Page 141 of Come Back to Me

“Try me.”

There’s this hunger for pain and destruction in his eyes.

I’ve seen my brother angry before, but not like this.

“No, you will never understand what it’s like to love someone with your entire soul because you don’t feel anything. You’re going to be alone for the rest of your goddamn life because you wallow in your self-pity, and you spread it to everybody else, so they’re as miserable as you are. You’ve never given a damn about me my entire life, so I may as well just leave. You’re doing this for your own benefit to make yourself feel good, but this all proves how shitty of a person you are.”

Blake storms over to me, grabbing my wrists andcutting the blood flow to the rest of my body. “You’ve been dating Grayson for over a year?! So, you two have been sneaking around and thinking you’ll never be caught, is that it? Well, guess what, Violet? You fucked up like you always do. This is why Mom loves me more than you. You haven’t done one thing that she’s been proud of. Why do you think she treats you the way she does? You’renothing.”

“You’re such a hypocrite. What kind of person beats up their friend? Also, I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think about me.” Without a second thought, my fist comes into contact with his face. The blow knocks him onto the ground for just enough time for me to check on Grayson.

I kneel down next to him. “Gray, can you hear me?”

His eyes slowly open and close. “V-Vi, is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me. I’m so sorry this happened to you. This is why I was so nervous about going through with this.”

“You m-mean us?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Oh. Are you saying you r-regret our r-relationship?”

“Of course not. Why would you even ask that?”

“I d-don’t know. It’s just what it f-feels like.”

“Gray, I love you. You know that, right? We told each other we’ll always love each other back there, regardless of what happens. I’m staying here with you, whether you like it or not.”

“There’s nobody else I’d rather have by my side than you.”

Kissing his forehead, I feel a hand tugging on my wrist. Blake pulls me away from Grayson, so he can continue getting his anger out by punching the love of my life.

I watch in absolute horror as Grayson stops moving. All the air is sucked out of my lungs. Tears stream steadily down my face.

Sprinting back inside the house, I grab the biggest stainless steel frying pan we have, and I rush back outside.I wrap both of my hands tightly around the handle and knock my brother out cold with the bottom of the pan.

The pan drops onto the ground. I glance down at my hands, and they’re shaking.

“Gray, can you hear me?” I caress his cheek with my hand.

There’s no answer.

Pulling out my phone, I quickly dial 911.

C’mon, c’mon.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“I-I don’t know what to do. My boyfriend isn’t w-waking up.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“H-he got punched multiple t-times, and he’s bleeding. I tried to wake him up, b-but he’s not responding.”

“We’re sending the police and dispatching an ambulance to your address now. I need you to breathe in and out for me, sweetheart.”

I’m living my worst nightmare. I can’t believe this is happening.