Ever since she stopped leaving her room. Ever since she started sleeping with the lights on. Ever since she said his name like it tasted like blood.
Even my father, who has always been a skeptic, has been adamant that we all attend.
The therapy won’t help the demons in my head. It doesn’t matter how much my mom wants to fucking save me; they always win.
“Maybe just hold your arm a little more normally, and you can go,” Beckett says. Beckett is in no way a doctor. He’s a third-year Sports Medicine major and a complete idiot, but we use his skills from time to time. If he hadn’t pushed me to go to the hospital this morning, I wouldn’t have gone.
“It’ll raise questions. My family is too concerned with me right now. They want to fucking heal me. And Nessa…” I run a hand through my hair, willing myself to hold my arm normally. “She’ll put it together. It’s better if I stay away.”
Silas’s face shifts instantly at my sister’s name. Something tightens around his expression, a line drawn hard across his features.
Silas scoffs. “You think she won’t when that asshole isn’t calling her today?”
I grind my teeth. “Don’t fucking mention it.”
Silas studies me for a long moment, then glances at Beckett.
“There’s no one at my place,” he says. “We should go there.”
Beckett nods once.
We start moving toward the Jeep, but I stop after two steps.
“There’s something else,” I say.
Silas turns. “Please don’t say you punched someone on the way out.”
“Serena.”
Beckett goes still.
Silas’s expression darkens. “You’re serious.”
Beckett mutters in frustration under his breath.
Silas clicks his tongue. “Of course she’s sticking her head where it doesn’t belong.”
“I handled it,” I say.
“Right,” Beckett mocks. “Girls like her don’t know when to stop.”
I glare at him. “She won’t say anything.”
Silas snorts. “You trust her?”
“No,” I answer truthfully. “But I warned her. I have no problem putting her in her place.”
“But she’s fucking unhinged, bro,” Silas remarks. “She’d love to be hunted down by us.”
“You’re the dumb fuck who brought her along, so this is your fucking mess that I’m cleaning up.”
Beckett shakes his head but doesn’t argue. He knows better than anyone to question my threats.
Silas claps his hands once. “All right. Get your ass in the car. You look like you’re about to topple over.”
He’s not wrong. The combination of painkillers and the exhaustion crawling through my bloodstream makes every step feel heavier than it should.
Beckett opens the door for me, a silent gesture that would irritate me from anyone else. But from him, it’s not pity. It’s loyalty.
