C'est La Vie

04. Ryder

               “What happened?!” Logan demands his eyes glued to my face.

               “I-” I begin before the sobbing makes it impossible to continue. The pain is immense, but it’s nothing compared to the fear I feel. If you aren’t even safe at home with your mother around, where the hell am I safe?!

With my limbs shaking, I climb over the gear box to sit on Logan’s lap. I just need to feel safe, and being as close to Logan as possible makes me feel safe. Without a question, Logan wraps his arms around my trembling shoulders and holds me tightly.

               “It’s going to be okay Faye. I’m here,” he coos, rocking me gently.

Once I’ve calmed down somewhat, I rest my head against Logan’s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. I try to match my breathing with his, and soon I’m calm again. The pain is now more of a dull aching, but I’m afraid to look at the damage. I know that the moment I see the blood, I’ll panic.

               “Faye, did Matt do this to you?” Logan demands, his grip around me gets tighter, almost painful.

               “No!” I quickly correct him. Knowing Logan, he’s already halfway formulating his revenge. “No, it wasn’t Matt. He was perfectly fine, even offered to drive me home,” I murmur softly.

               “Then what happened to you Faye? And don’t give me a cock and bull story about falling or some crap like that! Your mother may buy your white lies, but you can’t fool me,” he warns seriously.

               “My mother knows exactly what happened,” I spit bitterly, shaking my head in anger.

               “Faye, you’re scaring me. What happened?” Logan demands, holding me at arm’s length. He flinches slightly as he once again assesses my face. I must look like hell!

               “My mum had another guy over today. I was in the living room waiting for you when I heard shouting coming from upstairs. I grabbed the huge flashlight we use for camping and headed up. There was this guy shouting at my mum. Being the idiot I am, I decided to protect her, stand up for her. The guy didn’t like it and pried the flashlight out of my hands. He...touched me, and I could kind of see jealousy in mum’s eyes. She didn’t help me. I tried to make a run for it, but he grabbed me by my waist and I smashed my forehead against the stair banister, he then slapped me, splitting my lip,” I explain thoroughly.

By the time I’ve finished explaining, Logan’s glower is so pronounced, he actually looks a little scary. “That bastard! Is he still at your house? I’ll teach him a lesson,” he snarls.

               “No, no! Please, can we just go to your place?” I beg. The only thing I want right now is to get as far away from here as possible.

               “Okay,” Logan reluctantly agrees, tracing my wounds, making me flinch in pain.

I quickly climb off his lap and back into the passenger’s seat as Logan guns his Mustang’s noisy engine.

We pull up in the garage and Logan helps me out, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Let’s get you cleaned up, Faye,” he murmurs, leading me up the stairs to his room. I perch on the edge of his bathtub and wait for him to grab a washcloth.

He walks into the bathroom and crouches down beside me, wetting the washcloth. His t-shirt is stained red with my blood from when I had clung to him as I sobbed. “This may sting a little Faye, but we don’t want the cuts to get infected,” he warns me before beginning to meticulously clean my face.