Before I Forget

Nothing But the Truth

Apparently outside didn't mean just outside of Sky's room, it meant out of the whole building. Cody followed Sky's Dad silently, hiding his fear and his anxiety behind the calm mask he was so used to wearing, but inside he felt like he was walking towards his execution.

Hell - Dr. O'Brian had caught them in the bed! No father would want to see their daughter being fucked by some dude, so it was no wonder that Sky's Dad was pissed. There was nothing new there. Cody had been yelled at by parents before - it wasn't the first time he was caught red-handed with someone's daughter - but this was the first time he actually cared what followed. In fact, he noticed that he cared a lot.

He loved Sky. And Sky loved her Dad. Cody was smart enough to know it would be a very bad thing for him if Dr. O'Brian hated his guts - which now seemed to be the case.

Defeated, Cody pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans as they walked out of the front doors, and reached the yard. It was a beautiful afternoon, the sun was still way over the horizon, the wind was warm, it smelled like the Ocean but none of that lifted Cody's spirits.

It was bad enough that the sex had been interrupted - the sweet release had been robbed of him, which left him restless and agitated. But even worse was the way Dr. O'Brian was looking at him.

Like he was a cockroach he was about to crunch under his heel.

"I'm sorry," Cody said as soon as they stopped outside the front doors. "I know you didn't wish to see that."

"Damn right I didn't," Dr. O'Brian huffed angrily. "I feel like I need to gauge out my eyes! That's my daughter you were—"

Dr. O'Brian stopped talking mid-sentence and his fists clenched tight on his sides. Cody feared he'd start throwing punches - what was he gonna do if that happened? He couldn't fight back - that much he knew. If he ended up punching Sky's Dad - well, Sky would never want to see him again.

"Were you even using protection?" Dr. O'Brian asked, making Cody's cheeks burn.

He swallowed, turned his eyes away. "Yes, of course."

"Well, there's that at least." The older man muttered. "Tell me, how old are you?"

"Almost eighteen."

"So, old enough to know better. Still, not old enough for me to punch you in the face. Because make no mistake - I would if you weren't underage."

Cody didn't answer. There hardly was anything to say to that. He knew Sky's dad was right - he deserved a punch. If not for having sex with Sky, then for sure for getting her in trouble. It was his fault Sky was kicked out of rehab, and that guilt lay heavily on Cody's chest.

Maybe Sky was mad at him too? Maybe she wanted nothing to do with him now that he had brought this disaster on her.

"What on Earth were you thinking?" Dr. O'Brian seethed, pointing an angry finger at Cody's chest. "There is no excuse for your behavior. Sneaking into a rehab facility, taking advantage of a severely disturbed girl who is fighting an addiction—"

His words felt like a blow.

"I wasn't taking advantage of her," Cody groaned. "It's not like that."

"It is exactly like that. Things aren't looking too good for you right now, young man, so quit lying. It was you who gave her the drugs, wasn't it?"

"What? No."

Cody's eyes evaded Dr. O'Brian's death stare, but he hoped he managed to keep a calm face nevertheless. He leaned his back against the wall and let out a slow exhale. It wasn't the first time he was being looked at like this, like he was the most worthless piece of shit on Earth. His foster parents had a special talent for that - for letting him know how much of a disappointment, an embarrassment he was to their family, just by looking at him the certain way. But they had never been able to break him. No one had. Hell, he had been able to stand tall even in front of Carol and JD. Even when JD had picked up the baseball bat, and—