Protect Me 18+✔️

Chapter 2 Protection ✔️

After Drew called, dad started on his way to get us; he made the thirty-minute drive in record time, without a doubt blowing through every stop sign and redlight on his way. I sat on the sidewalk, huddled up to River, while he rubbed my shoulder and kept telling me that everything would be OK. Drew stood off to the side, not saying a word and refusing to even glance in my direction, which is more or less typical for him. Usually the only time he cares enough to pay me any mind is when he is doing something to intentionally piss me off, so at least he is laying off for now. 
 
Dad shows up, and as soon as he opens his door and steps outside, River begins to explain what happened, but he shuts him off by pointing a finger in his direction. "Home, then we'll talk."
And with those four little words, the four of us pile into his car. Dad turns towards the back, handing me a couple of pills, dropping them in my hand, and telling me to take them. I started to ask him how I am supposed to do that without something to wash them down with, but I stay quiet as he turns around, staring ahead. 
 
I hold them in my hand, finally deciding to just chew them up. I nearly gag at the bitter taste they leave in my mouth, but I swallow them down anyway, refusing to make any noise and break the deafening silence that fills the car.
 
The ride home is completely silent, but the air is palpable, and I know based on the tension I can feel brewing between everyone that this is only the beginning of what will be a very long night. 
 
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While the drive home is quiet, it is anything but peaceful, and it has me almost wishing someone would speak, say something, anything to break the stillness and tension that hangs in the air. But as soon as we walk in, I quickly regret even thinking such a thing. 
 
"What the fuck were you thinking, leaving your sister alone?" Dad screams at River. He doesn't respond quick enough apparently, and the sound of his fist connecting with River's face makes a sickening noise, and my eyes instinctively shut at the sound. 
 
"Dad, stop it!" I yell at the two of them. River can be incredibly stupid at times, but it wasn't his fault that I left the party or that I got attacked. 
 
"You stay out of this Sky!" Dad shouts back at me, wagging his pointed finger in my direction, while still holding onto the front of River's shirt.
 
"Mr. Andrews..." Drew interrupts. Why the hell is he even still here? He shouldn't even be a part of this. He should have gone home when we got back, but of course, here he is, butting in, like always. 
 
"What is it now, Drew?" Dad asks him angrily, through gritted teeth. 
 
"We were looking for her, and she was looking for us. It was all just a big misunderstanding, sir." He says attempting and failing miserably at being the voice of reason. 
 
"Well, your 'misunderstanding' boys almost got Skylar killed tonight, now didn't it?" He says finally letting go of River, who has a busted lip but otherwise is unscathed, and I will chalk that up as a win considering how pissed he is. 
 
Damn, I hate dad's temper, but I can't remember the last time I saw him so angry. Other than a lot of yelling, the only other time he has ever laid a hand on River was when he nearly burned down the house when he was fifteen, and River has done a lot of shit over the years. Dad has always gone easier on me because I am the baby and the only girl. But he has an explosive voice and a tough demeanor that would leave even the toughest of grown men shaking in their boots. The only one that isn't ever fazed by it is Drew, and he doesn't count.
 
"What the hell were you boys doing leaving her by herself at a party anyway?" Dad asks, calming a little, very little.
 
A party that I wanted and insisted on going to. I should have just kept my ass at home. 
 
"We were a little, preoccupied." River smirks, wiping the blood from his lips with the back of his hand, causing me to roll my eyes.
 
Sometimes I swear that I am the only normal one in this family. Hell, I have even gone as far as to wonder if I was swapped at birth, just because I am so different from the rest of them. 
 
"And what exactly were you preoccupied with?" Mom chimes in, folding her arms tightly across her chest. 
 
"My guess would be a blonde; now stay the hell out of this Linda." Dad snaps at her. 
 
Drew, who is standing with his arms crossed across his chest too, lifts his finger into the air. "Mine was a hot little ginger." He adds with a small cocky smirk. I roll my eyes. 
 
"Not helping." River says shooting daggers at him with his eyes, to which Drew shrugs, completely unbothered. 
 
"And what about you, Drew? What is your excuse for not staying with Sky?" Dad asks, now turning his attention back to him.
 
"The princess isn't my responsibility, and besides, I figure she is plenty big enough to take care of herself." He reponds calmly. 
 
"Yeah, well, I can assure all three of you that this will never happen again." Dad says his voice is loud and angry again. 
 
"Dad, please stop yelling; my head is busting." I beg. It is the truth, mostly. My head does hurt, but the painkillers are helping; I just mostly want them all to shut the fuck up. 
 
"I am sorry, Sky, but this is the last straw. " He says lowering his voice. 
 
"Dad, it won't happen again, we will be more careful next time." River says, losing some of his attitude. 
 
"Next time? No, son, there will be no next time." Dad rubs his temples, apparently feeling much of the same headache I have been. "Now, it is time to lay down some rules."
 
"Really dad? More rules? I am already nineteen, and I am still not even allowed to go to parties unless my brother and his dick of a friend are with me. What the hell else are you going to do, put me in jail?" I whine, sounding a bit like the spoiled princess Drew is always making me out to be. 
 
But it is true; I mean, who else my age has a family that won't even let them leave the house? Dad's reasoning?  "It's too dangerous out there, Sky. There are people out there that would do anything to get to you, just so they could get to me." If I had heard it once, I had heard it a thousand times, but it still didn't make living with it any easier. We were taught never to question our dad, but sometimes that is all I have—questions.
 
"Protection, Sky! I'm talking about protection!" He screams. 
 
"Well, I'm not a virgin dad, so the birth control talk isn't going to help anything; Mom already took care of that years ago." I snap sarcastically, and I know, even as I say it, that I have just royally fucked up.  
 
"What?" He asks, pounding his fist on the table. "Linda, I swear to God. Between the four of you, I swear you are trying to put me in an early grave!"
 
"Marvin, just calm down." Moms says trying reason with him.  "Our children are both grown; they..."
 
"Don't you fucking tell me to calm down, woman. Sky was nearly killed tonight, and you are telling me to calm down." He takes a deep breath and looks at me, pointing his finger in my face. "And you! You know good and damn well that I am not talking about that shit. And you had better never say anything else like that in front of me again, young lady." He takes a deep breath, noisily pulling out the chair from the table. "All of you sit the hell down." 
 
Beyond the point of tempting his temper, everyone makes their way over to the table, pulling out a chair. 
 
I look to my right at Drew, who has plopped down next to me, and make a face. I still don't know what he is still doing here. He is always interjecting himself in the middle of family business, my business.  It drives me insane. It isn't enough that our parents are best friends and literally do everything together. He is like a bad pimple that shows up before you have to take pictures, and whatever you do, no matter how hard you try, just won't go away. 
 
"Now, if you all can refrain from the smart ass remarks and the unnecessary oversharing for fifteen fucking minutes and let me speak,..." He begins calmly. 
 
We all stay quiet. What is scarier than a loud dad? A calm one. 
 
"Good." He says looking at each of us. "Now, protection... I have held off on this for as long as I possibly could. I was trying to give you all a bit of normalcy, but due to what happened earlier tonight, I would say that this is long overdue."
 
"What's long overdue?" I ask, knowing that I am not going to like whatever it is that he is about to tell me. 

"I'm talking about a twenty-four-seven bodyguard, Skylar." He says folding his hands together. 
 
"No, no way!" I yell.  "Dad, please, that guy from tonight was just a common criminal... he wasn't..." I stand, starting to protest. I have to deal with all of their paranoid bullshit as it is; there is no way I am going to let him take away what little bit of freedom I do have. 
 
"I don't want to hear it, Sky. You know that there are people out there that... need I remind you what happened three years ago?" He asks. 
He knows that will do it. Knows that that single comment alone will put an immediate end to my arguing. 

What had happened three years ago had given me nightmares every night for six months straight. And he knows it. He knows how badly it fucked me up; I am still fucked up from it. There are times when I close my eyes and that is all I see, and he knows it. He knows that all he has to do is mention it to me, and that is all it takes to end any argument we have.
 
What I can never seem to understand though, even with everything that took place then, is why there are so many people that have it out for us. It just doesn't make any sense; I mean, my dad is in finance. I have tried to figure it out for years, but to no avail. Anytime I have been brave enough to actually bring it up, though, mom and dad both just get all weird. And most always tell me that it "isn't for me to worry about." Well, I beg to differ, especially seeing how it is my life that keeps being put in danger. But that doesn't seem to make any difference, not to them, not to anyone but me.  
 
"As soon as we are through here, I will begin working on getting you an around-the-clock guard." He says as if it is a completely normal everyday occurrence. 
 
"Seriously dad? I don't even get to have privacy while I sleep?" I ask, rolling my eyes. All I can picture is me in my little silk short pajamas snuggled into bed with some six foot-four, three hundred and fifty-pound man staring at me.  
 
This whole thing is absolutely fucking ridiculous! But I also know that no matter how much I beg and plead, it isn't going to change his mind. 
 
"You will not eat, sleep, or step foot outside without an armed guard with you." He continues. 
 
"Well, what about River? Does he have to have someone with him too?" I ask. 
River raises his brows, seemingly looking to Dad for an answer, but the one he gives seems to shock us all. 
 
"No. He is now plenty old enough to learn the family business." He says sitting back. 
 
Finance? River is twenty four years old, and he is now old enough to learn the art of... finance? Dad is always casually mentioning River one day taking over the family business, and every time he does, everyone gets weird, and this time is no different.  River's eyes widen, as do Drew's. The two of them share a look that just further solidifies that there are so many things I don't know. 
 
"Marvin, please." Mom pleads with a pained and worried look in her eyes. 
 
"Linda, we have discussed this many times before. Now, it is time." He states simply. 
 
Mom bursts into tears, covering her face with her hands while running out of the room. 
 
Leave it to mom to be overly dramatic.
 
I just wonder what she is being so dramatic about. I mean, is she seriously more concerned about River taking over the family business than by what happened to me only a few hours ago? 
 
"What business are you talking about, dad?" I get brave enough to ask, knowing there is more to it than approving loans. I mean, the thought of staring at numbers all day, every day for the rest of my life, is enough to make me want to cry too, but not enough to warrant that kind of reaction. 
 
"That's none of your concern." Dad says firmly, giving me a look that tells me to drop it.
 
What the hell is going on? I look at River, who just shakes his head. Well, I am sure as hell not going to get anything out of him. 
 
I even look over at Drew, who just looks away as soon as our eyes meet, a cold, stoic expression crossing his face. I've been questioning things more and more, especially lately, and I don't know what the hell is going on with everyone, but all of their actions and reactions tonight just make me even more hell-bent than I was before to find out. 
 
But how am I going to do that when dad is practically locking me down? Now my head really is hurting again. I think, pressing my fingers into my temples.