Heartbreak Girl

Chapter Seven: The Hereafter

 Two weeks, that's how long it had been since Shaye had seen Jeriah. She took Finn's threat to heart. She couldn't take it if Finn beat Jeriah, couldn't take it if Jeriah got hurt because of her. Or at all.

She had only taken his calls. Saying that she picked up more shifts at work, or that she was hanging out with the gang. Homework, staying after school, tired. She used every excuse in the book to avoid seeing him.

There was pounding at her front door. She didn't have to go to know who it was. Very few people knew where she lived, and only one would seek her out after days of avoidance.
The pounding stopped for her phone to start ringing. She tentatively answered the phone, not saying a word. "Open the door, Shaye. I know you're in there."

She bit back a response. If she said anything, he would know something was up. Too late for that now, she thought to herself.

"Just go home, Jer," she said quietly.

"No," he said through gritted teeth. He was angry. That was never a good sign. She knew that he did reckless things when he was angry. Something must have happened to make him agitated. "You're gonna open the goddamn door before I break it down."

"You wouldn't," she stated.

"You want to bet a new door on that?" He growled through the phone.

She slammed the phone shut and stormed to the front door to stop inches front he doorknob. Was this a smart choice? What if Finn found out about this? Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door and walked into the kitchen as the front door swung open.

She busied herself with rummaging through the cabinets for something hard to drink. Feeling him hovering behind her, angry waves emanating off of him. Damn her father for going sober! "How long do you think you had until I came knocking at your front door?"

She kept looking at the cabinets in front of her, trying not to look him in the eyes. Knowing that if she did, she would break down.

"I mean really. What did you think, I was just going to leave you alone? Believe me when I say that you don't have a choice but to be with me. You're stuck with me whether you like it or-" He spun her around to face him. His eyes focused on her bruised cheek. Tears welled up in her eyes widened and he softened at the sight. "Wha-what happened?"

She shook her head and looked away, trying to leave his grasp. "Nothing. You need to go."

Cupping her chin with his fingers, he lifted her head. "I'm not going anywhere. Who did this?"

"What makes you think it was a person? It could have been a door or something." She snapped.

He turned her head so he could see her mark. "What door has hands to leave a handprint on your face?" Recognition snapped his eyes into focus as his anger flared up again. "Did Finn do this?"

She couldn't look at him, she knew her eyes were betraying her when they teared up at the mention of his name. His grip on her chin increased enough for him to be pinching her. "Answer me, Shaye. Did Finn do this?"

She glared up at him. "Why do you care? It's not like you can do anything about it."

He glared back at her, "why do I care? Because I care about you, you idiot! You think I would have stayed this long if I didn't care about you even a little bit?" He curled his lip and pulled away to paced the living room. "I mean, with all the shit you've put me through over the years. All the 'don't do this because you'll get in trouble' or the, ' I don't want you around that kind of thing'. You do all sorts of stupid things and I can't bail you out of any of it because I don't know what happened. Do you know what that does to me?" She watched him. "Well? Do you?" He shouted at her, standing still for a moment to stare bullets into her widened eyes.