Cold Hearted Bastard

Chapter 8

Pain erupted on my left cheek as my head snapped to the side. What the-

I forced my eyes open, still feeling whatever it was running through my system but not as badly. I was perched on the roadside, lying down on the grass. The music was still in earshot but further away. A hand was shaking my head from behind, preventing me from succumbing back to that darkness.

I blinked several times taking in Aspen's face smothering under a stony expression. He was looking at the house in the distance, his spare hand clenching and unclenching over and over. Once he looked at me and noticed I was doing the same to him, relief washed over him. His hardened features suddenly went soft. He let out a breath. "Thank god."

"Drink this." He demanded, shoving a bottle towards me. I gave it a once over. "For heaven's sake Wynter, it's water."

Noting the anger in his words I grabbed the water, gushing it down. Trying to whilst away from the headache which had started to blossom. More like a migraine, the way it was throbbing. I still felt completely out of it, knowing whatever was affecting me was still in my system.

"What happened?" I asked, rubbing a hand against my temple.

"You got embarrassingly drunk, acted like some slut, and then almost cracked your skull open on the dance floor."

I winced at his choice of words.

"I didn't drink." I corrected him. All I wanted to do at the moment was cocoon myself into a deep hole.

"You have shitty friends Wynter. Your so-called friends didn't look twice as I caught you and ushered you out. They just watched me take you. Didn't make one attempt to see if you were okay and follow me out."

"They're probably just drunk." I defended them, even though earlier I had felt like a wall between them and I had formed.

"Sure." He replied, running his hand through his hair several times as if he had no clue what to do. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I don't know," I replied truthfully, unsure as to what had really happened in the first place. "But I can swear on my life Aspen I didn't drink tonight...I, I think I was drugged."

Realization hit me in the face like a hard brick as I looked down at my shaking hands. God, an entire year of not going to any social gathering. Staying away from all the evil vices in the world and somehow, just my stroke of luck I ended up getting drugged. And the shitty part of it all was it wasn't the first time.

The odds of it happening after all this time wasn't slim but I should have known. I shouldn't have let the guy make me the drink. If tonight was anything like a repeat of that incident all that time ago...well I don't know how I'd survive.

I noticed his eyes harden over as if he didn't believe me but I couldn't care at the moment. I was in utter shock. My hand covered my mouth as I let the silent tears stream. My breathing was ragged and I knew I was about to have a panic attack. I forced myself up into an upright position. Every inhale was getting harder and harder. My lungs felt like heavily weighted rocks, dry as a bone and incapable of working as they should be.

"What the fuck Wynter," Aspen spoke rushing closer to me as he realized what was going on. I couldn't reply to him, couldn't speak. Faint blackness clouded the corners of my vision as I willed myself mentally to please calm down.

Without hesitation, Aspen grabbed me, enveloping me in his broad arms from behind. Squeezing me so tightly it almost felt painful. He didn't stop as my breaths began to steady and my body slowly stopped shaking. His chest was pressed against my back and his head on top of mine. He didn't let go until my breathing calmed down. And even then when our breathing was in rhythm with one another, he hesitated to let go. Unexpected, but comforting.