Trials Of A Heart | ✔️

39

~Brielle's POV~

Nobody saw Clay until the next day, which was the day of Thanksgiving. It wasn't until around dinner time that he joined all of us, an annoyed look on his face as he plopped down into a seat at the dining room table, right across from Phoenix and I. Heath had already been nice enough to fill all of our plates with food, which I thought was really sweet of him.

As we sat together at the dining table, there was a rather uncomfortable silence that had settled between all of us, and nobody dared to break it. It was tense and quiet, filled with nothing but the sound of silverware occasionally scraping against a plate. Wanting this dinner to go at least a little bit better than it was, I gently nudged Phoenix with the edge of my elbow, chewing on the inside of my cheek. He glanced down at me and I gave him an expectant look as I tried to nod my head as discreetly as possible towards Clay, raising my brows at him.

Phoenix glanced across the table at Clay, who was just pushing his stuffing around on his plate, not looking very interested in this thanksgiving dinner. A heavy sigh left his lips and he crossed his arms over his chest, slouching back into his chair. The feeling of Phoenix's stare must've been sensed because Clay looked up, raising his brows quizzically. "What?" He grunted, my eyes lingering on the black eye and several bruises he still had on his face. Even his lip had been split. I hadn't realized just how much damage Phoenix had done to him, and I couldn't help the pang of guilt that shot through me. If it weren't for me being here, he wouldn't have those bruises. None of this would've even happened, in fact.

"I think we need to sort all this shit out." Phoenix said simply, a frown on his pretty pink lips. His soft brown eyes flicked over to me and then focused on that of his brother again. "Brielle is my girlfriend, Clay. She's important to me, and so are you. I just want you to get along with her, at the very least." He told him, and Clay pursed his lips, glancing over at me.

"Why does it matter? It's not like we ever have family get togethers that often, and I doubt she'll show up when we do." He grumbled, and I awkwardly looked down at my lap, biting on the inside of my cheek. "You don't know that." Phoenix said, coming to my defense. "I'm not going to leave her out just because you don't like her. She's going to be around." He assured his brother, who scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest grumpily.

"How come? Does she not have her own family to be around?" Clay sneered, and my heart dropped into my stomach. I curled my arms around my mid-section and looked over at Phoenix, who now looked pissed by Clay's words. I wasn't mad, because Clay didn't know about my family, but it didn't mean I still wasn't hurt at the mention of my family. With a little bit of a longer look at Phoenix, I could easily tell that he was about to blow up at Clay, but I didn't want that. We were trying to solve this problem, not make it even bigger.

"I don't." I decided to speak up, my voice weak as I did. All eyes turned to me and Phoenix peered at me with a concerned expression on his face. "Ellie, you don't have to. You don't need to explain anything to him." He insisted, making me smile softly. I knew he was just trying to look out for me, which was sweet, but it was unnecessary. "It's okay." I assured, shaking my head. "I figure it'll come out eventually, so I guess sooner is better than later."

Frowning, Phoenix gently shook his head and then grabbed my hand gently, rubbing his thumb over the back of my palm. I smiled to myself and then looked back over at Clay, who now looked a little confused. "I'm an only child, and both of my parents have been dead since I was sixteen." I explained, deciding I didn't need to go into very much detail about the circumstances of their deaths, being that he hadn't asked. Plus, I doubted that it was an exactly appropriate story for Thanksgiving dinner. "So, no, I don't really have any family left to be around. I usually spend my holidays alone, actually." I said.

Heath was the first to speak, as Clay appeared to be too shocked to do anything but look at me with parted lips. "I'm so sorry, Brielle." Heath said, a deep frown on his face and a look on his face that told me he was sorry for my loss. I just gave him a small smile, not ever really sure what to say when someone said that.

My eyes traveled back over to Clay, who now looked uncomfortable. "I...didn't know that." He mumbled, frowning as he tried to avoid my gaze. I wondered if maybe he was feeling a little guilty for what he'd said. "I know." I responded with a smile.

Clay finally looked at me and it was then that I saw the remorse in his gaze, displaying that he did feel bad for what he'd said earlier, like I had suspected. "Look, I shouldn't have said that. It was rude. Still, I don't see any reason why I should have to like you." He said, and I gave him a mere feeble nod of my head. "I know you don't like me, and although I wish it were different, I can't force you to like me. All I want is for us to at least be civil. I don't want you and Phoenix to argue or for your relationship to sour. I'm not here to make you feel like I'm trying to change things." I told him simply, not wanting to beat around the bush.

He let out a heavy sigh and scratched the back of his neck, frowning to himself. "Fine." He grunted, not sounding very happy despite his slight agreement to be civil. "I'll play nice." He agreed breezily. It didn't sound very civil, but I knew it was probably the best I'd be able to get from him.

I smiled regardless, glad that he and I could at least come to the agreement that he'd be civil with me, at the very least. "O-Okay." I stammered, tucking my hair behind my ear. He eyed me closely as I smiled happily up at Phoenix, feeling giddy that I had managed civil with Clay, even if I would've preferred that we could be actual friends instead. Being civil didn't mean he liked me, but I guess it was better than the treatment I'd been given by most people I had known that were my age. Plus, maybe he could grow to like me with time, if I was lucky. For now, I could work with being civil.

When I glanced back at Clay again, I saw he had a thoughtful look on his face, his gaze flicking back and forth between his older brother and I. I wondered what he was thinking, but I didn't ask. Instead, I began to dig into the food on my plate, feeling content with my achievement.