Last Kiss Goodbye • Teenage Juice Ortiz

61 - Partners in Crime

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THE PAST 

Juan couldn't remember he had ever felt so much anger. His heart was pumping a burning rage through his veins and he had no idea what to do with it. Everything just seemed to pile up in his head, creating a headache that was killing him. 

Someone nudged his arm. 

Something inside him snapped and he lashed out with his elbow. 

"Ow! What the fuck man?!"

All he could see was some dark fog, revealing parts of June's face. Her split lip, her swollen eye. The purple bruises on her cheekbone, the blood clot above her left eyebrow. 

Slowly, the fog was lifting and Juan returned to the car in which he was apparently sitting. Emilio had grabbed his arm and pushed it down, with his other hand he rubbed his upper arm where Juan must have hit him. Angrily, his friend glared at him. 

"Sorry," Juan muttered. "I just... I didn't know where I was."

"Yeah I noticed that. You were almost hyperventilating."

Juan bent his head. He hated it when that happened; whether he was angry, anxious or stressed. It happened since he was a little kid and both Mateo and Emilio knew how to deal with it, but every time shame invaded his body because he wasn't in control of his mind.

"Can I let go of your arm? That your lover has shiner now, doesn't make it a good fashion trend for the new school year." With an angry frown Juan stared at his friend, who innocently shrugged his shoulders and smirked. Then his face became serious again. "She's inside, okay? She's safe. Nobody can hurt her."

Juan in and exhaled deeply. "Yeah," he muttered. "Okay."

He felt awful about it. What kind of worthless boyfriend was he? That time with Rodey he had been too late, at his house she had been more of help to him than the other way around and this time he hadn't been able to keep it from happening either. He couldn't protect his girl, all he did was cleaning up the mess afterwards. After she was hurt. 

"Where does she live?"

Juan shrugged his shoulders. The guilt that was washing over him, made it hard to think. He was so fucking dumb. He should have seen this coming; he had always known that Beth was a crazy bitch and still he had allowed June to go to her friend alone, knowing she would tell her about him. He didn't deserve her, again she had suffered a trauma because of him and –

"Hey." Emilio grabbed his chin, turning his head to the side. He had never done that before; apparently he hadn't forgotten about the time Juan had done it to him after the paintball game. His dark eyes pierced in his, reminding him of his brother. "Stay with me. That creepy look in your eyes is freakin' me out man, looks like you're gonna pass out any moment."

Juan felt his cheeks burn with shame. As if the heat was burning Emilio's fingers, he pulled back his hand and quickly turned his head away, as if he didn't want to show his friend that he found him a real pussy right now. 

With a bent head Juan stared at his knees while they were sitting next to each other in an awkward silence for the first time in their lives. In the end it was Emilio who broke the silence, muttering that he would ask Mat for Beth's address. His friend still avoided his glance, which worsened Juans anxiety. He had to get his act together again, his behavior was ridiculous. 

"Okay, I got the address." Emilio slipped the key in the contact and turned it around, turned on the CD player and laid his hand against the headrest of Juan's seat while looking over his shoulder and slowly rolling back, away from the driveway of his parent's house. After putting the shifter into first gear, Emilio glanced hesitantly at him. He lifted the corner of his mouth in what looked like a nervous smile. "You feel better now?"