Chasing Innocence | ✓

18 | newfound homes

Brax drives my car back home wordlessly. All morning, he has barely spoken a syllable to me. Neither have I, in truth. Last nights confession feels like a fever dream.

I don't regret telling him the truth, but I worry about how he'll go about using the information. Give too much, and I worry he will take. My secrets are sure to be as poisonous as his own.

I don't know what happens now. I don't know how I'm supposed to keep on living, knowing that someone is out to get me. Although I've faced death twice before, I don't know if I can bare it a third time.

I close my eyes, remembering how Brax had labelled me dramatic. Maybe I am. Maybe all of this is nothing more than a scare.

My eyes trail back towards the road and I frown. "You missed the turn," I mumble.

"We're not going back to your apartment," he says, like it should be the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?" I sit up in the passenger seat, peering over at him.

"Marco and Xavier been watching the place all night," he continues, eyes focused on the road. "Those guys are still waiting for you. Good news is that both your roommates left earlier today and no one touched them."

My frown only deepens. "How the hell does Marco know what my roommates look like?"

Brax scoffs under his breath, shaking his head. "Maybe you should put your social media on private if you're so worried about people knowing about your life."

"He stalked my Instagram—"

"To protect your friends," Brax snaps, turning to me for a second. "The least you could be is grateful."

I clench my fists, prepared to retort. I wouldn't even be in this mess if it wasn't for the domino effect created by his family.

I turn away from him, watching the houses pass by through the window until I feel slightly sick. My stomach clenches.

"How long until I can go home then? A few more hours?" I ask. He ignores me, turning on the radio.

The buzz of an old eighties pop song fills my ears and I turn the volume down to zero. I watch Brax as his jaw ticks. "I asked you a question," I snap.

"Don't think for a second that anything has changed between us because of the shit we talked about last night," he growls.

"You're a real asshole."

"Nothing I haven't heard before," he mumbles, turning the steering wheel with one hand nonchalantly.

He's infuriating. I can't stand to be around him a moment later.

"Let me out of the damn car!" I snap. I pull on the door handle only to find that I'm locked in.

"I don't think so."

"Let me out!" I shout.

"What are you gonna do, huh? Run home and get your friends killed? Is that what you want?" he growls. "Do you still wanna die too? Is that was this is?"

"Stop it," I croak, shaking my head as I look away from him.

"Have you got some type of death wish?"

"I asked you when I could go home, not when we could join hands in a fucking friendship ceremony."

He doesn't respond and I only grow angrier by the second. "What was even the point of going to that motel if you're not letting me go home now? Where else am I supposed to stay?"