Page 18 of Everything After

“Hmm?”

“You don’t have to answer, but… what happened?”

“Like… what did he do?” she asks, and Mason nods. “Well… it started last week when he choked me until I passed out.”

“Fuck,” Mason sighs.

“I snapped at him and said if he loved me he wouldn’t hurt me. He backhanded me and then just… raged. I’ll spare you the details, but…”

“You don’t have to,” Mason says. “If you want to say it, I don’t want you to feel like you have to hold it in.”

“I only know how to word vomit,” she says. “I know it’s an uncomfortable situation.”

“Don’t worry about what others think. Speak up for yourself,” Mason says.

“Okay…” she says, taking a deep breath. “When he gets angry at me, he will choke me as he fucks me. When I pass out, he will keep going. I’ll either wake up and he will do it again, or he will finish and leave me wherever I passed out. Usually it’s the hallway when I try to run from him. Once, he left me face down in the backyard with no pants on. I woke up getting sniffed by a raccoon.”

“And you just know that motherfucker went home to tell his family, and no one believed him,” I say, and she laughs.

“Like the one dude in town who said he saw an alien, but no one believed him,” Mason adds with a laugh.

“How can I wallow in my sadness when you two are being silly?” she asks, still smiling. “Thank you for being normal. It helps.”

“Anything for you, Kitten,” I say. “How does your side feel?”

“It’s okay. I don’t think he broke anything.”

“That’s good,” I say. “Do you want to lie down?”

“Please,” she says. I stand and pull the covers back so she can climb under them. When I lie on my side next to her, she rolls onto her belly but moves as close to me as she can so she can bury her face in my chest. Mason moves up to sit next to her as I rub her back.

We start chatting as I rub in small circles, watching how her body slowly relaxes. When her breathing evens out, I stop moving, but keep my hand on her back.

“I’m glad you answered,” Mason says, watching his sister sleep.

“Me too, Mason,” I say, looking down at her. She looks so peaceful like this. I would live in this moment forever with her.

Chapter Nine

Sierra

I am starting work at the shop today with Bella, and I am weirdly excited. Anthony never let me have a job because he thought I’d cheat on him or something. It started out with him saying he wanted to take care of me, and then it became a way to control money. Eventually, it helped him isolate me from the world. I would go months without leaving the house sometimes.

I have been restless since the moment I woke up this morning. Beckett went and took a shower, and I have been stress-cleaning his kitchen. As I am scrubbing his stove, he is suddenly there, reaching around me to gently take the sponge from me. “You’ve been cleaning the same spot for three minutes,” he says, kissing my temple. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” I sigh. I turn, and he smiles at me. “What?”

“That one of the dresses you got with Bella?”

“It is,” I say. “You like it? It has pockets.”

“I love it. It looks beautiful on you,” he says, and heat fills my cheeks. I’m not used to being called beautiful. I don’t think Anthony had said it to me in years. The last time may have just been around other people. He was so damn charming; it made him look like the world’s best boyfriend. Until we got back into the car and he’d call me a fat fuck for eating too much, or scream at me for smiling too much. He wasn't happy unless I was terrified.

We go out to Beckett’s truck. He opens the passenger door for me, shutting it once I am settled in the seat. When we start driving down the road, I find myself glancing over at him.

“What’s on your mind, Kitten?” Beckett asks, glancing over at me.

“I don’t know,” I say. “I’m just… Happy. I feel like I’m doing something wrong.”