Isabelle was a small town's pride and joy, living a life sheltered by popularity. She never knew what it was like to face the wrath that came with small town rumours. That was until someone walked into her life and turned it upside down.
We both stayed seated in the car, me refusing to face escaping the comfort of the car and James refusing to leave me on my own. I knew if Mum or Will came down at any moment any hope of escaping their questions would evaporate, but I couldn't seem to find it in me to pull the door handle.
James broke the silence, "Princess, we do need to go in at some stage. I don't know about you but the idea of living in here for the rest of our lives isn't exactly appealing."
This received a chuckle from me. James smiled before saying, "There she is, my princess is back."
'My princess' I thought, since when did that happen? It must have been a slip I was telling myself. Not wanting to ruin the moment, but also wanting answers I asked James something that had been puzzling my mind ever since I had the conversation with Alec.
"James can I ask you something?" I asked.
He smirked before retorting, "You just did, didn't you?"
This earned an eyeroll, I just decided to go ahead and ask, "Why did you lie about what happened with Tyler?"
He looked confused, as if he was racking through his brain trying to think of what I was accusing him of. I decided to quickly put him out of his misery.
"Alec said you were the one to stick up for me, that if it wasn't for you Tyler would still be doing it. You said it was Alec, why?"
James looked uncomfortable, as if the car was closing in on him. He had no escape route. Running a hand through his hair, he looked out the window.
"Like I said before it was to save your family." He shrugged as if to make it seem like not a big deal.
"See I get that, but why did Alec say that you were doing it before they even involved my Dad?" I questioned.
"Why can't that boy keep his mouth shut?" James muttered quietly to himself.
"I just didn't like what he was doing to you, okay?" He tried to cut off the conversation, except I wasn't done.
"Not as if what you did to me was any better, but thank you. Thank you for being there for me."
A deep sigh escaped his mouth, "I guess it's not. I'm sorry." With that he grabbed hold of my hand, telling me it was time we made our way in.
I followed James as he lead me up the stairs with a firm grip on my hand. I think it was more to do with the fact that he didn't want me to turn around, rather than me needing the guidance up the stairs. His warm hand enclosed mine, as if his hand was the only thing holding me from breaking down.
We reached the front door, I squeezed James' hand causing him to come to a halt. "James, do they know why I called you? Do they know about Tyler?"
"No, only Alec." With the reply, he opened the front door. I sheepishly followed behind his large frame as we made our way through the house.
"We're back guys" James shouted out as we made our way up the stairs.
"They didn't even realise I had gone, had they?" I didn't need to hear a reply to know that what I had assumed was right, as James' face proved it .
"I had." James shrugged his shoulders with a sad smile gracing face. His pitiful eyes glanced at me to gauge my reaction, yet I had become immune to the feeling of disappointment.
"Only because no one else was here for you to bully" I joked.
I could tell by James face that he hadn't taken my joke lightly. His forehead crunched together and his lips slightly pursed. "When was the last time I did anything?"
Now that he mentioned it the tormenting had dramatically subsided, I couldn't even remember anything after the airport fiasco. What had happened to James? That was a question I was dying to get an answer to.
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