Night Changes (Soon To Be EDITED)

When We Were Young and Didn't Care

I was a hundred percent sure I was the last face Marcus wanted to walk in and see sitting at the end of his brother's bed. It wouldn't surprise me if I was the last person he wanted to see in general.

Last night may have broken the ice that had been cooling on the top layer of our friendship for the last five years, but it had created an entirely new problem altogether. There was a tension that hung heavily in the room, so thick I was sure Zane could have taken a knife to it and it still wouldn't break.

"I borrowed Zai's car last night and had to return it." I whispered. Marcus dropped his intense gaze to the carpet.

"That doesn't explain why you're in his room dressed like a hooker."

"A hooker? Really, Mark? You seriously want to go there?" I shot up, feeling Zane's hand catch my forearm before I could move any further.

The younger Dryer brother shook his head. "You two need to calm down. It's been five years, get the fuck over it."

"Five years? You think that's what this is about?" Marcus asked his brother, laughing. "Bro, sorry to break your sad little heart, but your childhood crush here asked me to take her virginity last night."

Zane's cold expression didn't waver. "So? Mark, you need to get over yourself and sit down. Both of you are acting like children."

"I better go." I shook Zane's hand off.

"Paige, come on. You don-"

Marcus pressed his index finger into my chest, "You really are a slut. When I don't stay to do it, you jump right along to my brother, right?"

My hand came in contact with his face before I could stop it. Every ounce of anger, bitterness, and hurt that had tortured me for years rose to the surface and snapped through the barrier.

"That's what everyone wants to believe, isn't it, Mark? Why not make it true?" I shoved passed him, afraid any tears that were stinging my eyes would escape at any second.

I didn't make it to the hallway. He grasped my wrist and spun me around so I was facing his bare, broad chest.

"You destroyed my childhood, Marcus." I bit my lip. "I hated myself, I started to believe all the rumors you spread. Did that make you feel like a man? Knowing you forced a knife through my chest and betrayed my trust? That you ruined our friendship?"

He winced against my touch, as if my fingertips were poison that was seconds from seeping into his veins.

"They got out of control." his breath caught in his throat.

"The rumors about slipping your hands under my skirt and touching me, unclasping my bra, feeling every-"

"Stop." he growled.

"Every inch of my body. That I'd do anything for a guy if he gave me the time of day." I finished. "I just want to go home, Marcus. Please let me go."

My eyes fell on Zane over his shoulder as he sat on the edge of his bed. There was a hopeful look in his eyes as he watched his brother snake his arm around my waist and hug me against his chest; as if he believed this would dissolve any of the anger and bitterness that had built the brick wall around my heart over the last few years.

For a moment I let myself forget that I had Marcus' son at home, that he had stabbed my knife right through my back and destroyed my childhood. I forgot my entire reputation had been ruined in the blink of an eye. For those few minutes in the Dryer's hallway, I let myself feel safe in Marcus' arms for the first time in over five years.