“We’re leaving.”
“You, son, are not leaving. You’re going to stay here and clean up this hell hole.” The whole door shook, like he was trying to jerk it off the hinge.
I had to get out without him seeing me. I needed a place to hide before he opened the door. I scanned the room. The window was pretty high off the ground and had a screen behind it. I wouldn’t be able to open it without making a lot of noise. The closet would have been an easy option, or hiding in the tub, but way too obvious if he did break in.
I was already halfway under the cabinet. I tried easing my way in. My muscles contracted with soreness and pain. I squeezed in as quietly as I could, backing in and crouching on all fours.
When I was hidden, I couldn’t hear as well. More shouting. The door rattled again. I closed the cabinet, leaving just a sliver of space to watch out. My heart thundered loudly in my ears. I clutched to the piping and the wall so I didn’t knock anything over inside.
The shouting intensified. The pounding at the door increased.
My phone buzzed to life in my bra. I slipped it out.
Luke: Where are you?
I was going to send a quick text, but before I could type out a message, there was a bang and the floor shook. The bathroom door splintered open, slamming up against the closet on the other side.
I shrunk back from the lean sliver of light, trying to make myself as small as possible. I covered the phone and typed a quick message, hitting send to let Luke know where I was and then curled up as tight as I could, trying to be invisible.
There was a quiet moment, and I guessed Mr. Griffin may have been piecing together that perhaps Nathan was right and it had been locked by accident.
“See, dad?” Nathan sounded like he was in the hallway. “I told you it was...”
“You’re full of shit. A girl’s been in here. I can smell her.” The doors were knocked together and he opened the closet. He closed it again. His legs stepped out of my view deeper into the bathroom.
Nathan’s jean-clad legs moved forward, and then my sliver of light disappeared as he leaned against the cabinet. I imagined he guessed where I was hiding.
“No one’s in here,” Nathan said. “But get out and I’ll start cleaning up. And you messed up the door.”
There was a rough slip of noise like the towels being ripped off the rack. There was a smack and clanking, like the shower bar had been torn down and landed in the tub.
“Dad!” Nathan shouted.
“Look at this,” Mr. Griffin bellowed. “When’s the last time you even cleaned in here? The tub is disgusting and there’s shampoos piled in here. How many of those friends of yours show up and stay here while I’m gone?”
“Only once in a while,” Nathan said.
“And that girl—“
“She’s not been back.”
A smacking sound erupted, like he’d slapped Nathan on the side of the head. “Stop interrupting me.”
“Get out and I’ll clean up.”
“Why are you standing in front of the counter like that?”
“I’m trying to—“
There was a shove, and the cabinet door was yanked open.
Nathan rushed at his father. Mr. Griffin stepped back.
“I’m tired of this!” Nathan shouted. “Stop shoving me around.”
“You fucking little shit!” Mr. Griffin marched forward. “You think you can just push me over?” Another smack. Harder this time. “Your little friends ran off—“
“Nathan!” Gabriel’s voice came from what sounded like the kitchen.
“I told you fuckers to get out of my goddamn house!” Mr. Griffin bellowed.
“If we leave,” Luke said, sounding like he was right there, “we’re taking Nathan with us. Stop hitting him.”
Silence settled thickly over the space. My heart echoed in my ears. I held my breath, waiting. Inside, I was warmed by the thought of Luke and Gabriel sticking up for Nathan. My eyes watered up thinking of them. More of a family than his own father.
I couldn’t see his mood, but if Mr. Griffin didn’t like his own son to tell him what to do, I couldn’t imagine him listening to Gabriel or Luke.
Suddenly, crashes and clatters filled the room, like he’d swiped across the counter and knocked everything off. “Fuck you, little shits. Nathan’s staying—“
“He’s leaving,” Gabriel said louder. “And he’s coming with us. You need to back off. If you keep hitting him, you’re the only one who is going to get hurt.”
I heard something like a snarl. Mr. Griffin shouted, erupting with a string of curses and insults. Another smack, hard, followed by another and then another. He was pummeling Nathan.
I could only see their legs, but at first, Nathan didn’t move. He was going to stand and take the abuse? Like last time? I stuffed my fingers toward my mouth before I could say something. I wanted him to do something. Luke, or Gabriel... they had to make this stop.
And suddenly Nathan’s leg came up, making contact with his father’s shin.
Mr. Griffin faltered, howling in pain. He launched himself again at Nathan.
This time, Nathan moved quickly, his training and instincts finally kicking in. There was some grunting and then another sound, a thud.
I gasped, backing up until I knocked my elbows against the back of the cabinet.
“Oh shit,” Gabriel said. “You knocked him out.”
Nathan ducked his head down, finding me under the sink.
“Sang!” he called out. He reached in, grabbing my forearm and tugged gently. “Sweetie.”
I’d been holding my breath and finally released it. There had been no escape for me and all I could do was cower in terror. I let Nathan help me climb out. The moment I was next to him, he pulled me into a tight hug.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice cracking.
Why was he apologizing to me? I tried to look over his shoulder. His father was on his back, slumped against the wall, and half of his body was on top a now broken toilet, jarred out of place from the wall and floor. The pipe was misaligned, and water flowed as the toilet tried to refill itself.
I rubbed Nathan’s back gently, trying to understand why he was saying sorry to me. Maybe he needed the hug more than I did. “Are you okay?” I asked.
He sucked in a breath near my neck. I wasn’t sure he was going to answer. I was afraid to touch anywhere else. Where had his father hit him? Was he hurt?
He shifted slightly and as his shoulder dipped, I caught Luke looking at me from the hallway. He rolled his finger forward, was encouraging me to continue.
“Honey,” I said softly. He’d fought off his own father. Could I have ever done such a thing to my own parents? Even my stepmother, someone I had every reason to fight back against at times, I’d found it too difficult and took my punishments. Parents were supposed to protect you and you were supposed to listen to them. I couldn’t imagine what Nathan was going through having to fight him off. I turned my head, my lips meeting his ear. “You’re okay. Don’t worry. Are you hurt?”
He shook his head against my shoulder but seemed to be pulling himself together. He wasn’t doing much, just pressing himself against me.
I pressed my lips against his cheek. It was an awkward kiss, and with my heart thundering, I hardly felt anything except for a brush of the coarse hairs on his cheek scratching my lips. But when I turned my head back, wondering if I’d done the right thing, Luke gave me a thumbs up and Gabriel gave an approving nod. Sympathy and encouragement didn’t come easily for me, but I was trying to learn. How do you get over your own terrified feelings to be there for someone else?
“We have to get him to the hospital,” Gabriel said. “He’s not waking up.”
Nathan gripped me hard and then released, straightening. The serious expression took over as he looked at the boys. “Gabriel, get her out of here. Take her home. Luke, help me carry him to the car.”
“We should take him to the downtown hospital,” Luke said
.
“The Academy one?” I asked.
They all blinked at me, as if realizing just now that I knew what it was.
“Uh, yeah,” Luke said. “That one.”
“Should we all go?” I asked.
“You’ve had enough,” Gabriel said. He took my wrist, tugging me out of the bathroom and out toward the kitchen. “Mr. Blackbourne is already going to be on our asses for being in the house. He’ll have our heads, too, if we bring you along to the hospital when you’re supposed to be on sick leave.”
“I’m not sick.”
Nathan held tight to my hand for a moment before Gabriel could pull me too far. He squeezed it, looking at my face. “We’ll be okay,” he said. “I should have done something about him a while ago and I didn’t listen. We’re lucky he never found you. But we shouldn’t let it happen again.”
“No,” Luke said quietly, and in a tone more determined and serious than I’d heard from him before. “Once we bring him to the hospital, it won’t happen again.”
Nathan pursed his lips, nodding.
“What will happen to him?” I asked.
Gabriel tugged once more on my arm. “Come on, Trouble,” he said. “We need to go in case he wakes up.”
I glanced at Nathan and Luke, but they turned to Mr. Griffin and started shifting him, turning him over and checking his pulse. Gabriel grabbed me around the waist, lifting until my feet drifted across the titles. If I wasn’t going to follow, he was going to carry me out.
“Gabriel,” I whispered close to his ear as I wriggled to be put down so I could walk.
“Let me take you home,” he whispered back. “Nathan can’t do what he needs to if you tag along.”
I remained quiet, but squirmed more until he put me down. We took the back way to in case Mr. Morris had returned, or was down the road. Gabriel carried a few things and the box of clothes and I helped carry some of the other items they’d wanted to bring over.
All the way to my house, we walked in silence. When we made it to my bedroom, I dropped everything and collapsed onto the bed. Gabriel directed me to wash the makeup off my neck, saying it wouldn’t be okay to sleep in it.
When I came back in new pajamas, he was stretched out in the bed, the light off. I crept in next to him.
At first, we were back to back. I stared off at the wall, worried about Nathan, of what this meant. Part of me wondered if Nathan was at risk with the police now. When his father woke up, he may press charges, or worse, come back after him. What would the Academy do to either of them? If I’d listened to Nathan and stayed in the car, would it have changed anything?
Gabriel’s back shifted slightly as his breathing evened out. At some point, he flopped over, an arm wrapping around my waist.
It was still several hours before I managed to catch any sleep.
PASSED OUT
I woke when it was still dark but was unable to go back to sleep. I thought I’d had a dream, but I couldn’t remember what it was about. Maybe that was better. My dreams weren’t so bad when I was exhausted like this.
I was still staring through half open eyes at the wall when dawn finally arrived. No word from Nathan or Luke.
The air was crisp and the more I shivered, the more Gabriel snuggled into me. He stayed asleep, though. He hummed on occasion, some unknown melody. He must have been sleeping pretty deeply.
But I luxuriated in the quiet moment with his arm around me, his palm at my hip. His legs were resting over my ankle. His chest was against my back and his breath warmed the skin at my neck. He was so comforting. I didn’t dare move. How bad would it be if we moved out and he could sleep nearby? Or just like this.
The house was quiet. I wondered if Marie was even home. Part of me was dreading she was, and that Danielle was with her. I still couldn’t stop wondering if maybe Danielle and Nathan were right when they said I should leave, and last night told me more than ever that perhaps they were.
Now Nathan wasn’t safe. Wouldn’t it be easier if he and I left? I’d eat all the time. I’d sleep when I was supposed to. I’d happily work endless hours at the diner to never see Nathan look the way he had last night. Defeated. Lost.
An hour later, there were footsteps in the hall. From the tread and the sound of the shoes squeaking against the hardwood, I knew it was one of the boys.
The door opened. The air shifted. I wanted to get up, but I was as tired as I had been the night before and couldn’t find the energy to get up.
Black slacks and the start of a crisp white shirt came into view. A moment later, Victor crouched beside the bed, staring at me. Locks of his wavy brown hair shifted in front of his dark fire eyes. His head tilted, checking my face. I moved a tiny bit, blinking up at him.
“Hey, Princess,” he said quietly. “You okay?”
I nodded stiffly. I hadn’t been crying, but my eyes were cold and my throat was thick as if I had. My body felt like a rock. I didn’t want to move and wasn’t so sure I could.
He sat down on the edge of the bed. The sleeves on his shirt had been rolled back and showed off some of the lean muscle. His fingers reached toward me and he shifted a few locks of hair aside from my cheek. “Heard you had a rough night last night.”
I swallowed to clear my throat. Nathan was more important. “How’s Nathan?”
Victor pursed his lips, breathing in heavily through is nose and letting it out slowly. “He’s okay. Still at the hospital with Dr. Green.”
“His dad?”
“He’s alive. He hasn’t woken up yet though.”
My tired mind took a moment to process this. That didn’t sound right. Was he in a coma? “Is Nathan in trouble?”
“It was self-defense,” he said. He nudged me a little. I slid back as far as Gabriel would let me. Victor lowered himself until he was on his side next to me, and propped his head up on his arm. “Luke was there to testify for him, and Gabriel can vouch, but Luke’s and Nathan’s word was enough.”
“What’s going to happen now?”
Victor traced a finger across my cheek. His eyes followed his finger. “The first step is to get Mr. Griffin to wake up. We’ll have to deal with the results after.”
I breathed in deeply, stretching and shifting. “Nathan was worried this would happen. He’d hit him and kill him.”
“If he doesn’t defend himself, his dad could kill him.”
“What are we going to do?”
The fire eyes simmered. “We stick together,” he said.
Gabriel sniffed heavily, stretched. The arm around me tightened and he pulled me into him. “Dude, I love you and all, but shut the fuck up.”
Victor smirked and then tugged at my shoulder. “Let’s go talk downstairs,” he said. He started to sit up and then focused on the soft pajama top I was wearing. “Oh you found these? You like them?”
“This shirt?” I asked quietly, trying to be mindful of Gabriel.
“Yeah. I saw it and I thought you’d like it.”
“You mean from that one time we went shopping? You remember this shirt?” I didn’t remember him saying anything in particular about it. I didn’t even remember the shirt.
“No,” he said. “I brought them over the other week.”
Gabriel snapped upright. He rotated toward Victor, his crystal eyes alive and sparkling. “You’ve been buying her shit?”
Victor’s eyes widened and his head rocked back. “Just a few things.”
“What?” Gabriel said louder. He shoved the blanket aside and got up, looking a little wobbly on the carpet. He had on a T-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms I thought were Nathan’s. His hair was messy from the pillow. He turned, and found the pile of clothes we’d carried from Nathan’s house sitting on top of the bookshelf. He fingered through them. “They’re all from Victoria’s Secret. You went back?”
Victor shook his head. “No. I’ve been getting the catalogs. They send a ton to your house when you shop there, I guess. And then I checked the website and...”
G
abriel smashed a palm at his cheek and rubbed. “Christ. Okay. No more buying her clothes.”
Victor’s eyebrows twitched together. “She likes them. She’s been wearing them. It’s what she picks out for herself. I just got her a few more things. You know, because it’s getting colder.”
“No, I mean, some of the things she’s been wearing don’t fit.”
Victor turned his eyes to me, the fire lit to a playful flicker. He smirked. “Looks good to me.”
Heat rose through my face. He’d been buying clothing from catalogs just for me and bringing them quietly over to Nathan’s house. No wonder a lot of it looked new and I didn’t remember them. From what I could remember, those clothes were really expensive. “Victor...” I said, wanting to suggest he didn’t have to.
“She’s too skinny,” Gabriel said. “They’re falling off her. Her ribs stick out.”
“They’ve always stuck out.”
“Not this bad. She needs to eat.” Gabriel shoved his hand over his face, sliding his thumbs across his eyes to rub out the sleep. “And we didn’t eat last night. Shit.”
“She can eat now.” Victor stood up, reaching for my hand and tugging me to stand up.
I did, but too quickly. Blood rushed from my head and I leaned into Victor as I swayed. The room spun for a moment and a blackness washed over my eyes, threatening to take me down again.
Victor caught me around the waist. “Whoa. You okay?”
I was going to answer, but Gabriel was on me in a flash, grabbing around my stomach and helping Victor hold me up. I was squished between their chests. “Don’t you faint on me again,” Gabriel said.
“I’m okay,” I said. The lightheadedness was fading quickly. “I just got up too fast. It happens.”
“Because you didn’t eat,” Gabriel said. He backed up a step but pushed fingers to my neck, checking my pulse. “And the stress.”
“Let’s go eat breakfast,” Victor said.
I followed the boys down the stairs. Marie’s room was quiet as we passed.
In the kitchen, Gabriel opened the fridge door, peering into the shelves. Victor scoped out the pantry and some of the cabinets.