My Little Murder

Chapter 12 - Gossip

When Pax and I got home, the first thing I did was turn the T.V. on. I sat back and let out a deep sigh of exhaustion, and watched the screen intently. I hadn't slept all night, for some stupid reason, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep if I tried.

I didn't notice Pax coming to sit next to me until he spoke.

"You want to talk about what happened last night?" he asked with a hint of sternness in his tone. I jumped at the sound, quickly turning my head to look at him.

"What are you talking about?" I questioned, a puzzled look on my face. Pax sighed, sliding onto the couch beside me.

"Liv," he said, "you can't just pretend like nothing happened; sometimes, the best way is to talk about it."

As I realised what he was asking me, I shrank back into the couch.

"Oh," I mumbled.

"You can talk to me, remember?" Pax assured me, hope in his eyes as he looked at me. "I've been there for you all the way; you can trust me."

I hesitated, then sank back into the couch in defeat.

"I can't remember," I muttered, raking a hand through my hair. "I tried, but I just can't."

Pax hesitated, then pursed his lips. "Rye called me," he added quietly, and I snapped my head towards him.

"What did he say?" I demanded. "Did he say what happened?"

Pax nodded. "He did," he said carefully. "But I'm not going to tell you. This was part of you getting better, this was what the doctors taught you; you need to remember things for yourself. Otherwise, you're just getting worse."

I nodded confidently, swallowing nervously at the same time before I attempted to rake my brain for the slightest memory in what I was talking to Rye about the day before. Suddenly, words came filtering back, one by one. They came and went really fast, but I tried to verbalise them anyway.

"Um... I remember sweetheart," I started shakily, screwing my eyes closed to get a better look at the words. "Stay away... lifetime..."

"Keep going, you're doing amazingly," Pax urged supportively, so I moved on down the conversation, now picking up words that Rye said.

"He said something about his mum," I mumbled, my head twitching sideways. "And a jackass... childhood..."

"Wait, what was that last one?" Pax spoke up, and I opened my eyes, looking at him. "You said childhood... who said that?"

I frowned. "I don't remember either of us saying it," I admitted quietly, as the words faded in my head. "He said that I did say something before I blacked out, but I don't think I did."

Pax nodded, shuffling closer to me so he could slide his arms around me, holding me tight. "You did great, to remember all that," he murmured in my ear. "You're getting better everyday. Okay, why don't you go off to bed? I won't make you go to school this week if you're not up for it, okay? Besides; it's only Tuesday and it's already 8 o'clock, so I don't see the point."

I nodded and got up, heading for the hall. But I stopped in the doorframe and turned around to face my brother.

"Thank you for looking after me," I said, and he grinned.

"Go to bed, Liv," he laughed. At that, I smiled.

Things were getting better.

I slept through the entire day; by the time I woke up, it was four in the afternoon. Pax hadn't gone to school to make sure I was okay, but I think it was mainly because he had been driving all night, and needed as much rest as I did.