Words & Whiskey

EDITED VERSION: Chapter Ten

"Audrey," a voice said softly, shaking me gently.

I blinked my eyes open and gathered my surroundings. I was in the living room, still wearing Nathan's hoodie and sweats. The events of last night were almost forgotten until they hit me like a tsunami. "It wasn't a dream, was it?"

Darian shook his head slowly, his eyes sunk to the floor. "I'm sorry, Audrey."

At his words, I crumble and Darian jumps onto the couch, wrapping his arms around me. "It'll be okay, I promise."

I let out a sob. "I was so scared, Darian. I didn't think he'd come here. What should I do?"

My roommate wiped my hot tears and looked me straight in the eyes. "Now, you are going to live your life Audrey Holland." I nodded my head but continued to cry on my friend's shoulder. Darian held me, in an effort to comfort me. "It's going to be okay, I promise."

We stayed in that position for a few minutes. I continued to cry and I felt a twinge of regret because I knew I was ruining Darian's sweater. However, my roommate seemed to not care, his sole focus was to soothe my disgusting sobs. Letting go briefly, he reached over to the coffee table and plucked a few tissues. Starting to wipe my face, he said, "In a few months or even a few weeks, you will realize th-" He stopped cleaning my tears. "Is that Nathan's sweater?"

I looked down and looked back up at Darian's wide blue eyes and then let out a sob. "Now is not the time!"

I began to cry harder, feeling like Darian was judging me for wearing his brother's clothing. He probably thought I was slutting it up last night and that's why Kieran was so mad at me, that I deserved what happened. Feeling disgusted with myself, I threw the hoodie off of me, but luckily, I had put on a tank top under it last night. When I looked over at Darian, his eyes widened, staring intently at my arms. My tears stopped pouring and I looked at my friend. "What are you staring at?"

"Audrey," he said slowly, almost as if he were worried I'd run away. "Kieran did that to you?"

I looked down at my arms and winced. My arms were my typical olive colour until you got past my elbows. Dark bruises were forming in gruesome colours. Feeling my face drained of colour, I said, "H-He was really upset."

And just like that, I fell apart all over again.

Darian looked pained and unsure what to do. He brought me back in for a hug and began to soothe me again. After a few minutes, he stopped rocking me back and forth and looked me in the eyes. "Did Kieran do stuff like that often?"

I shook my head quickly. "No. I mean, sometimes."

Darian pulled me in for another hug. "I'm sorry, Audrey. You didn't deserve that - no one deserves what you went through."

"You know, Nathan said something last night that really caught my attention," I said, thinking about our conversation that took place the night before.

Darian cocked a blond brow. "What did he say?"

"He said, if Kieran really loved me, he wouldn't have hurt me in any way," I licked my lips, tasting a slight hint of salt from my dried tears. "I never said this out loud but ever since our break up, I thought he was more in love with the idea of me than he was with me as a person."

Darian nodded his head in understanding. "I didn't think I'd ever say this, but Nathan is right, even though he is God awful when it comes to love."

I let out a little laugh but paused for a moment. "Where is Nathan? Did he get to work on time?"

My roommate shrugged, expressing very little concern for his brother's whereabouts. "I'm sure he did, I saw him this morning and he seemed to not be in a rush, he told me what happened.'"