“Come on, let's go and check on your old man,” Tommy says.
My father loved having the whole group fussing over him, especially the girls. You wouldn’t believe he hates to be the centre of attention. Maybe it's down to the amount of alcohol he has had tonight before this whole evening went to shit. Most of them have left now, and only Fallon, Maya, Tommy, and I are left.
Whilst they were all joking earlier, I couldn’t not notice my girl being the only one not to join in. I’ve seen her behave like this in the past, but something feels a little off this time. Shehasn’t once met my gaze since we came into the room. Is she upset with me? Does she know I told her brothers about her past?
“Tell you what, you haven’t half got off easy,” Dom says to my dad as he finishes cleaning up the bullet graze on his back. “If you hadn’t moved out of the way, this would have gone right through your chest.”
“What can I say? I have the reflexes of an eighteen-year-old,” he winks. God, he really is on one tonight.
“Stop it,” my mum cries from beside him. “It could have been so much worse, and all you're doing is making a joke out of it!”
I don’t miss the wince Fallon does from the other side of the room. Her full body jerked at my mother's voice.
“Yes, because if I don’t laugh, I will cry. Is that what you want me to do?” He argues back. “I bloody well know how scary tonight was. If I want to joke about it, I will.”
“I was just so scared that I’d lost you,” she chokes out, and my father's face softens.
He reaches his hand out to her, and she doesn’t hesitate to take it, holding it close to her chest. They're so in love, even after all of these years.
Fallon leaves the room without another word, and the rest of us follow in line. They need to have their moment alone. I have only been with Fallon for a fraction of the amount of timethey have, so I can't begin to imagine the pain they must feel.
Once we’re outside the room, Tommy and Maya are frowning at each other, but it's only when I glance up the hall that I realise why. Fallon’s retreating form is almost at the other end, and she doesn’t stop to look back. What the hell? Turning to Dom, I raise my brows in question.
“Go,” he whispers, nodding after her.
I don’t take another moment before breaking into a run. It takes me a minute to catch up. How fast was she walking? I don’t know what I have done wrong here, but whatever it is, it’s definitely aimed at me.
“Fallon?”
She doesn’t stop, but I do notice her shoulders tense up.
“Fallon, baby, what did I do?” I ask.
She finally stops, turning around to look at me. Her eyes are bloodshot, her jaw set as though she is ready for a fight. Bloody hell, tonight has been one hell of a ride, but I never envisioned it going this way. I take a step closer to her, but she takes one further away.
“I can’t do this,” her voice is flat, absent of any emotion.
“Well, let me say goodbye to my parents and then we can go to my place and…”
“No, Luke. I can’t do this,” she motions between us. “Us. I wasn’t meant to fall in love, and I… I don’t like it, okay? I don’t want it.”
She takes a step further towards the exit, further away from me.
I am so fucking confused right now. How can we be so hot, then suddenly so cold? What the hell did I do?
“Fallon, baby…” but she holds up her hand.
“No, I’m leaving. I can’t do it,” she chokes out.
That’s when I see it, the break in her armour. Emotions flood through her face, yet as soon as they show, they're gone just as quickly. Why would she fight this? I can’t hold myself back from taking another step in her direction, but she spins on her heel and darts out of the doors.
