Miserably Delightful

chapter 28

The next morning, I was woken by my phone vibrating beneath my side. I groaned, pressing my face into North's bare chest, reluctant to find out who was trying to contact me so early in the morning. I kissed his shoulder then the hickey I had left on his chest, and stood, grabbing my phone and exiting the trailer. I closed the door behind me quietly, shivering in the morning breeze, and answered the phone, sulking slightly.

"What?" I snapped into the phone, leaning against the side of the trailer, eager to get back to bed and curl up against North then to wake up in a few hours for chocolate chip pancakes.

"You need to come home," Marie's words came out in a rush, shaky and full of fear. I straightened up, fear of my own flooding through me. "I don't know where you are, and I know that wherever you are is probably safer than here, but just come home for a few hours. I'll make sure Knox and Zain here but Lauren freaked out and it was bad and she took it out on Micah and Sang I'm scared. Please please please come home. I'll bring you right back to your boys as soon as you talk Lauren down, but we need you."

"Okay okay," I breathed out, cutting her off. My heart hammered against my chest afraid to learn what my mom had done to Micah. "I'll be there soon. I just need to get dressed and steal one of North's cars and then I'll be there. Uh, leave. You and Micah. You need to leave. It's better if I handle her on my own."

"Okay," Marie said and she paused before continuing. "Be careful, okay? Knox is going to be there within the next hour, but you never know how she's going to react. Please, be careful. I don't want you to get hurt."

I took a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut to keep from crying. "Don't worry about me, Marie. Just get you and Micah out of there. I'm going to kill her if she lays a finger on you two again."

"I'm going to fuck her if she hurts you," Marie grumbled then sighed. "I love you, baby sis. Come to Knox's apartment when you're done, okay?"

"Okay," I told her, though I wasn't sure I would actually end up going there after speaking with Lauren. It was more likely I would flee to Kota or Nathan's. "I'll see you soon."

I hung up then returned to the trailer. North was still fast asleep, and I tilted my head, taking in how peaceful he looked when there was nothing to worry him. I crouched down, pushing hair away from his face and ducking down to peck his lips gently. I made a quiet promise to be back for chocolate chip pancakes with no bruises, though I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep it.

I stood up and ran my hands over the black shirt I was wearing. It hung down to mid-thigh, far too big on me, though it fit just right on North. I sighed, reluctant to take it off, so I yanked on my pants from the day before and pulled on one of his sweatshirts. I left a note for him, letting him know that I hadn't just slept with him then abandoned him, but I had an emergency that I needed to borrow his Jeep for.

It hurt my heart to think that he might wake up before I returned and he might think that I had left him without saying goodbye. He needed his sleep, though, and I needed to get to Lauren before she did anymore damage.

The drive to the house gave me the right around of time to get angry and prepare to see Lauren again. I tried my best to be as careful as I could with North's Jeep, knowing how upset he would be if I damaged it, but I was unable to contain my fury much longer as I skidded into the driveway, parking rather precariously. The only through circling through my brain in the moment was that she had hurt my brother, and she was going to pay for it.

I slammed as the door I came in, searching the main floor for her, my irritation and anger growing the more I searched for her. It would be a miracle if I didn't beat the shit out of her the moment I found her. I stormed up the stairs, whirling in a circle, only to freeze as I found her standing in the doorway of my bedroom.