61 • Causing problems • 61

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Billy's eyes landed on me as he stopped in his tracks

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Billy's eyes landed on me as he stopped in his tracks. Confusion spread across their faces when they took in the scene in front of them. This wasn't planned, they were just as surprised to see see us here as we were.

Brown eyes softened as they took me in. Billy's features followed in suit, but any emotion was pulled back and replaced with a stoic expression. His eyes moved quickly from me to the person I was sitting next to — Sebastian. One glance was all it took for his jaw to start clenching and his eyes brim with rage. His bluff had been called by merely glancing at my stepbrother.

Mentally, I sighed in frustration. On the outside, I stared at Billy with panic rising up inside of me. I was so angry with him — I was furious. Yet, that wasn't what had been keeping me up at night. A feeling of betrayal lay beside me as I went to sleep at night. Here I was now looking at its source.

I glanced to Sebastian, forcing my eyes away from Billy. Sebastian was focused on the three newcomers like they were a political problem. Unlike Billy, he was able to look at them passively. I stayed silent as I observed him take them in with a calculating gaze. Sebastian only turned to face me when he felt my eyes staring at him.

Panic rose up in my chest as I realised how scared I was. No matter what happens, the blame always falls on my shoulders.  I couldn't afford any of tonight getting back to my parents. I was already in enough trouble. I didn't need or want anymore. I wasn't sure how much more I could take.

"You're okay," Sebastian said. "You're not going to get in trouble — we didn't know they'd rock up."

I looked at Sebastian with wide eyes, feeling like the look on my face was giving all of my cards away. Slowly, I nodded and tried to swallow down my fear. I chose to keep looking at Sebastian, realising keeping my focus on him was the safe move here for me. Billy was the last person I wanted to see and the last person I could be seen with. He'd hurt me like nobody else had before. I didn't want to know him anymore, let alone see him here.

Sebastian stood up and walked over to them. Large footprints pressed into the damp sand, copying and pasting themselves a few times over before they came to a stop in front of Billy and his friends. My crystal eyes detected movement to my left, shifting their empty gaze to its location.  Harry was moving through the darkness like a fight or flight movement. He went straight to Sebastian's side, Harry's whole body tensing as he took in the sight of his enemy before him. He'd chosen fight.

"Charlie, you good?" I heard someone say, distracting me from the scene before me.

Suddenly both Joe and Taylor were sat either side of me. I could feel their body heat against my skin as I was sandwiched between my friends.

"Fine." I replied, looking down at the sand as If we weren't surrounded by people.

"Char, you wanna get out of here?" Joe suggested. "You don't have to deal with this."

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