Rosewood School for Boys

Chapter 22 - Comedown

Hey y'all, sorry for leaving you hanging for like a year I forgot this existed but I finally wrote another chapter! Loving the collections people are adding my book to but sorry to the person who added it to a list called 'depression' I promise its not supposed to be sad. Xx

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"Liss, Liss!"

I'm being shaken, large hands on my shoulders.

Then the panic kicks back in. I jerk away from whoever is touching me, scrambling backwards until my back hits the cold wall. I open my eyes, squinting slightly at the sudden brightness, and I'm greeted with the sight of several large bodies surrounding me in a semi-circle. I'm being strangled, I can't breathe. I'm choking on my own tongue.

"Liss, breathe, Its okay!"

Through a gaze blurry with tears I can make out Noah's face.

Noah. It's Noah. It's not him.

I shake my head to clear it but I still can't breathe, the dregs of terror clogging my airways.

Noah kneels down in front of me, taking my hand gently.

"It's okay Liss, we're here, just breathe."

Tears welled in my eyes again.

"C-can't, can't b-breathe." I choked out.

"Yes you can, it's okay," Noah placed my hand on his chest, "try and match my breathing. In, out." He demonstrated.

Slowly, very slowly, I started to be able to breathe again. When I had it under control I suddenly went weak, if I wasn't already on the floor I would've collapsed. My body was wracked with shaky sobs that I couldn't stop.

Noah pulled my onto his lap, his huge frame surrounding me like a blanket. I gripped his shirt so hard my knuckles turned white and buried my face in the crook of his neck. He smelt like safety.

I became aware of another hand rubbing my back and pulled away from Noah slightly to look at the others. They all looked worried apart from Ace, he looked furious.

"What the hell happened?" he yelled throwing out his arms in frustration.

I flinched hard at his tone and Noah held me tighter, glaring furiously at Ace.

"Shh, you're scaring her."

Ace looked guilty. He crouched down so he was at eye level with me and in a much quieter voice said,

"I'm sorry Ryllis, but we need to know what happened, can you tell us?"

I reluctantly opened my mouth to try and explain but nothing came out. I closed it again frustratedly, this had happened frequently after I escaped the home. When I had a flashback or a nightmare I often couldn't speak after, sometimes for days. He used to hurt me when I spoke sometimes, so I learned to be quiet but occasionally the ingrained training kicked in. It hadn't happened in years though, I thought I had grown out of it.

I balled my fists against Noah's shirt and tried again to speak but the words stuck in my throat like treacle. Ace looked as frustrated as I felt and in shame I turned away and hid my face against Noah again.

"Come on sugar," Felix coaxed gently. "Please?"

I just shook my head despondently.

Noah stood up, still with me in his arms.

"Let's go home." He said softly.

He carried me to the car through a back door, I could hear the party still going strong and it made me feel sick that somewhere in there was the man who had tortured me.

Noah placed me in the backseat of his car but when he tried to pull away I panicked, refusing to let go of him. He's the only thing keeping me sane right now, like a warm port in a wild storm.

He somehow understood exactly what I wanted, throwing the keys to Carter and sliding into the car with me, settling me on his lap once again and securing the seatbelt over the both of us.

In the warm backseat of the car, snuggled against his broad chest, I began to feel sleepy. The gentle rumble of the engine and the slow rise and fall of his chest calmed my racing pulse like a lullaby. Noah gently ran a hand over my hair, smoothing the wild locks. The repetitive motion and his clean smell had me drifting off to sleep before I could even realise my eyes were closed.

I only woke when the car stopped, and Noah's hand stilled on my hair. We were back at school already; it wasn't far from Ace's parent's house by any stretch of the imagination. I tried to climb off his lap but he tightened his grip, scooping me up as he started walking back to the dorms.

"I can walk." I mumbled, pulling away from him so I could see his face. There was a crease between his eyebrows and I could see the muscles in his jaw working overtime but when he looked down at me his expression was soft.

"I know.' He replied, but made no move to put me down.

"I'm heavy," I tried again, feeling guilty at making him haul me around like a donkey.

He snorted. "I bench twice your weight as a warm up Liss, just let me carry you."

I relented, fatigue filling my body again like lead. When Noah let me down outside my door Ace was waiting for me, a scowl on his face. I almost faltered at his furious expression, instead I forced myself to say goodnight to Noah and walked towards him.

"Ace?" I said, "You okay?"

His scowl immediately morphed into surprise, then a frown again.

"Am I okay? I'm not the one who was lying passed out in a hallway for an hour."

His angry tone passes beyond my notice as I focus on his words.

"An hour?" I didn't think it had been anywhere near that long.

"Yeah, we couldn't find you anywhere we had to search the whole place. What happened?"

My mind races through potential explanations, I couldn't tell him the truth, what if he didn't believe me?

"I..I fell asleep,"

His incredulous expression makes me wince. Realising I chose the wrong answer but I couldn't change it now I double down.

"I was just...looking for a quiet spot to get away from the party and I fell asleep."

I didn't have to fake the yawn, I actually was exhausted.

"Okay." He said.

My eyebrows shot up before I quickly schooled my expression. I hadn't expected him to accept that so easily, a lurking suspicion lingering in his eyes but I nudged the door to our room open.

"Go to bed." He ordered.

"I was planning on it." I had gotten used to his bossiness since we'd been rooming together.

I was in bed quicker than you could blink, desperate to sleep off the nightmarish evening. But when Ace went to turn out the lamp in the corner a sudden shot of fear bolted through me.

"wait," I called and his gaze snapped to me. "could you leave it on? Just for tonight." Ace frowned, something like worry clouding his eyes, but did as I asked.

"Goodnight." I whispered once he was in bed.

"Goodnight." He replied.

I was asleep almost immediately.