Unbrekable

9. Need To Talk

Aaron walks into the apartment less than 40 minutes later. I hear him and Lily whispering. I wipe my eyes and throw the framed picture on the floor. I hear the glass shatter and wince.

I open the door and peer out. They are so close to each other. Talking about something important I'm guessing. 

I feel my chest squeeze in pain. I close the door and rest my forehead on it. More tears come and wet my shirt.

I turn to face my room. Full of memories or moments of Lily and me. Or Aaron and me. Or all of us together. 

I hear a soft knock and it startles me back to reality. I sigh and open the door. Aaron looks horrible. Messy hair, sweats, he looks so tired. He smiles weakly and I feel myself move. I hug him tightly.

Sometimes it's just a reflex, and right now I can't control it.

He hugs me back. I feel his shoulders shake as he sobs quietly into my hair. I hear Marcus talking to Lily and I realize what I'm doing. I quickly let go and we walk out of my room. I hug Marcus too. He seems shocked but returns it. 

"Are you alright?" He asks quietly as we separate. I nod and walk to get some tea ready for everyone. I hand out the cups as we all sit.

"So...what's up? You said this was urgent?" Aaron speaks first. He is sitting next to Marcus across the way. I push the files from the table to him. He looks at Lily and me and back at the file.

We tell Marcus our story and he sits there with a hand over his mouth. Aaron flips through the first few pages before closing it. He curses to himself and Marcus, frozen.

"Douglas said he would make us suffer the way he did. That he would basically wreak havoc. But we don't know why." Lily says as she sips her tea. She doesn't look at anyone but me. I look at Marcus and he looks terrified. But determined to help.

"I'm so sorry you guys had to go through that. But what does that have to do with me?" He asks.

"You've become a part of our little group here, so he'll come after you because you're our friend." Lily says as she places her mug down. Marcus's face pales. It looks like he just saw a ghost.

"Hey, you know how to defend yourself. And if not, we're here to help you." I say as he stands to pace the living room. I rise and grab his shoulders. His breathing has become erratic. I remember what Aaron did when I had a panic attack and grab Marcus's hand.

I pull him to the hallway toward my bedroom. I grab his face and pull him into a kiss. I feel him tense, but he melts into the kiss after a few seconds. I feel his hands land on my waist and I pull back. 

"I'm sorry. That's something you can do when someone is having a panic attack. It was the first thing in my head..." I stumble over my words until I feel his hand grab the back of my neck. He pulls me in for another kiss.

My body doesn't know how to react properly, so all I do is stand there with my hands on his face. My eyes wide with confusion.

"I know what you heard. I'm sorry you had to find out that way. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Marcus says as I back away. I shake my head and sigh. 

"Then you should know that I still love Aaron. And I can't move on that quickly from him hooking up with my best friend. I love Lily so much. She's basically my sister. She's all I have." I mumble. He nods and I walk back to the living room by myself. He follows a short while later. Aaron is reading the files as Lily washes the mugs. 

"Lily and I talked," Aaron says as he looks up.

"Marcus, you can head home if you want." I mutter as I look at Lily. She averts her eyes and sits next to Aaron. Marcus feels the tension as he basically scrambles out of the room. I chuckle lightly and sit down. 

"What do you want?' I muster up the courage to ask.

"W-what Lily and I did... what we did was horrible. We don't deserve your forgiveness right now. But we hope you can forgive us at some point." Aaron shoots out. I chuckle dryly and shake my head. 

"You two did this to yourselves. I have done absolutely nothing to deserve that. I have worked hard to keep us all together!. It hurts me more to know that it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I don't believe that!" I shout. They both wince and Lily tears up.

"It'll take time but please just understand that we didn't mean to. It just happened. I'm sorry. We're sorry." Lily pleads. I nod my head and stand up.

"And until I believe that, don't expect me to fully trust either of you again. I'll protect you, but I'm not going to pretend like we're all best friends again." I say. I lead Aaron out of the apartment and walk to my bedroom.

I ignore the broken glass and the broken frame. I lay my head on the pillow and, for once since we've escaped Douglas, I dream.