Bathroom (Max x Bradley) - Maxley

CHAPTER 23

My breath hitched. No. The voice from my nightmares that have been haunting me since that day. I refused to look over my shoulder. I refused to. But a hand gripped my shoulder, squeezing it and slightly shaking with me. "Are you deaf or something, pipsqueak? Did you not hear me?"

I flinched and froze in my place. I knew from my dad that he was out of jail and on probation, so he wouldn't dare to touch me. But I was scared. He did it once,  almost killing me. What, except for jail, was preventing him from hurting me again? I felt like the little boy I was back then, scared and defenseless. 

I figured it would be wise to speak to him, answer his questions, and let him leave me alone for the rest of my stay here. So, I gathered all of my strength and turned to face the monster of my nightmares - Roxanne's father. 

"Good evening to you too Mr. R.. The evening is going good so far." I could see his horrid smile, planning something. "I see your father still doesn't have enough money to buy you a turkey for Thanksgiving." "Don't you dare bring my father into this. And I could say the same about you, seeing you here. Where is you turkey?" I may be scared of him, but nobody is going to disrespect my father, especially not on Thanksgiving. 

"Well, not like it's any of your business, but Roxanne wanted something different for this year's  Thanksgiving, and what my baby girl wants, she gets. Like her amazing boyfriend of five years," he said, saying the 'five' extra loud, so I would connect the dots. The same guy she cheated on me with. The same guy who was too afraid to face me and back up his girlfriend.

From the corner of my eye I could see Bradley, concerned and confused. I loved him, but this was between me and Mr. R.. At the same moment, it seemed Mr. R. had spotted my boyfriend, who was now glaring at him.

"Who is this little friend of yours? He doesn't look like your type. Way too nerdy. Does he know about your history of cheating? Maybe I should warn him..." I stood up, getting angry and forgetting why I was so scared of him. "Don't you DARE to speak about him like that! And for the millionth time, I never cheated on Roxanne. She did. So stop harassing me, or else-" "Or else what? What are you going to do?! Last time I checked, you were a coward that couldn't even protect yourself. You want to play this game again?"

I was mad, fuming even. But he was right. Last time, it didn't end well. A trip to the hospital, so much blood... He sensed I was having second thoughts and used it to his advantage. 'That's right, pipsqueak. The last time we did this dance, you ended up hurt... A lot, if I remember correctly." "The last time we did this dance, you ended up in jail. Would you like to return there?"

I realized my mistake too late. Prison was a touchy topic for him. He charged at me, but stopped inches in front of me, remembering his probation. "You got lucky."

I took Bradley by his hand and tried to leave the restaurant as soon as possible, not wanting to deal with this crazy fool. But I didn't get far. I felt a finger tracing my back through my shirt, making me stop in my tracks, freezing. "How is the scar doing? I still remember carving it in. There was so much blood.." that was all it took to get me spiraling into the dark memories of that night. I was shaking uncontrollably, breathing getting quicker.

"Well, I see your father arriving, so I might just leave you to it. Have a splendid night," said Mr. R. and left. I couldn't move on my own, I couldn't breathe properly, I couldn't even think. All of the night terrors that I kept locked away, all came back at the same time, leaving me paralyzed.

Bradley was confused, and he was panicking a lot. "Max! Max? Can you hear me? Let's get you to the fresh air. Please, move if you hear me." I wanted to, but my body wouldn't listen to me. I just stood there, hugging myself, shaking.