Before I Forget

A Little Life

Sky woke up in a bed that wasn't hers.

Panic engulfed her immediately, the paralyzing fear that somehow this was Matt's home, the living room couch, that somehow she'd been drawn back there through a wormhole in time, and it was all happening again—

She gasped for air and opened her eyes.

It wasn't any couch. She was in a large bed in a simple bedroom, the sheets were soft and smelled like cotton and fabric softener. Clear sunlight entered the room through thin, white curtains—

And she wasn't naked, there was no pain between her legs. She was still wearing her clothes, the same jeans, and the T-shirt she'd worn yesterday, the panties and her bra, and even socks. Only the hoodie was missing, and with it came the memory of hands peeling it off her body, someone's weight on the bed next to her.

She sat up, clutching her chest as she drew in a sharp, trembling breath, then another—

"Relax," said a voice, and Sky turned to look. "I didn't touch you."

There was a boy standing in the doorway, holding a cup of coffee in his hands. A shirtless boy. With a very toned upper body - a fact that Sky couldn't help but notice. The collarbones and hip bones were so sharp they looked like someone had sculpted them from marble, but the sharpness of those straight lines was smoothed by firm muscle and soft skin. His jeans hang low, partly revealing the waistband of his Armani underwear and a dark trail of hair that led downwards from his belly button.

Despite herself, Sky felt a blush creeping up on her cheeks.

She cleared her throat, forcing her eyes up. "Where is my hoodie?"

The boy pointed at a plastic trash bag on the floor near the door. "It had puke all over it. Didn't want that in my bed, so I took it off you."

"Is this... your home?" Sky asked, glancing around the room. The bedroom wasn't big, and it had a very minimalistic, Scandinavian decor. There was a desk by the wall, but apart from that, a bookshelf and the bed, there was barely any furniture. The large windows reached from the ceiling to the floor.

"Yeah," the boy replied and walked into the room, leaving the door open behind him. "Do you remember how you got here?"

Sky shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. She tasted vomit and blood in her mouth, her mind was still cloudy, the memories were running away from her.

Cody.

The boy was named Cody, and she had come here to buy drugs–

"Where... where did you sleep?" she asked, frowning. He had said he hadn't touched her, but Hell, he had admitted removing her hoodie and suddenly Sky remembered that this creep had tried to blackmail her into sucking him off last night.

And the worst part was that she had almost agreed.

"On the floor," Cody nodded towards a blanket and some pillows that lay on the floor. "Also, I just lied to your Dad."

Sky frowned. This conversation was moving faster than her drug-clouded brain could follow.

"My Dad?"

"He kept calling so I picked up. Apparently, we're still at Demetri's - I don't even know who the fuck he is, but anyways - and you're skipping school today because you've got a migraine."

Demetri.

Hearing his name, suddenly brought everything back. Sky remembered the hospital, Demetri's arm—

The pain was sudden and blinding. It hit her like a brick wall, she couldn't help a sob as tears filled her eyes and fell to her cheeks.

Hawk had broken Demetri's arm. And then—