Finding 4

Chapter 33

Marley

"What's going on?" I chuckle confused as Keely practically rips my arm out of socket from dragging me up the stairs.

She doesn't say anything, and that's how I know it's serious. She's actually mad. At me? At someone else? I have no idea, but Keely is mad, and that's a rare occurrence.

We reach her bedroom where Tierny is, and the worried look in her eyes only makes me even more confused.

"Keely," I stop her. "What the fuck is going on?"

The red head turns to face me, and the anger seems to dissipate into sympathy. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"What?" I ask with a small huff, still extremely confused and even more worried.

"With Mason. Everything he did..." she shakes her head and my heart seems to stop.

Everything falls to my ass. My face, my heart, my stomach. Wait, scratch that, I think I might throw up. It's all coming back up now.

How do they know? Do they even actually know what I think they know? They can't. I thought I had a new life. A life where I was away from him. But now, it feels like I'm back to square one.

"What?" I ask quietly, horror on my face.

"We never would've pushed Callum at you like that if we knew," Tierny adds standing up. "I'm sorry Mar."

"How do...who...what?" I'm in so much shock I don't even know what question to ask first.

"Brody told me," Tierny says as if she can read my mind. "We were talking about-"

"He told you my business?"

I'm not mad. In fact, I'm the opposite. I'm just scared. Scared that my friends will think differently of me, scared that Callum will think differently of me.

"Well—I mean it's kind of my fault." She says in a hurry. "I asked about it."

"Yeah well he didn't have to tell you."

I turn around and pull open the bedroom door, on a mission to find my older brother. I know he's here, and I need to talk to him before I actually do get mad.

"Where's Brody?" I ask when I walk into the living room.

"Uh," Finley just gestures for the backyard.

I walk out to the backyard, and I can hear someone behind me. Yet, I don't pay them any mind because I have one thing on my mind.

"Did you tell Tierny?" I ask with a bit of bite in my tone once my brother comes in sight.

"What?" He asks, turning away from the grill to face me.

"You told her," I say, "about Mason."

His face falters, and I can see a bit of regret dancing in his eyes. "Marley..."

"Why did you do that?" My voice cracks.

"I...I thought maybe she could help you."

"I don't need help!"

"Yes you do, Mar." He puts down the medal tongs in his hand. "He did some really fucked up things, and I know that hurt you."

"Yeah, well that's not for you to decide." I can hear the shake in my voice as I speak.

They're all gonna hate me now. They are gonna see me as a whore, or as some pathetic little girl who couldn't say no. All because I wanted him to stay.

"It wasn't even that bad," I add, trying to convince myself more than anything.

Hurt flashes through my older brother's eyes and he pauses before finally speaking up. "Do you remember the first time he did it?"

"Brody-"

"You came to my room, and you cried for hours. You wouldn't tell me what happened. I thought maybe y'all had broken up, or maybe gotten into an argument. But then you told me what did happen, and instead of thinking of those two things, I was wishing it was them instead." His words send a ping straight into my heart. "You have to quit acting tough," he shakes his head and swallows harshly before adding, "you have to quit acting like what he did was okay."

What hurts the most is that he's right. I know that I have to stop running from my problems, but I don't know how. Ever since I met Mason that's all I've been doing. Running.

<>

Later that night I'm sitting in the passenger seat of Callum's car. Neither of us are speaking, and there's no music. Only the humming of the engine beneath us keeps us entertained.

My mind reels about everything in my past. From up to a few hours ago with Brody, to way back when Mason and I started dating.

How am I supposed to be with Callum, and treat him well, when I'm not even over my last relationship. Mason? I'm over him, definitely. But the things that he put me through? Definitely not.

The headlights of his car flash against the house when he pulls up. He pushes the car into park, and then sniffles and looks over at me.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

I just nod, not knowing what else to say.

"Uh, Marley what...what did Brody mean when he said the first time Mason did it?"

I want to scream. To cry. To yell. I didn't want them to know. I didn't want anyone know. Especially Callum.

"Nothing," I put on a fake smile and look over at him. "He was just talking about...cheating. All the times that Mason cheated."

He can see right through me, and I know from the way his eyes are boring into mine with a weary look. "You know you can trust me, right?"

"I know." I nod.

I need to get out of this car.

"I should go inside." I open the passenger side door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah...see you tomorrow." He calls out right before the door shutting cuts him off.

A/N

I don't want you guys to hate Brody but I didn't know how else to have them find out 😐