Origami Heart (Book 3 - DP series - COMPLETE)

30. Dead

I'm sprawled out on the floor, Haley beside me as she kicks her legs in the air, lowering and raising them with muscle control that's enviable. She drops her head, finding my eyes on her and offering a bright smile that cracks the chilled edges of my heart. A child's ignorance can be such a blessing. If she knew the turmoil rolling around in my chest, it'd only achieve in making us both miserable.

A knocking on the door has me standing and placing Haley in her playpen before checking to see who's here. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I slide my tongue across my teeth and pull the door open. My eyes are anything but prepared to find Mike on my doorstep, his left cheek bone red with pockets of yellow and green pooling along the ridge.

"Mike," I gasp, hand reaching for my chest as I take in the disheveled sight of him. "What happ—"

"So, what?" he bites out, taking a step back as his fists shake beside him. "You got your boyfriend to come beat me up? That's how you deal with people now? I make a mistake and you send your bodyguard to take care of me?"

"What are you—" I cut myself off, my mind drifting back to last night with Andy. I'd asked if he'd beaten up Jessie, but never once did I imagine he'd gone after Mike instead.

"Maybe I overstepped," Mike continues, his voice catching as his emotions war between rage and anguish. "I honestly just want what's best for you. Why can't you see that?"

"I didn't send Andy after you," I defend, stepping outside and forcing Mike to back away as I shut the door behind me, "How immature do you think I am? My goodness, Mike. Grow up!" I shake my head, rubbing a thumb along my bottom lip. " But for the record, I don't think Andy's action were unsolicited. You've been a complete jerk to me since I told you about Haley. That was my fault. I should have mentioned her sooner and I'm sorry that Jessie was the one who ended up spilling the beans first, but you can't stand there and honestly tell me that you side with him in all this."

Mike squints his eyes at me, confusion weighing down his brows. My eyes catch on the scar behind his ear when he drops his head to look at the ground. There's so much beauty woven into this mess of a person. He's like a sloppy piece of art that's both disturbing and enticing all at once. I just wish there was someone in his life who could interpret him properly. He needs that. He needs someone who understands the broken parts of himself that even he doesn't seem to be able to explain.

"Jessie told me how in love with you he was," Mike starts to say, his voice cautious and warm—almost regretful—as he speaks. "He still is. Knowing that Haley is his child is the only reason I've been trying to push for this to happen. She needs her father. I was the very cause of breaking a family apart—probably multiple families apart—during war. I killed parents. I made children orphans. I just—"

I hear the slight tremble of his words and my face softens, understanding swelling in my chest. The guilt is eating him from the inside out. If I could take a look at all the pain twisting inside of Mike, I wonder how ugly it'd be. The thought starts to awaken that side of me that's always wanted to protect him. The side of me that's nearly desperate to fix him—to support him. I want to be there to help him stand when his world crumbles. But I can't be that person for him.

It's too late.

Mike's crumbling right before my very eyes and there's nothing I can do to save him. Instead, I walk up behind him, a hand to his back as I coax him to the porch steps and take a seat. We're both silent and I train my eyes away from him as he struggles to compose himself.

"I get it," I tell him when he grows still beside me, his eyes staring straight ahead at the cars passing by. "I get what you're trying to do and it means the world to me that you care that much."