“Jesus Christ,” my mom muttered. “This can’t be happening.”
I shifted on my feet, wanting to say something, anything, but I wasn’t convinced I could find the words to help us, to make the situation any better.
“I can’t believe you,” my mom said to her husband, still stunned. “We will talk about this later, Tom.”
Tom sighed and looked at us. “Pack your bags, Rowen,” his father told him. “You’re leaving right now. Get out of our house and get some goddamn help, son. You’re not right in the head.”
Rowen turned to me, his eyes asking a clear question.
“You,” my mom said, demanding my attention, looking at me like I was a stranger. “You are not right in the head either, Avery. It’s one thing to hate your stepbrother, but to—” She winced, like the thought of us together was awful. “How could you do this to our family?”
“Mom, I—”
She put her hand up. “I don’t want to hear a single word. You will stay in here until I am ready to talk to you again. You will not see or speak to Rowen. This sick, twisted thing ends right now. Am I clear?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, looking to the floor, then Rowen, then back at my mom. I shook my head as tears began falling down my cheeks.
“I can’t,” I sobbed. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“No,” she said softly, anticipating my next words.
“If Rowen leaves, I leave.”
I looked at Tom, hoping he’d just take her from the room, let us leave without making it a bigger deal than it had to be. I couldn’t imagine the shock my mother was experiencing, but it wouldn’t change anything for me. I was going to leave with Rowen. We would handle the aftermath later, when everyone was calm.
“She’s coming with me,” Rowen confirmed, his voice deep and commanding.
“You’re not taking her anywhere,” my mom snapped, staring him down.
He stood from the bed, pillow still covering himself, the ridiculousness of the situation almost making me laugh as his bare ass faced me. He stared back at her, filling the room with enough tension to choke us.
Then, my mom turned to me, looking past Rowen.
Surprisingly, her eyes softened, and I thought maybe she realized it was more important for me to be happy, but then I realized it was only because she thought I’d fold. She expected me to see her reasoning and choose them.
But I clearly didn’t belong there anymore.
I moved my hand over the sheet where my bandage covered the initials, still weeping blood under my skin. His mark.
Rowen and I were hopelessly ruined and broken, but together, we were whole. I moved to stand beside my stepbrother, taking his waiting hand in mine.
“Let’s go,” I said, smiling at him to keep myself from crying.
“You’ll regret this,” my mom said as her face collapsed.
I didn’t answer; I didn’t need to.
Rowen grabbed our clothes from the floor and led me past our parents, past their disappointed glares. For a second, I thought Tom was going to say more, but he closed his mouth and shook his head before whispering something in my mom’s ear as Rowen pulled me through the front door. She turned away, tucking herself into her husband’s chest as the door shut.
The cold hit my skin like knives.
“Let’s get you dressed,” Rowen said gently as he helped me get into my clothes.
I let out a choked laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asked curiously, his eyes trained on me.
“This,” I put my hands out around us. “Our parents just caught us having sex, so here we are, getting dressed outside about to go… where?”
