Falling for the Fire

Chapter 26

I took a deep breath as I approached my car, and I saw Brooklyn pacing back and forth near it.

She looked up at me when she heard me coming, and she stepped up to the passenger side door.

"Uh, is everything okay?" She asked.

"Yes," I said bluntly.

She raised an eyebrow in my direction like she didn't believe me, and she was right not to.

"Do you want me to drive?" She asked, "you seem - "

"No," I cut in, "I'm fine."

I got into my car and sat behind the wheel as I slammed the door shut. Brooklyn quickly followed as her expression grew more concerned.

"Ariana," she said.

"What?!" I shouted back.

My hands gripped the wheel tightly as I started the car and glared over at her.

"Okay I don't know what's going on," she said, "but don't fucking take it out on me, I'm trying to make sure you're okay."

My eyes bore into hers for another moment before I turned to face forward again. I felt the heat rising up my neck and to my face as I tried to calm myself down, but it wasn't working.

I could feel Brooklyn's eyes on me as I adjusted my grip and put the car in reverse. I sped out of the parking lot, and I knew that I was being reckless, but I was too upset to care.

"Ari," Brooklyn said quietly, "why don't you pull over and let me drive?"

"I said I was fine," I told her through gritted teeth.

I sped on to the highway, swerving between cars as I started on the way home. Seeing my mom and hearing what she was there for had made my blood boil, it was all I could think about.

Brooklyn was holding on tightly to her seatbelt, and I kept seeing her glance over at me.

"Ariana," she said again, "please just pull over and -"

"Shut the hell up I'm not stopping!" I yelled at her.

"Jesus Christ," she responded as she glared at me, "then slow the fuck down and quit yelling at me."

Her words only irritated me more, and I pushed my foot further down on the gas pedal. I tried to pass the car in front of me, but I didn't see the truck barreling towards us in the lane of oncoming traffic.

My eyes widened and I froze in a panic. Before I knew what was happening, I felt the car jerk over to the side of the road and I slammed my foot on the brake.

Brooklyn had grabbed on to the steering wheel and pulled us to safety, right in front of a tree that we'd almost hit head on.

I breathed heavily as I looked at her hand tightly grasping the wheel in front of me, and I put the car into park.

"Ari, Ari," she said sternly.

I kept staring forward as her hand came up from the steering wheel and grasped my chin, turning my face towards her.

"Hey, look at me," she continued.

She put her other hand up on my shoulder and I finally met her intent gaze.

"You need to let me drive," she quietly said.

Her tone was softer than I'd ever heard it before as I felt her thumb move back and forth over my arm.

"I'm - I'll be okay," I mumbled.

"No," she shook her head, "I'm driving the rest of the way, you just about got us killed."

Her hand fell from my chin, but the one on my shoulder remained until I finally nodded.

She gave it a reassuring squeeze as we both opened our doors and switched spots.

We sat in silence as Brooklyn calmly started to pull back on to the highway.

A moment later, the screen in my car lit up with a call from my mom.

"For fucks sake," I mumbled, leaning forward and immediately pushing the button to decline it.

"Do you...want to tell me what's going on?" Brooklyn asked cautiously.

"No," I quickly answered.

"Okay," she sighed, "just thought I'd check, and if you decide you want to - "

"Brooklyn I said no," I interjected, "you don't need to pretend like you care about my feelings all of a sudden."

"Pretend like I - you know what, never mind, I'm not going to argue with you," she said.

"Good," I snapped back.

She glanced over at me before looking back towards the road and shaking her head.

We drove for a while in silence, and I found myself taking deep, steadying breaths almost the whole time. I felt bad for taking my anger out on Brooklyn, but I wasn't going to tell her that now.

"What's your address?" She asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What? Why? We have to go back to the office and get your car," I said.

"No I'll take you home and call an Uber or something," she responded, "just put your address in your phone or tell me how to get there."

"You don't have to - "

"Don't even try to talk me out of it," she cut in, "not after how you were driving,"

I sat back in my seat and sighed, knowing that I wasn't going to win this time. I plugged my address into my phone, and the directions popped up on the screen in my car.

Brooklyn followed them, and we pulled into my driveway a few minutes later. I was getting ready to get out, when I saw Avery's car pull in behind me.

"Oh fuck," I sighed.

She couldn't have chosen a worse time to stop by.

"What?" Brooklyn asked as she looked in the rearview mirror, "who is that?"

"That's Avery," I told her, "she's my best friend but I - I don't exactly feel like explaining this all to her right now."

Brooklyn nodded and waited to see what I was going to do. There really wasn't anything that was going to make this any less awkward, so I pushed the door open and got out.

Avery gave me a questioning look when she saw me exit the passenger side, and she gave me an even weirder look when she saw Brooklyn.

"Uhh, what's going on Ari?" She asked, looking between Brooklyn and I.

I didn't even know where to start, and Brooklyn thankfully cut in.

"Hey, I'm Brooklyn," she said, "I was just giving her a ride home."

"Oh I know who you are," Avery said with a knowing grin.

"Ave, not now," I grumbled.

It seemed like she finally caught on to my demeanor, and her expression grew more serious.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she stepped closer.

She glanced over at Brooklyn, but she was letting me explain.

"Saw my mom today," I said, "I'll be inside."

I walked past both of them and was almost to the door when I stopped.

"Thanks Brooklyn," I said.

She nodded back at me, and I heard her and Avery start to talk before I went inside.

"Did she tell you what happened?" Avery asked.

"No," Brooklyn said, "she just freaked out and almost drove us into oncoming traffic."

I rolled my eyes as I pulled the door to my house open. I didn't need to hear the rest of that conversation.

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