R.I.P Bon

Chapter 12

I felt the words that had just escaped my lips linger in the air between Allison and I. Her crystal blue eyes widened slightly, then a soft smile played on the corners of her mouth.

“I love you too,” She finally replied, leaning in to plant a soft, lingering kiss upon my lips.

A sense of relief washed over me as I heard her speak those four simple words, and somehow my already racing heart found a way to speed even faster.

“Come, I think there's an explanation that I owe you.” She said as she gently took my hand in hers and led me upstairs.

When we reached her bedroom door I paused for a moment, turning my head to look down towards the end of the hall, where I found myself staring at the closed bedroom door that belonged to Allison's brother, Jared. I couldn't help but notice how oddly silent the bedroom seemed to be; almost eerily quiet. I knew that Jared was in there somewhere, as his car was parked downstairs in the driveway, and yet for some reason it didn't seem like a single soul dared to breath behind that bedroom door. I wondered how long he had locked himself in there for, wallowing in his self exile. It sent chills down my spine as I pictured the boy that sat beyond that door, drowning in his own thoughts - I knew it all too well. This was not the room of an average teenage boy, but the room of a bully who had seen the outcomes of his actions play out right before his very eyes, a bully who was now punishing himself ten times worse than he had done so to any one of his victims.

“Tyler, you coming in?” Allison asked softly, snapping me out of my trance.

I closed the door gently behind me and sat on the bed next to her, immediately noticing the way her eyes stared at the ground emptily, her hand rubbing her arm nervously.

“Allie listen, you don't owe me any form of explanation or anything, I'm more than happy to just forget this whole situation ever happened.”

“No, please, just let me get this off my chest or I'll never feel okay with this. Just hear me out please.”

I nodded and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, making her blush ever so slightly before she spoke again.

“When you rushed in the other week, looking for Jared, I wanted to explain this all but you were just so angry. And you had every right to be. As soon as you left I regretted every single word that I didn't say; and I was so scared that I had lost you forever. You probably hated me that day and that's completely understandable. I've been a complete mess without you, Tyler. And I honestly hate myself for screwing up something as perfect as what we have. But there's something you need to know about the whole Jared and Bon situation...I admit that you were right, that I knew about it all along, and no, I didn't speak up. But you also need to know that I didn't speak up for a reason – Jared threatened me, Ty.”

I felt the familiar anger begin to burn again in the pit of my stomach, my hands curling into automatic fists. Allison, noticing this, rushed to continue, holding my hands tightly in hers to calm my anger.

“Well he didn't threaten me specifically, it was nothing like that. He warned me that if I told anybody about what he was doing to Bon, he would make life so much worse for him. He had described to me all the horrible ways in which he planned on hurting him, and it terrified me to the point where I had no other choice but to keep my mouth shut. When we began dating and I began hanging out with Bon a lot more when I was with you, I began to hate Jared more than anything in this whole world. I couldn't understand why he would treat such a harmless human being with such violence. I began to care for Bon as a friend, and the more protective I got over him, the harder I tried to keep my mouth shut for his sake.”

My mind raced as I absorbed her words, then I spoke. “But why didn't you speak up? Why didn't you inform somebody? Maybe somebody else could have stopped him, maybe somebody could have stepped in. What about after Bon died? You could have spoken up then, surely.”