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24. Break In

"Paige are we going to talk about this?" I called after her as she walked towards her car, her black bag slung over her shoulder.

When she reached the hood of her car, Paige dropped her bag down onto it and turned to face me.

"Yes! Let's talk about it, Landon! My dad hits me and my mom doesn't do shit about it. So you say that I don't know you? I do, I fucking know you."

Paige swore when she got mad. I found it intimidating and charming at the same time.

"Paige," I pleaded as she turned and picked up her bag, "stop, please." I finally caught up with her and gently tugged at her shoulder.

"Ow," she muttered as I turned her around.

"What?"

"N-nothing," Paige stammered, trying to shake herself out of my grasp.

I pulled her closer to me and drug the sleeve of her shirt a bit down her arm to reveal bruises along the back of her shoulder.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming.

"I just want to go, Landon. Can we do that please?" Paige sighed.

We drove in silence to the diner where Paige gave the waitress money for her trip. They had decent milkshakes, I kind of wanted a burger too. When was the last time I ate?

"Hi! How many?" A young boy greeted us as we walked into the door.

"Two," Paige said from behind me, her sleeve hanging down her shoulder an inch.

"Follow me," the boys eyes stayed on Paige as he grabbed menus and I pulled her hand into mine. I half expected her to pull away, but instead she squeezed my hand and leaned into my arm.

"You!" A voice came from in front of us, Sandy.

"Hi," Paige smiled at the woman.

"Oh honey, your nose!" She exclaimed and walked over to stare directly at my bruised face.

I half smiled at her concerned expression and walked to pull out Paige's chair for her.

"Thank you, Landon." She said as I took my seat.

"Drinks?" Sandy grinned as Paige and I scanned the menu.

"An eggnog milkshake and a water for me please," Paige answered quickly, her eyes on me.

"I'm not sure, uh," I flipped through the menu searching for the list of drinks and when I found it, Paige's voice sounded from the other end of the table.

"He's going to have a split banana and strawberry milkshake with a sprite on the side,"

"You've got it, sweets," Sandy winked at Paige and walked away from the table to the door leading to the kitchen.

"What if I didn't want that?" I crossed my arms over my chest jokingly and stared at Paige.

"Then you wouldn't be the boy I fell in love with," she replied nonchalantly, her gaze not leaving the brown laminated menu.

"Oh," I choked out, looking around the rustic diner, I noticed all the mismatch decor and laughed quietly.

There were little chicken ceramics here and there and some beach shells hung on shelves that were nailed into the red walls.

"Here are your drinks," Sandy called out as she walked towards our table. She set down the cups one by one, and my mouth watered at the sight of my milkshake. Paige was right, I did want that. Paige is always right.