There’ll only be pain, again.
Only for him.
* * *
I gather up my stuff,phone in hand. I have at least twenty missed calls, seven of them from Ian alone.
Ian. Right.
My fingers trembling, I press the ‘call’ button and bring the phone up to my ear. He picks up immediately.
“Nick, Jesus Christ!”
“Ian…”
“Did you really think that was a good time to disappear? With everything that was going on?”
“Ian…” My voice gets weaker and weaker.
“Where the hell are you? Mum’s panicking, no one can find Ryan and–”
“I’m at Lauren’s.”
His silence is proof that my brother knows me better than anyone.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he says. “I’m on my way.”
* * *
“I’m sorry, Nick. For everything.”
I turn and hug Lauren, holding her tight. “Will you be okay?” I ask, worried.
Lauren has been part of our family for ten years. She and Ryan were high school sweethearts, and her family lived around the corner, just a few yards from my parents’ house. Despite her horrendous decision and her shit timing, I love her like a sister and always will – even if she never marries my brother.
She nods, slowly pulling away from me.
“How about you?”
“I’ll be alright, as always.” I cast her a fake smile and leave her to go back inside.
I’m not worried about me. My one thought is him, my little brother, and how he’ll ever be able to bear this.
Lauren didn’t turn up to their wedding. Lauren doesn’t love him anymore. Lauren lied. Lauren hurt him – and I’ve just added salt to the wound.
I turn and head down the steps; but as I lift my gaze and meet the hate in his eyes, I realise that the pain will never go away.
Ryan storms towards me, his arms tense at his sides and his hands balled into fists. He glares at me, his eyes full of resentment and anger.
Lauren has taken his huge heart and smashed it into pieces. Turned it to dust.
“How the fuck could you?!”
His fist makes direct contact with my nose. I don’t fall to the ground, but I get pretty close. Ryan grabs the collar of my tuxedo. He’s still wearing his groomsman’s suit, identical to mine.
“Ryan, I didn’t—”
Another punch, this time much harder, lands straight on my jaw. I lose my balance and fall back onto the pavement. Ryan throws himself on top of me, sitting on my torso and pinning my arms to my sides with his legs. He hits me, over and over – and I let him. I let him get it all out, hoping that his anger never ends. I deserve this, and I don’t know where we can go from here.
