Page 111 of Rush

“I’m serious.”

“Okay,” he concedes. “I won’t say anything to Ares. But we should go to the police station now and report this. The sooner they talk to that little shit, the better.”

We leave my apartment, and my dad drives me to the police station where I make a statement to a policewoman with a kind face. I give her the copy of the test results that Dr. Pritchard gave me. The officer, whose name is Knight, tells me that she’ll talk to Leo and get his version of events and that she’ll be in touch.

And that’s it.

I’m frustrated at the lack of action, I guess, and so is my dad. But there’s nothing else we can do.

Dad drives me home, and we pick up pizza on the way.

We sit together, watching an old Friends rerun—“The One With Russ.” Both of us laugh through the episode, and honestly, I need the laugh after everything that’s happened to me since last night.

I guess the fact that I can still laugh tells me something.

I might have been drugged, and currently, my name might be getting dragged through the mud. And I might have lost Ares, the guy I love.

But I’ll survive.

I’ve survived worse.

When we’ve finished eating and another Friends episode starts, exhaustion washes over me. I lean my head back on the sofa and close my eyes.

“You should sleep,” my dad says from beside me.

“Yeah…” I agree. “But…will you stay with me for a while?”

I open my eyes and glance over at him. His stare meets mine, eyes softening on me.

“Of course I will. I’ll stay as long as you want.”

I’m in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, when I hear a knock on the front door.

I spit out into the sink and call, “Dad, can you get that?”

“Yep,” is his response from the kitchen where he’s making us breakfast.

Dad stayed last night. He slept on the sofa. He knew I didn’t want to be alone and insisted on staying, which I really appreciated.

I managed to get a bit of sleep. In between thoughts of Ares, our fight, and the tears I shed silently into my pillow, I had a few restless hours.

I rinse off my toothbrush and step out of the bathroom, heading for the living room.

I come to a stop when I see Ares standing there with my dad. The breath rushes from my body. I wasn’t expecting to see him.

I look awful. I’m wearing sweats, and I haven’t brushed my hair yet.

Not that he’s faring much better. He looks awful. Like he’s not slept at all. Unshaven with dark rings under his eyes.

“Hi,” he says low, his voice gravelly.

My skin breaks out in goose bumps.

I wrap my arms over myself as our eyes connect. Ares’s eyes are somber and soulful, piercing deep into my already-fragile emotions.

“I was just about to head out,” my dad says, getting his jacket and keys. He walks over to me and kisses me on the forehead. “I’ll call you later.”

He gives Ares a sturdy pat on the shoulder as he passes. Then, he’s gone, and I’m alone with Ares.