𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 ✹ 𝐠. 𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢 - 𝐣𝐨𝐞𝐲

Haven

"What happened to you?" Joey Lynch questioned as I struggled to keep myself standing, nails digging into his forearms. Tears streamed down my face taking any sort of product I'd applied to it and forming a mushy mess of mascara and concealer on my undereyes. I tried to form coherent words through sobs and hiccups but words weren't forming or coming anytime soon so Joey stiffly took me into his arms and hugged me again, my body leaning against his for any sort of stability.

"You're okay" he muttered, patting my head and that simple action comforted me more than it would've if the situation was different. Behind him stood his two friends I'd never met but by the way he called out to them earlier I figured their names were Podge and Alec. I knew for a fact they went to BCS and not Tommen because I'd never seen them before at school. Joey looked over his shoulders at his friends with distress, asking with his eyes what to do. Both of them shrugged their shoulders and then Joey awkwardly let go of me. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, surely staining my cashmere sweater and making my already messy face messier. "I'm so sorry" my voice broke as I apologized to the poor boy I had now dragged into my pit of self pity "I'm so so sorry, I'm so sorry"

"Hey it's okay" joey tried to reassure when he noticed the apologizing wouldn't stop

"No it's not okay" i choked "I ruined your shirt" i pointed to the tear and mascara stained white shirt he wore "It's all dirty and it's my fault"

"Don't worry about the shirt, my shirt's okay" He muttered, taking a step closer "Are you okay?"

I didn't reply.
Words aren't necessary.
The fact that I broke down all over when he asked that told him everything he needed to know.
I wasn't okay, and the reason for my problems shared my very own last name.

The next few minutes were a blur of very thick cork accents my mind tuned out from and the brief stares from people as Joey and his friends tried getting me out of the street and into a nearby bar I'd never step foot into. It was just like Biddies but more rundown and filled with people you'd never see at the bars my brother hangs out at. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing though, the place felt more alive and homey than the spots I was accustomed to. I spent a few minutes fixing my face in the restroom. The bar of soap at the ladie's room washed off the mascara but the redness and puffiness wasn't leaving anytime soon.

I sniffled as I left the room and walked back to the dimly lit bar. I said a tiny 'excuse me' whenever I had to push past someone and eventually found Joey and his friends sitting at a small table at the corner of the bar right in front of a pool table. Three glasses of bubbling beer dripped on the poorly balanced wooden table as they spoke in hushed words. "Joey who the fuck is she" The redhead, Podge, asked the older Lynch sibling.

"She's my sister's boyfriend's little sister" He explained, taking a sip of his beer.

"She's hot" alec mentioned

"She's Shan's age" Joey replied and Alec's face went white

"I take it back"

Eventually they noticed me near their table and without standing up, Joey pushed back a chair signaling me to sit down. I swallowed and sat down on the worn out wooden chair. My brain felt scrambled and my insides felt ripped open and then thrown out. I hadn't had time to really go back and recall the two most awful conversations I'd ever had and really internalize how awful everything played out.

"Okay Haven" Joey started, leaning back on his chair and getting comfortable "What the fuck was that all about"

My hands began to fiddle on my lap while my eyes zeroed on them "I um... got into a very ugly argument with Johnny"