with my one good hand before remembering I don’t have my phone. Noah pulls his out of his pocket, frowning at the screen. There's not much room for maneuvering with my shoulder so I can't even take a peek to see who it is.

"Hey Phil, can we take a drive down Oak Street?"

"Sure, why though?" My Dad replies, taking a very illegal U-turn in a thankfully deserted street. And Noah wonders where I got my driving skills from.

"Not sure yet."

As we turn into the tree lined street, it looks vaguely familiar.

"Doesn’t Cindy live down here?"

"Stop quickly!" Noah shouts out.

"Isn't that Brady, what the hell is he doing?" I watch out my window, Noah taking the time thankfully to wind it down for me as we watch the scene unfolding in front of us.

"CINDY, CINDY, WHERE FOR ART THOUGH CINDY!" Brady stands under Cindy's window, shouting up while throwing various flowers around.

"Isn't that the woman's line?" My Dad points out, I can't even laugh, too shocked at what I'm seeing.

Suddenly Cindy appears at the window, dragging the pane up and leaning her head out, frowning on seeing the ass that’s shouting from her front lawn. Personally I'd just pour a bucket of water over him, that should get rid of the nuisance.

"What the hell are you doing, Brady?"

"I've come to win you back, I made a mistake. I wanna live with you next year, I should have said I would in the beginning but I was too much of a dumbass." No truer words have ever been spoken. "I love everything about you, I love your eyes which are the color of.....um...dirt." Oh. My. God.

"What the fuck?" I turn at Noahs words, seeing him holding his phone in the air, getting all this on tape.

"What're you doing?" I ask.

"I'm recording, there's no way I'm not having this on record."

I roll my eyes and turn back to the catastrophe waiting to happen.

"I love the color of your hair, it reminds me of Batman."

"Oh I can't even watch this." Pam covers her eyes with her hands, my Dad laughing his ass off.

"I love everything about you Cindy, the way you snort when you laugh, the weird way you eat spaghetti, that way you suck my d-"

"STOP! I'm coming down, just please stop."

The window is slammed shut and Brady turns around, noticing us and giving a thumbs up. Cindy's front door swings over and she comes out, arms crossed and not looking too happy. I can't really blame her, the guy's just told her she's got eyes like dirt, reminds him of Batman and I'm pretty sure he was about to start on their sex life. Damn, I hope Cindys parents aren't home.

They start talking quietly, my ears strain to hear what's being said.

"Seriously, now they start talking quietly" Noah says, tapping buttons on his phone and putting it back in his pocket.

"Lets go, looks like the shows over." My Dad says, restarting the car.

I take one last look out of the window in time to see Cindy jumping into Brady's arms, showering his face with kisses. Well, if she's ok after that speech then they're perfect for each other.

"Are you ok babe? You tired?" Noah looks deep into my eyes as if they'll tell him how honest I'm being.

"I'm good." I smile and he answers simply with a jerking nod, holding my hand with a vice grip.

As always, Noah's touch comforts me, taking my mind off the pain wracking my body. Somehow it seems worse today than yesterday, though there's no way I'd tell anyone else that. Hell, I can barely get a moments peace now. I lie my head back on the headrest of the seat, ignoring the pulling of my shoulder and the beating of heavy rock music in my fucking head.

I close my eyes, replaying the events of the last few days, Brady announcing at the Thanksgiving dinner table about mine and Noahs relationships, my Dad's face on finding out, the video of mine and the Bitches conversation in my Dad's study, my Dad's face on finding out, him bitchslapping her to the floor, that’s one of the good memories. How the hell had Chase managed to video that conversation anyway? I didn’t even see the camera when I walked in there, asking Chase to give us a few minutes. I remember him messing around with it, putting the batteries in it, he must have put it down. Everything is out in the open now, everything is public knowledge, well not quite but near enough.

The conversation with my Dad yesterday was like pure torture, having to relive some of the worst moments of my life, having to see his face, the devastation in his eyes worsening with every horrible event I admitted. Of course, I kept it to myself about the whole sleeping around shit, that'd just be plain awkward. I told him about the times the Bitch had thrown me out, while calling him afterwards to say I'd run away. I told him about the missed Thanksgiving and Christmas', birthdays and various other things she didn’t care about enough to make an effort for them. I know he felt like he'd let me down, hell I've been feeling like he's let me down for years but I see now that there wasn’t much he could do with me being so tight lipped.

We still haven't spoken about Noah, though I've seen his eyes drift to our joined hands in the rearview mirror a couple of times. He doesn’t say anything, just frowns and then looks back to the road.

"Home sweet home." My Dad says, parking the car up.

I look out the window to see we are indeed home, that was fast. Noah quickly jumps out, rushing around to my side to open the door. Before I even have chance to take a breath, I'm unbuckled and being carried to the house. Ok, maybe being carted around everywhere isnt so bad, Noah's arms sure do feel good around me.

"You wanna go to sleep or stay down here?" He stops at the foot of the stairs, waiting for my answer.

"Down here." I lie my head on his chest, feeling the gently thump thump thump of his heartbeat. It causes the pounding to reverberate through my head but I ignore it, too comforted by his body heat, the feeling of his strong arms holding me up to care.

He carefully lies me on the couch, the hoodie I've been wearing on only one arm, hanging off. Its not the easiest only having use of one arm, I nearly smashed that hospital room up, the frustration becoming too much because of how hard it was to get my clothes on.

My Dad sits down in the armchair, moving one of the white fluffy cushions onto his lap and staring at us.

"Family meeting." Seriously? You'd think I hadn't just got home from the hospital after being hit by a fucking car and he wants to deal with this shit now.

Chase comes sauntering in, a chicken leg in one hand that causes my stomach to rumble.

"You hungry?" Shit, when was the last time I ate? I couldn’t stomach the hospital food and Thanksgiving dinner didn’t get eaten.

I nod and breathe a thankful sigh when he gets up to get me something. I try, I try so hard and obviously I fail, in not looking at his ass. Maybe it's cause of football or maybe just good genes, after all I've seen a picture of his Father and he was one handsome man, but Noahs ass, uh uh uh, that’s just something else entirely.

I come back to myself quickly, hoping my Dad didn’t notice my drooling over Noah's butt, that could make the coming conversation all kinds of uncomfortable.