Bruised Knuckles

24. and then there were four

"Orion, my dad isn't going to arrest your brother," Axel told me as I sat out on the curb, my head in my hands.

"What do you know? I'm so stupid. I wanted revenge for my dad, not for my brother," I argued, my fingers ready to rip my hair out at the follicles.

Axel kept his arm spread across my back, the side of his thigh nearly touching mine while we sat under the streetlight.

"Your brother will be fine, all right?" Alex reassured me once again, like he had control over law enforcement.

"Sleep at my house tonight, okay?" Axel stood up and grabbed my hand, his long fingers tangling together with mine.

I looked up at him with my lips parted slightly, feeling the pressure from his palm as he tried to tug me up. I sighed and caved in, standing up with him.

"And then tomorrow, we can just go straight to get a tuxedo. Prom is next week, remember?"

I bit my lip and nodded at his reminder, letting him lead me back up his walkway. I wasn't going to lie and say I wasn't scared about facing his dad again, especially after he found out my brother was Devian Greer and his police team was watching him.

Once we were inside, April and Robbie were watching a movie with all the lights off in the living room. The flickering of the TV against their faces was all I needed to pick up on Robbie's stunned expression.

"You're staying over?" He quickly asked, uncomfortably shifting up from his relaxed position on the couch.

"Yeah, Axel said I could," I said vulnerably, my arms tightly crossed against my chest as I stared back at Axel's parents. His hand was still linked with mine, awkwardly twisted against my chest. I glanced at Axel and he nodded at Robbie like any input he had wasn't going to stop me from staying the night.

"Alright, just be safe," Robbie finally added, nuzzling back into his original spot on the couch.

April was still unchanged, offering me nothing but a fake smile the whole time. I don't think she was upset, just tired.

Once Axel and I were in his room, he locked the door and let out a huge sigh of relief, "Finally, we're away from them."

I nodded and couldn't help but notice the picture frame of Aubrey, which wasn't Aubrey anymore. It was empty.

"Why do you always look upset when you're in my room?" Axel suddenly asked, his hands tucking into his pockets.

I shrugged and watched him intently, noticing those little freckles once again from the moonlight shining directly on him through the open window.

"I don't mean to be. I'm not upset, I'm just tired. I'm sick of all of this."

My eyes shifted from his freckled cheeks and I took a seat on his bed.

"If you're tired, we can sleep now?" He asked me, slowly making his way over to his bed.

I could barely see him in his new darkened spot, but it didn't bother me too much. I saw his arms reach out to hug me, effortlessly pulling me against his chest.

My eyes were far too heavy to keep open, and at this point I didn't want them open. All I wanted was Axel.

•••

The next morning, Axel kept the door to his room open while he brushed his teeth in the bathroom across the hall.

"Goodmorning, sunshine!" He happily exclaimed while I shifted around in his bed, my eyes still heavy and tired. He must have heard me protest morning by thrashing the covers around before sitting up on the edge of the bed.

"Goodmorning," I tiredly mumbled back to him. I heard the water from the sink flow before he came back across to his room.

"Ready to go tux renting?" Axel was way too happy this morning, and I was in no mood to do anything but sleep.

"Yeah, I guess," I said while rubbing my eyes.

Axel ruffled my hair and sat back down next to me, his fingers slowly brushing more hair back.

This started relaxing me even more, my mind drifting back into sleep. "Stop that," I told him while I rubbed my eyes once more.

I heard the doorbell ring downstairs, which usually wouldn't startle me, but it did this time. I heard April say something — my name.

"Um, I think someone is here for me," I muttered while I felt my heart begin to pound in my chest. I felt awake suddenly, practically running down into the living room where I saw Devian staring at me from the doorway. Aspen was there too.

"What... the... fuck..." I mumbled when I saw their startled expressions, making my way over to the door.

April stood to the side and let me stand face to face with them.

"I want you to come home. Mom and dad think you're missing, I'm so scared," Aspen mumbled while on the verge of tears.

"Quiet, it's okay. I'm fine. I was spending time with Axel," I reassured them while Devian suddenly noticed Robbie in the background, his police uniform on.

"Oh no," he mumbled with wide eyes positioned behind me. Quickly, he tried to duck behind Aspen who was already shook up.

Robbie kept coming closer to the door and I could feel my heartbeat in my temples. Aspen was crying, her hair in messy knots as she tried to wipe her eyes with her hands.

Robbie paged someone while keeping one eye of Devian the whole time.

"Young man," he began saying in a firm tone, "you're under arrest for dealing drugs."

I collapsed against the wall, watching Aspen begin to sob even harder than before.

Robbie pushed his way past Aspen and I, grabbing Devian's arm while he attached the handcuffs. I could see betrayal in Devian's eyes as Robbie led him down to his cop car.

"I didn't mean to — it wasn't my fault," I pledged as Devian tried to wiggle out of the handcuffs.

Robbie continued leading Devian to his car. I bit my tongue because I knew anything I said could potentially add fuel to the fire. Instead, I watched in silence and tried to imagine this all as a bad dream.

"Go tell that to your new family," Devian suddenly spewed back at me while settling into the cop car.

I received no empathy from April or Robbie, but Axel was silent the whole time, watching from the stairs.

"I know you didn't mean to do this," Axel told me while he came down the steps, his arms pulling me back into a hug while I felt my eyes and cheeks get hot.

It was too late now, we were a family of four.