Come To Me | Jerrie

Chapter 25

When I wake up, I roll over and hold back a yelp when I realize someone is in my bed. For a moment I allow myself a sliver of hope that Jade came back, but when I see the jet black hair, I know it's Leigh-Anne. She must have come home and crawled into bed with me knowing something happened.

"Leigh," my voice croaks as I wake her.

She groans and turns over, facing me and opening one eye. "Morning, lover."

It's as if I'm back to how I felt five months ago all over again. My lip quivers as the agony of last night returns full force. "Leigh ..."

She pulls me into her arms and rubs my back. "Shhh, Pez. It'll be okay. Tell me what happened."

We sit and talk, going over the previous day's events. She listens and offers support, never saying more than a few words or pulling me back into a hug. I show her the letter and Leigh-Anne sobs as she reads the words my father wrote. Her pain is my pain and my pain is hers. We're like sisters—she knows how much this means to me. There are no secrets between us. She's fully aware of how hard my childhood was.

"How do you feel about what he wrote?" she asks, swiping tears away.

His words heal, but hurt a little more. I've longed to hear them from him, but they've come after so much damage has been done. Growing up, feeling unloved and alone for years, and then having another man I loved abandon me ... For the longest time, I truly believed I was unworthy. I still believe that. "I'm not sure. It's all a little late, don't you think?"

"I don't know. It's obvious he thought of you and felt a lot of remorse."

"But why not come and find me? Why not make amends before he died?"

"He was scared, Pez. I can't imagine how he would have just shown up after twenty years. Would you have given him a chance if he did?" she asks.

I sigh and think about whether I would have been able to. A part of me wants to say, "Yes, of course," but I was angry for so long. I was furious to the point that I would have probably slapped him and told him to leave. His absence hurt, which caused my mother to lash out at me in turn. She would always say things about how we weren't good enough for him.

"It would have depended, but he never tried." I shrug.

I continue recounting the rest of the night and Leigh-Anne grows more and more furious. She stands and then sits several times when I tell her what Zayn did. She doesn't hide her anger easily. I start to shake as I recall his rage.

"I'll fucking kill him!" Her eyes narrow into slits as I show her the bruises.

"I think Jade threatened the same thing."

"Well, good. She's at least trained and could probably get rid of the body. No one would miss that piece of shit." She stands and starts to pace. "I swear to God, Pez, he's going to pay for this. We need a plan."

I can see the wheels in her head turning. "Leigh-Anne," I warn.

"Don't Leigh-Anne me! He comes here and assaults you over his ring? No! I wish I majored in biochem. Then I'd have access to the good stuff in the lab." She continues to pace, formulating her revenge.

"Seriously, he's not worth it." I try to break through her plotting.

Leigh-Anne continues as if I haven't even spoken. "Maybe we can ..."

I stretch, lifting my arms over my head as I arch my back. Leigh-Anne's eyes go wide and she gasps.

"What?" I ask.

She rushes over and holds my arm up. "Look."

When I look down, I can't believe what I see. I have huge bruises on my arms where Zayn grabbed me.