𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 ¹

|𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓽𝔂-𝓢𝓲𝔁 | 𝓜𝔂 𝓛𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓘𝓼 𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓐 𝓕𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓜𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓞𝓯 𝓞𝓷𝓮 𝓘 𝓒𝓪𝓷'𝓽 𝓗𝓪𝓿𝓮|

Chapter Thirty-Six - My Life Is Just A Faded Memory Of One I Can't Have

Everything around me is starting to fade into black,

But black and white is so much better, I'm learning to hide my colors,

You should've been a little more gentle with me,

My skin is made of glass but apparently, it's stained,

Cause you notice all the cracks but can't look inside my pain,

And if you throw another stone then I'd stay far away, I just might break,

-Madison Beer, "Stained Glass,"

***

Veronica

I feel my body tremble with each deep breath it takes in involuntarily, my head throbs incessantly as I attempt to focus my sight on any single object before me yet it becomes increasingly difficult as they all begin to blur while the room itself begins to rotate, the sound of intense yelling feels distant, I feel my knees buckle and eventually give up on me as my body begins to rock gently without a way to stop it I simply give in preparing myself to make contact with the hardwood floor though before I tilt further than an inch I collide with a hard chest,

"Are you ok, V?" I hear a whisper in my ear as my body is slowly lowered onto a hard surface, the screaming gets gradually louder as I feel myself slip back into reality when my vision is no longer clouded I'm greeted with a fretful expression as a pair of light brown eyes stare back at me,

"I'm fine, D," I managed to croak out, as I grab onto Dalton's shoulders in order to steady myself before my attention shifts to where the shouting is coming from,

"I told you to stay the fuck away," Mike yells angrily, his hands forming into tight fists,

"Yet you welcome that skank back into your life with open arms?" Carter screams louder inching closer,

"Don't fucking call her that!" Mike seethes,

"You seem to be forgetting she's the reason you had to flee your fucking home the only place you've ever known, how stupid can you be, Michael?" Caleb chimes in,

"You don't know what you're talking about," Mike shakes his head his voice falling to a whisper,

"You don't get to do that shit," Carter half laughs as he walks closer to him, stopping when their faces are but a few inches from each other, "Who the hell was there for you when you were abandoned the first time huh?" he pauses awaiting an answer though he doesn't receive one, "Who helped move you out of your apartment when your mom disappeared and you weren't able to pay rent? Who gave you a place to stay when you became homeless? Who helped you shoplift school supplies for the girls when you were too scared to tell Toni you were broke? Who got you your first good-paying job? Who bailed your stupid ass out of jail when you got piss drunk and lit a fucking car on fire because you found out Natasha was cheating on you?" Carter's voice increases in volume with each recollection of their history, his tanned face reddening as he yells and attempts to contain the tears that threaten to spill as he stares down his former friend all Mike can do in response is shake his head in denial, "You don't get to tells us to stay away and you sure as hell have no right to doubt our loyalty, now use your fucking head, because you might be many things but an idiot isn't one of them, you have sense, you're smart, and you should know better," Carter spits, jabbing his pointer finger into Mike's chest with each word he's accented before he steps away finally, everyone else remains quiet though their facial expressions show they all side with Carter,