Abstinence

Chapter 16.

As soon as Wesley walks out of the bathroom he runs into Hayden embracing his brother and it was the most heart-warming sight. Even the coldest of hearts would be warmed by them. After everything that Hayden went through in the past few days, Wesley is finally here. I don't know what happened while Hayden was gone, but when the knocks sounded on the door I thought it was Hayden. When I opened the door, a disheveled, saddened Wesley stood behind it. I was in shock.

I pulled him into the room by his hand and wrapped my arms around him. He was so frail and overwhelmed with emotions that he cried on my shoulder. He didn't say much since he walked through the door but he said he wanted to shower. I handed him some of Hayden's clean clothes and he went into the bathroom. He had already finished showering by the time Hayden and Lilly came walking through the door.

I stood next to Hayden as he held his brother tightly. They were both shedding a few tears. Hayden tried holding them back but once Wesley thanked him repeatedly, he couldn't hold them back any longer. "He was really going to kill me Hayden. I thought that call was the end. You saved my life."

Hayden pulls Wesley back to look at him, "Wes, I would never have allowed that to happen." Hayden hugs him once more before letting him move onto his girlfriend, who has been watching the brother's reunion in awe like me.

Hayden's eyes stay on Wesley and Lilly when my arms wrap around him from the behind, I rest my head on his broad muscular back. He laces his fingers through mine, letting them stay on his abs, I inhale deeply smiling hard as I think of what Hayden has just accomplished.

A strong smell surrounding Hayden gets stuck in my throat and I can't not point it out, "You smell like barbecue or something burnt."

"It's a long story Alice." He replies with a small trace of a smile playing on his face. I am slightly petrified but ready to hear this story. And if it has anything to do with his father, I need to know what happened between them.

I move to Hayden's side, my one arm still wrapped around him. "Are you hungry Wes? We can order dinner, or we can go to one of the restaurants on this strip."

"I don't have an appetite. I could use some sleep though."

"Have you eaten at all in the past few days?" Hayden jumps in grilling his younger brother.

Wes looks paler and 10 pounds lighter than the last time I saw him. His eyes are big on his face and the skin around them are sunken in like he hasn't slept in weeks. Damon doesn't even realize or care about the damage he's just done to his own son.

Wesley opens his mouth to say something but closes it saying nothing. He's leaning against Lilly for support and the hand that's hanging loosely around Lilly's neck has bruises around the wrist. I gasp in horror. He was handcuffed the entire time.

Lilly speaks on Wes' behalf unbothered by the menacing look Hayden is giving the both of them. "Hayden, he wants to sleep. It's been a tough few days for everyone. I will take him to my dad's house and we will go to sleep."

He rolls his eyes at her but she doesn't care for his attitude. She's spunky and brazen for a nineteen year old. Even Wesley I still get intimidated by Hayden and we're in our twenties.

"Fine." Hayden gives in. "But make sure you feed him something. The longer I look at him the less there seems to be of him. He's withering away before my very eyes."

"Don't be so melodramatic Hayden." I comment after seeing Wesley's pained facial expression. His response, to me, had something to do with where he was just held hostage. "Lilly you guys should go now."

I move from Hayden's side to stand in front of Wesley. I hug him tight, embracing him. When I pull away from him taking his face in both hands and kissing his cheeks I say, "I'm glad you're okay Wesley."