Never Say Never (Completed)

Nineteen {I Hate Everything About You}

I shoved Ian hard.

He, fortunately, got the hint and climbed out of the car and limped up the driveway to his front porch without a word. I waited until I caught sight of the door swinging shut to slam my fists against the outer edges of the steering wheel, allowing it to become victim to all my pent up aggression, hurt, and confusion. This had been a long ass day and Ian had gone and put a perfect cherry on top with the crap he'd just pulled.

Within minutes of silent tears falling my nose started throbbing, the tears stinging my eyes as a reaction to the pain only made my nose hurt worse. And so began a vicious cycle. I knew, without even a second of doubt, that I wasn't going to step foot into that house. Not with Mrs. Cruz demanding what happened every second seeing both her son and my own current state. Not with Stephanie and Lucas wanting an in depth explanation of today's events. There was also, absolutely no way in hell I was going to go home and stand victim to my mothers verbal abuse right now. She had a nurse tending to her, she didn't need me around, not right now.

So began my long, agonizing trip back to the Grace manor. I just couldn't bring myself to actually get out of the van and up the driveway. It was likely Bryan was a drunken mess and the last thing he'd need to see was my black eye and bruised nose to reignite his anger. As I leaned back against the headrest, my eyes fell on a silver Tesla as it double parked behind Mrs. Grace's Range Rover, and low and behold, my father and his new wife, Rossana stepped out. He was the last person I wanted to see right now, but just as I reached for the key in the ignition a light knock sounded against my window.

My head whipped toward it, surprised to find one of the twins, the taller one, Kristen, was standing outside the window holding a leash in her hand. I grabbed the keys and hopped out beside her, forcing a smile. "Hey!"

She stared at me wide eyed. "Bry didn't do that, did he?"

"No, no." I answered immediately. "What are you doing out here by yourself? It's getting late."

She gestured toward the little dog, no bigger than a loaf of bread, with a smile. "Prince wanted to go out. Mommy doesn't mind when I walk him out here. I'm nine, not six."

"Kristen!" As if her daughter's mention of her summoned the devil herself, Kimberly appeared at the end of the driveway, in the midst of hugging Rosanna. "Kris, come in, di—Charlotte? Is that you?"

Shit.

"Yeah, Mommy, it's Bryan's girlfriend." Kristen answered happily, skipping a few feet ahead before turning back to me with a grin. "Are you coming?"

I was about to deny the invitation, but Kimberly stalked right passed my father, who was as pale as a ghost, and instantly touched her long finger to my nose. "What happened, Charlotte?"

I could tell by the look in her eyes that for a moment, she was considering what her daughter had just asked me. I hugged my arms around myself and shrugged a shoulder. "My brother accidently kicked his soccer ball right at me. I have zero hand-eye coordination and it hit me right in the nose."

She didn't believe me, but she also didn't try and pry any further. Instead she made a gesture with her arm toward the open front door of her house. "Please join us, Bryan has just prepared dinner for everyone. He'd be pleased to see you."

Prepared dinner? Bryan could cook? What else could he do?

"No, no, that's alright." I started to wave my hand dismissively, but something in Kimberly's pointed look had my shoulders slumping forward in defeat. "Okay, maybe for a little bit."

I hung back beside Kimberly as my father and Rosanna followed Bryan's energetic little sister up the driveway. She would occasionally glance in my direction, as if she wanted to speak, then would decide against it. Finally, stepping into the living room I'd been in only a few hours prior, I spotted Bryan in the dining room setting the table. He had changed out of his bloodied clothes and wore a loose white shirt and jeans, his hair a tousled mess despite the fact his mother had guests over. I was sure he'd already heard about it given the bitter scowl on his face and his tense shoulders.