If There's Something

Chapter 8

Rush

Hearing the argument that was making its way inside from Levi's pick-up truck outside, I was glad that I hadn't been home all day. From the sound of it, Farren's boyfriend's party must have not gone so well. It was only when I heard the sound of Farren sobbing that I paid any attention to the conversation and by then, they were lingering near the front door. I stayed on the couch, unseen, which was probably for the best but I could see them. Levi was holding Farren as they walked in. She was obviously drunk but she was limping more than she was swaying. Had she gotten hurt?

"Stop crying, Farren," Wes told her, his voice soft. "I told you that they weren't your friends. Why did you even hang out with them?"

"Because I never really had any friends anyway, Wes!" she sounded pissed and well, she wasn't slurring. "Monique was right. I never had anyone. I was always alone whether it was at home or at school. And maybe, just maybe for a little while, I wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere."

"And you think that place was with Tucker and Monique who screwed behind your back?" he asked. "If he was your boyfriend, why was he screwing some other girl? And if she was supposed to be your closest friend-"

"I already knew!" she yelled, shocking everyone into silence. "I knew they've been fucking each other through high school! I knew he would get it from someone else if he wasn't getting it from me. That's why I knew it was going nowhere and I knew we'd break up."

"Then why the hell are you crying?" he asked. "Forget what they said!"

"I don't care what they said," her voice dropped to a dangerously low tone. "What I want to know is why there's a rumor around town about our parents getting a divorce which I didn't know about."

"Farren-"

Oh. So she had found out. I had known it would be impossible to keep that secret from her for the entire summer but I had expected it to be hidden for at least a week, tops. Apparently it couldn't be hidden for more than a day.

"It's true, isn't it?" she asked and Wes stared at her, unable to answer. "That's why you brought me here? So I wouldn't make their messy divorce even messier?"

"Far, it's not like that-"

She laughed a short bitter laugh. "When you brought me here, I let myself think for a second that I had you guys to rely on, even if it was just for the summer. I let myself believe that it would be okay but I guess everyone just loves to lie, right?"

She pulled away from Levi and stumbled. He reached out to catch her but she stepped away.

"I'm guessing you knew, too," she said to him softly and the guilt was evident on his face. She swiped at her tears and nodded. "Thanks for the help but I want to be alone."

She staggered past me to go upstairs, grabbing the railing of the staircase. That was when I noticed the blood that had dried up on her legs. She was bleeding? What the hell had happened?

Levi started to follow her but I got off the couch and caught his arm, stopping him. I shook my head and he collapsed on the couch, burying his face in his palms. Wes joined him on the couch and I stared at them for several seconds before following Farren upstairs. I knew I was probably the last person she wanted to see or talk to but I wasn't planning on speaking to her. I just needed to help her clean up. Her legs had looked pretty bad.

When I reached her room, I knocked out of curtesy but opened the door without waiting for her response. She was on the floor, leaning against the bedside table with tears still streaming down her face. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened. The stench of alcohol was obviously beer and the cuts on her legs were obviously from glass which meant that someone had dropped a bottle of beer on her.

"Let's get you cleaned up-"

"Can you leave?" she asked, her voice soft and vulnerable. "I don't want to talk."

"I didn't come to talk," I told her and she looked up at me and in that second, I could feel her pain. "You're hurt. I came to-"

"I want to feel the pain," she cut me off. "For a while."

"Trust me, cleaning it is going to hurt," I told her, hoping she'd at least smile but I didn't even get a flinch from her. "Come on, Far. Let me help you."

Before she could say anything more, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the master bedroom. That was where my mother had always kept the first aid kit – in a cupboard in her bathroom. I lowered her onto the side of the tub, putting her legs inside the tub so I wouldn't mess the entire bathroom up.

"Why're you doing this?" she asked as I took the first aid kit out.

"Don't ask questions when you're afraid of the answers," I told her and she stared at her feet.

I slipped her shoes off her feet and kept them aside.

"You can throw them away," she told me. "They're ruined."

Spoken like a rich girl. I knew how to remove the blood stains or hide them at least but there was no need to tell her that right now so I nodded.

I positioned myself in a way that I could easily clean her cuts and make the least amount of mess in the bathroom. I used a tweezer to carefully remove the tiny pieces of glass that were still stuck in her skin and surprisingly, she didn't make a sound.

She placed a hand on my shoulder and I looked up at her but her gaze was focused on her legs. She was using me as support to not slip off the tub ledge.

"This is going to sting," I told her as I soaked a cotton ball with a disinfectant and softly dabbed it onto her cuts.

She hissed and gripped my shoulder, her nails digging into t-shirt. I tried to ignore how good it felt as I finished cleaning the cuts. Then I quickly removed a tube of medicine that my mother had always used on our cuts and scratches. It really did work wonders on them and never left a scar. So I used a finger to dab a thin layer of the medicine onto her cuts and then blew at it.

When I looked up to see if she was okay, she was staring down at me with a look I couldn't decipher. We stared into each other's eyes for several seconds before I quickly looked away. If she stared at me any longer, I'd want to kiss her. So I stood up abruptly to wash my hands and she slipped. I caught her quickly as she grabbed onto my flexed biceps.

"Sorry-" she started but neither of us let go.

She was so close. Too close. Anything could happen if I lost control of my feelings. But I couldn't let that happen. She deserved better. She always had and she always would.

"Hold on," I whispered huskily. "Let me wash my hands and I'll take you back to your room."

I slowly let her go and turned around to find Wes and Levi in the doorway. I almost choked on my spit. Levi had his eyes on Farren but Wes was watching me intently. I pulled my gaze away and washed my hands as Levi made his way to Farren.

"Can we talk?" he asked her and she chewed her lower lip – a cute-nervous habit she had never let go of. "I know you're mad at m-" he looked at Wes. "-us but let us explain, okay?"

"Let her sleep on it," I blurted out without thinking. "You guys can explain in the morning."