𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧' 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 ─────⋆⋅★𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘺

𝟒𝟗. 𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥

Suki's fingers trembled as she stared at the text, the glow from her phone casting shadows across her face in the dimly lit room. Her mother's words burned into her mind, each one sharp as glass and cold as winter. "It's time everyone knew who you really are, Suki. All it takes is one interview." The room felt like it was closing in around her, her breath quickening as the panic clawed its way up her throat, clawing into her lungs like barbed wire, choking her.

She'd always known this day might come, had felt it stalking her like a ghost through every decision, every new beginning. But even with all the armor she'd built, her mother's words had found their way through, piercing every last shield she had.

She grabbed her phone, fingers dialing without thought. Gracie answered after the first ring, her voice gentle, but the undertone of concern in it was unmistakable. Madelyn showed up not long after, her eyes dark with worry, her arm already slipping around Suki's shoulders as they settled into the cold leather couch in her living room, the room cast in muted blue light from the city outside.

The silence stretched as Suki stared at the floor, the shame and terror swirling into words she could barely speak. But she couldn't keep it inside anymore. Her voice was soft, fractured, barely audible, as she finally let the truth spill out. "I told Drew to leave." She bit her lip, her hands twisting in her lap as she continued, "It wasn't... it wasn't just a fight, or some mistake I could take back. I was too broken back then, too afraid to let him see what was really inside of me."

Her words hung heavy in the room, settling like dust in the corners, suffocating in the stillness. Gracie's hand found hers, squeezing tight, and that small touch pulled something loose in her, made the words spill out faster. "I thought if he knew, if he saw every part of me—the things I've done, the things I've tried to bury—he'd leave me anyway. I couldn't bear to see him look at me like that."

She looked up, her gaze flickering between her two friends, desperate for understanding. "So I told him to go. I made him think... that it was what I wanted." Her voice broke, a raw, jagged edge slipping through. "But the truth is, I've been carrying it all alone. All the shame, the pain, all these things I can't seem to wash away."

Gracie's fingers tightened around hers, grounding her, pulling her back from the edge. "What things?" Gracie asked softly, though her voice held steady, the warmth and acceptance in it unwavering.

Suki's heart was pounding, each beat echoing through her body like a reminder of everything she'd hidden, everything she'd tried so hard to leave behind. She took a shaky breath, the words leaving her in a rush, as though saying them faster might make them hurt less. "My legal name, is Tallulah Rose. I was a dancer back then, at this strip club. I needed the money, I needed something to get out of my stepdad's house, away from... him." Her voice cracked, her hands balled into fists in her lap as she remembered Michael's cold stare, his unrelenting control, his hands always finding ways to break her spirit.

"And my mother... She knew, she saw it, and did nothing. She let him... she let him hurt me." Her voice wavered, the shame and rage in her words turning them bitter, twisted. "And then, when I left, she turned her back on me, like I was the one who'd done something wrong. I was just trying to survive, and she..." She trailed off, swallowing back the pain that rose like bile in her throat.

Madelyn's arm tightened around her shoulders, pulling her in closer. "Suki," she whispered, her voice like a balm against the raw wounds Suki had just opened. "None of that is your fault. Not a single thing. What he did, what she let happen—it's on them, not you. And it doesn't make you any less worthy of love. Drew... he would've understood that, you know?"

Suki shook her head, the ache in her chest flaring as she remembered the night she'd pushed Drew away, the look in his eyes as he stood on the other side of her locked door, begging her to let him in. "I didn't want him to see me like that, to see how broken I was. I thought if he knew, he'd see me the way I saw myself—damaged, tainted. So I told him to leave." She covered her face with her hands, letting out a shuddering breath. "But it didn't make the pain any easier. It just... left me empty."