nevertheless~

part 76

(Before you read the further part,, here's a warning for possible triggers this part contains:
mentions of assualt.
mentions of self harm.
mentions of suicide
mentions of harm caused to others.
mentions of victim blaming.
mentions of foul language)
no

HARDIN'S POV

"So you're the guy she's been sluting herself to?", Carol grimaces and I cringe at her words. She's worse than Tessa told me.

"And you're the mother", I snapped at her. I don't really see gender when I defend the people I love.

"Of that ungrateful wench? Fuck no. You know for someone as good looking as you, what did you see in her that made you want to keep her? Where do you work?", she says crazily as she comes forward with that wild look on her face and that knife in her hand still.

"I work with Jonathan", I say.

"Oh she couldn't even be creative, sleeping her way to the top?", she scoffs as she stops in the middle of the room.

"What made you want to stay with her, Hardin?", she says, folding her arms under her chest, the hand with the knife supporting her jaw as she speaks in a low voice to me.

"Was it that she was tight enough for a man’s liking? Or where you going to fuck her good and then kick her to the side like the little bit..", her words die as I pulled the knife and out of her grip, and backhanded her with it so hard she falls back two steps. I'm not one for violence but clearly crazy needs to meet crazy, lord knows what she was gonna do with that knife, and with the way she was moving forwards to me, I wouldn’t put it past her to attack either of us.

"Why did you have this?", I ask her while holding the knife carefully and I realize a pool of blood falls from my hand because of her crazy mother. I totally didn't feel the blade when I pulled the knife from her hands. What a demented bunch!

"We were just talking man", the guy says.

"I'll shove this down your throat if you spoke", I pick him up by the collar and shove his head to the floor.

“You know,” he said, wiping the blood off his lip with the back of his hand. “I’m taking this a little personally.”

"Oh you want me to take somethings, personally?", Calmly and without a word, I pointed the knife at the man's neck, leaning down to his height asserting dominance.

"All I want to know is why you care about this", he says, his voice trembling with fear and his eyes shining with them.

"What's your name?", I ask.

"Zed Evans",

"Right, Zed so the thing is that I care because I fucking love this girl. And if you there's a part of you itching to ask anything beyond this much, I will make sure to itch it real fucking good. Got it? So if you so much as speak another word, you know what that'll bring", I say backhanding him with that hand as he falls to the ground.

“Hardin…”, I hear a gasp behind me and I break loose.

"Get in the car outside", I say to her, keeping my gaze fixated on these two.

"Adam, go with her outside", I tell him, who seems to be the only voice of reason in the family. For a young man, he's handling it pretty well. Seeing your mother pick up the knife to kill your sister is something he would need to go to therapy for.

"Hardin, no", she says, not listening to what I have to say and right now, I don't know what hurts more, my heart because of the pain I feel,  my brain because of the quick thinking I'm having to do or my hand because of the cut.