Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✧✧
"Jay?" I sniff, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand as I glance inside the van, Kiara talking sternly on the phone reflecting back to me. "Del, what is it?"
"My dad is the interim sherif..." my eyes connect with his and I see his eyes change, turning from sage to forest. "Shit!" his hand connects with the side of the SUV and I feel myself flinch.
"We need to get you out of here and I probably should as well cause I'm afraid if I see him I might murder him," he sighs, his hands snaking down in between my ribcage and my hipbones. I land lightly on my feet as a chaste kiss is pressed into my hairline.
"Hey sherif Covey is going to be here in like fifteen so get your asses in the car so we can finally lock Ward up for good." Kie shouts from out the front window as I feel myself externally groan.
"Ki we're not coming." His voice comes out stern, not wavering an inch as he loosens his grip around me. "What do you mean you guys aren't coming? It's raining out and you guys were just as much witnesses to a murder and Pope and I were! You can't just bail!"
JJ opens his mouth, his and firmly gripping mine but I know I have to be the one to confront her. This is my fight.
"Like hell we can't. Now I don't know about how your parents are handling all of this but one of mine tried to strangle me to death earlier today. The same one you just called for help a few minutes ago so don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do until you are in my position. Don't you fucking dare." The words pour out of me like lava and suddenly we are all surrounded by the weight of it.
"Li I-" she starts but I just brush it off starting to make my way down the sidewalk. "Li come back here."
"Jay no, I am not in the mental state to deal with Kie's bullshit today. It doesn't matter that both of us are kooks, she has had it so much better than I ever have. Her parents are happily married, decided to have a child and raised her in this world full of hope and didn't put any pressure on her to be the perfect example of what a daughter has to be."
"Mine on the other hand, expected Char and I to be pristine models of the perfect kook princesses. The second char decided that she didn't want that life, my dad practically forced it down her throat and look where that landed her. Six feet deep in the ground. For god sakes I tried to kill myself last summer and now I'm here, my parents disowned me, my sister is dead, i have no place to live and..." I manage to spew out before my breath runs out and a look of exasperation crosses my face.
"You tried to kill yourself last summer?" a small voice asks behind me and I turn my head, locking eye with Kiara. she stands timidly next to JJ, an empathetic look scorn on her face.
"I- yeah I did... it was a few months after Charlotte died. My- uh- my dad had an episode and beat the shit out out me so bad I ended up int the hospital. It was my turning point when I realized that life was never gonna be the same as it was before she died. we were never going to be a real family again and I couldn't accept not having her not next to me."
"So- so I tried to drown myself at the drop-off and JJ, well, he saved me. Literally and figuratively, I wouldn't be here if he didn't start my heart again that night and instead let me sink to the bottom of the ocean." I feel my bottom lip quiver as JJ's eyes land on mine and tears threaten to spill out of my eyes.
"Li-" his voice is soft and warm like the first time we kissed, it sounds like home. "Jay." suddenly I am inhaling his chest in as his fingers graze through my knotted hair.
"Li if I had known, if you would have told me I could have helped you. You know I'm always here for you, no matter if we're in a fight or not. I'll be here." Kiara's hand feathers my shoulder as I let go of my boyfriend and pull her into a tight hug.
"We should go though, I really don't want a repeat of what happened to Lilah this morning." JJ clears his throat from behind us and I hold back the urge to roll my eyes. "Be careful, okay? I know what my dad is capable and I really don't want you or Pope ending up hurt, Kie."
"We will Lilah, I promise. Now go, Pope and I will take care of this and I'll shoot you a text when we're done JJ?" he nods from beside me before we make our way back to the car. Pope jumps out of the passenger's seat and I replace him as JJ slides into the front seat, starting the car with ease.
"They aren't gonna be okay are they?" I look at him as he shifts gears, pulling away from the construction site. "Li, are you okay?"
His question takes me off guard and I take a second, my hands absentmindedly creeping up to the tender spots on my neck. "I-I can handle him Jay, I've been handling him for a year so what's a little longer."
"Absolutely not, you aren't stepping inside that house again Lilah. He could have killed you!" JJ's voice deepens as we turn around a corner and I feel my eyes flash at him. "But he didn't!"
"Because I pulled him off of you. Are you really this blind Li? Your father, the one who raised you, isn't the same person anymore. Did you ever sit back and ponder the thought that if he cared about your wellbeing, he would stop beating the shit out of you?"
"For fucks sake you're carrying a child and he almost killed both of you today. I could have lost you." the last part is quiet, timid even.
"Jay.."
"You're all I have left Li, John B is in Nassau and god knows when him and Sarah are coming back, if they even can. My father figure is missing, my mom left when I was little and my dad's in jail. You're it. You're my only family, the reason I keep fighting every single day." he doesn't look at me but I can tell he's crying.
"When you passed out on the merchant I thought I lost you. You were so pale and limp. I swear it felt like I couldn't breathe without knowing you were okay. Then this whole baby thing was thrown at us and damn, the thought scared the shit out of me at first but the thought of losing this baby now. I don't think I could ever be the same."
"We have suffered more loss in our lives than others do in a lifetime Li. We deserve a little good in our lives." my fingers interlace with his, brushing against the calluses marking his palms.
"I love you so much Jay." tears start to well up my eyes until my vision becomes blurry and suddenly the vehicle halts to an abrupt stop.
"JJ what's going on?" I shoot a weary glance at him, but he stays silent before leaning across my body and opening the passenger car door. "get out."
"Wh-" I start to say but he immediately cuts me off, "Just trust me, okay? Now get out of the car Li."
I do as he says and he rounds the edge of the car holding his hand out to me and I grasp it willingly as he pulls me to his chest. His chest vibrates to a familiar pattern as he sways us back and forth as a unit and it clicks. "Did you stop the car so we could dance in the rain?"
"Bingo, princess." his face changes, displaying that damn smile of his and its like I'm falling in love with him all over again.
✧✧
Hey babes I'm back. College is been exhausting but I am so in love with this book that writing is worth it. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll keep it short and sweet. See you next time
