Dog Tags

Chapter 67

Quinn's POV

I pull into my driveway and shut off my car but instead of getting our right away I choose to sit there and think about everything that has happened in the last 24 hours, I finally allowed myself to give my heart and much more to Nick only to find out that it was nothing more than a game to him, and now here I sit feeling like fool with tear stain cheeks because I couldn't see what was going on right in front of my face. I let out a bloodcurdling scream while slamming my hands on the steering wheel thinking about how I allowed myself to be played like that, and how I didn't see any of this coming until it was too late. I get out of my car and head for the front door but a voice stops me,

"Quinn! Please wait!" Nick yells as he jumps out of his car but I kept walking until I reach my front door, "Go away Nick, I don't want to see you anymore." I say but Nick places his hand on the door stopping me from opening it, "Quinn?" He says and I can feel myself ready to have a complete breakdown but I refuse to let anyone see me in that kind of state. "What exactly did you tell them that night at the club?" I ask turning my attention to him while fresh set of tears start already filling my eyes.

"I don't even remember, that is how much it meant to me." Nick tries to take my hand but I pull away before he can touch me, "Nothing that happened the last couple of months was even real to you, it was just a huge joke that everyone was in on but me." Nick doesn't say anything but look at me with a heartbroken expression on his face, "Here I was thinking that you had changed, that you weren't like what everyone warned me about." Nick opens his mouth to say something but I cut him off before he can say anything.

"I helped you when no one else would give you the time of day, we shared personal moments that meant something to me but were just pieces of this sick one up game with Emery." Tears form in Nick's eyes as a look of heartbreak on his face becomes worse. "You really a soulless and emotionless monster Nick." I say wanting nothing more than for him just to leave me alone. "You have to listen to me when I tell you that I gave up on all of that......" I put my hand up stopping his words in their tracks, "After last night when you got what you wanted? Well congrats Nick you won, and now you can run to all your friends and Emery just how much of a man you really are." Nick takes my hand in his as I look down at our hands just as a few tears land on them.

"It was before that, last night meant everything to me." I nod my head and use my freehand to tuck my hair behind my ear, "Then for the first time in months, I want you to tell me the truth and tell me when you gave up playing this game." Nick looks at me his eyes now filled with worry which makes me think right away that I don't want to know that answer to that question.

"The night you let me spend the night in your room." I stand there thinking of everything that Nick I have been through over the last couple months like going to see Casablanca with him at the movies, the kiss we shared on my front porch,all the countless times that I found myself defending him to everyone, the Halloween Party at Chris's house, him spending the night in my room to take care of me when I was drunk, us agreeing to be friends, everything that happened in November, the night that had to talk him off the ledge after he found out that Nikki was pregnant, all the days that I would spend him instead of with the people I thought were my friends, him being there for me after my incident with Rachel, 

helping me with my renovation, being there when I got my tattoo, and me allowing him to spend the night in my room, which he says is the night that he gave up on his original goal, but this gets me to think if he is really telling me the truth or just trying to save his own skin, and what about everything that happened between us after so allegedly had a change of heart? Was that real or was it just more mind games from the master of manipulation. "That is truth Quinn, I give you my word." I pull my hand away from him feeling more betrayed than I ever have in my life, "I don't believe you. I still think you are lying." I look at Nick as tears are now full on running down face but right now I am more concerned with myself.

"Just leave Nick and go back to what you do best which is being the an arrogant,impulsive, rude, snappy, and mysterious rebel of a man whore." I open my front door and walk inside slamming it shut and get the feeling of déjà vu from the other night after the Christmas party. I hear Nick let out his angry and other emotions by destroying the front lawn but I don't have enough strength to deal with all of this tonight, and for the first time in a long time I regret ever opening myself and thinking that I could change, when the truth is that I will always be the square girl that does everything she is told.

I put my purse on the counter and head into the living room and when I walk into the living room I stop dead in my tracks as my whole body goes into shock,"This can't be real." I say my body and my mind going into overload at what is in front of me, His hair short which I was expecting and he is more tone and muscular since the last time I saw him too, he has on a black and red checkered sleeveless shirt with an army green tank top underneath showing off some of his tattoos. 

He has a tattoo of three diamonds on his right bicep, A deer tattoo on his inner left forearm with the antlers reaching above his inner elbow while the chest of the deer is speared with 12 arrows and 3 droplets of red blood running down his arm, the tribal tattoo that looks like the lines of the tattoo are dancing around the skin of left shoulder, his wrist tattoo of a crown above with a heart below the crown, and a medium sized rose tattoo on his right triceps. He is also wearing black shorts, black ankle socks, and white sneakers on his feet. 

"Brenton?" I ask breathless and full on balling my eyes out not believing that he is in my living room sitting on my couch. "Hey Marshmallow, I'm home." Brenton says standing up from the couch with the biggest smile on his face.