Naomi POV:
I'm temporarily breathless. The force of the ground against my back caused all the wind to be knocked out of me. I stare, slightly dazed, up at the familiar face that looked back down at me. I then hear footsteps pounding against the ground, and as soon as they stop, two more faces entered my vision.
The haze soon cleared, and I'm left staring at the shocked faces of Jordan, Bennett, and Declan. Jordan had been the one to so roughly pull me off the ledge.
"What the hell were you thinking?" I wince at his tone and try to sit up, but immediately stop when I feel a sharp pain where I had taken blow after blow from Parker the day before. "Why did you do that? Do you even realize what you almost just did?"
They were all talking at once. "What were you thinking?" "How could you do this?" "What the hell is wrong with you?" What the hell is wrong with me?
They continue to yell at me, but I completely shut them out. All I can think is what is wrong with me. I am only pulled back out of my head when I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I immediately jolt at the touch and scoot away. Bennett quickly pulls his hand away with a look of hurt on his face. He opens his mouth to say something to me, but then closes it and turns to the other two.
"We should take her home. I'll tell Parker we found her. He's probably still out looking for her," he said.
"What?" is all I'm able to squeak out. Bennett turned back to me at the sound of my voice.
"Nothing," he said. "We're just going to bring you back to you and Parker's house," he said. I don't think before I start rapidly shaking my head.
"No. No no no no no. I'm not going to- how did you guys even find me?" I sputter out.
"The trace ace app," Jordan said, holding his phone up. I mentally scold myself for not remembering to turn it off. "Now come on. We're bringing you home," he says, reaching out to grab my arm. I practically jump away from him and force myself to stand up, ignoring the pain it sends throughout my body.
"No. I... I can get home on my own," I lie. Of course they don't fall for it.
"Even if you could, it'd be stupid when we're right here to drive you. Come on." He reaches for me again, but I only back up more.
"I thought you guys said you wanted nothing to do with me," I in an attempt to change the topic. It works, because he pauses for a split second before his arm drops to his side.
"We don't," Declan says, stepping towards me. "At least, not since you wanted nothing to do with us," he says with a glare. It's not his signature glare that could scare anyone and everyone, but it was still scary, whether he meant it to be or not. I want to scream that I did my best to spend time with them, but either they were with their girlfriends or I couldn't get away from Parker.
"If I remember correctly, every time I tried to hang out with you, you made plans with your girlfriends instead." I left out the part about Parker.
"Oh, yeah. You mean the one time you spared an hour for us. We can't completely change our schedules just because the one time you actually want to try to hang out with us is when we have plans. And even after we broke up, you still never tried to spend any time with us," he said.
"You never even told me you guys broke up!" I defend.
"Maybe that's because you never give us a chance to talk to you," he retorted.
"You never even told me you had plans, though. You just-" I'm cut off when Declan grabs my upper arm in an iron-like grip, and I soon realize that this was all a trick. He never even cared about this argument. He just wanted to keep me distracted so he could finally grab me. I ignore the ache of betrayal in my heart as I start tugging at my arm, trying to free it from his grip.
"Let go of me!" I tell him. He says nothing in response.
"Declan, I'm not joking. Let go of me," I try again.
"I'm not joking either. We're taking you home and you're going to stay there until you stop being so delusional and crazy," he said. "Seriously, what the fuck is up with you? You've been acting so weird lately. It's like I don't even know who you are anymore," he said as he continued dragging me towards the car. I gave him no answer as I continued tugging relentlessly at my arm. I'm so sick of this. I'm sick of people pushing me around and dictating my life as if they own me. I'm sick of feeling so helpless and useless. I'm sick of people making my decisions for me and forcing me to do things I don't want to without even thinking about how it'll affect me. I'm sick of being treated like I'm not even my own person anymore.
"Stop," I say through gritted teeth as I dig my heels into the ground, trying to stop him or at least get him to slow down. The other two had caught up to us and were now walking alongside Declan, who paid no attention to my constant pleading for him to let me go.
"Declan, stop. You can't dictate my life like this. Let go of me," I try to sound firm, but I know I've lost that ability in the past few months. It comes out sounding helpless and weak.
"Well, clearly you don't know how to do it on your own. It's not like anyone else told you to be stupid enough to try a stunt like that," Bennett mutters.
"A stunt? That's what you think of it? You think that was a stunt?" I asked incredulously.
"I think it was an incredibly stupid thing to try to do," he replied.
"Of course you think that when you don't know any better," I muttered.
"I don't know what to think anymore!" he roared, whipping around to face me. "It's like I don't even know you! You've changed, Naomi. And it hasn't been for the better." His face isn't angry anymore. Instead, all I see is disappointment. "When did you stop trusting us?" His voice is barely a whisper now, and I barely notice Declan letting go of my arm. I back up, trying to distance myself from the three.
"I never stopped trusting you," I said quietly. I let out a sigh. I looked down at my clenched fists before bringing my gaze back up to theirs, mentally preparing myself for what I'm about to say.
And I finally tell them. I tell them in a distant, offhanded voice that I'm a girl who fell in love with someone who made her fear for her life. I told them, voice cracking and eyes filling with tears, that I fell asleep next to someone who gave me nightmares every night. I explained to them, with my lips quivering and my hands shaking, that I lost everything I was and was turned into something I didn't want to be. Forced to shrink myself so that he could fill my life and invade every part of it like a deadly disease.
And while they were absolutely livid about Parker, they held me gently and comforted me as I sobbed into their shoulders. They whispered kind words into my ear, apologizing for leaving me to face it alone, praising me for being strong, and assuring me that they'll never let this happen to me again. There may have also been a few death threats directed at Parker mixed in with all the sweet, caring words. And although my world feels like it's falling apart, although I still have so many issues to sort out, including what I'm going to do next time I see Parker, even though I'm still hurt and broken and have so much to do just to be okay again, I allow myself to be happy just for this moment, because it's been too long since I've felt that way.
Psych! You thought it was a sad ending. This one wasn't as good as part one, but I wanted to end it there because I thought it was a good note to leave off on. Yes, the musketeers are going to kill Parker and hide his body in the cemetery. But I don't think I need to add that into this chapter for you to know that. What did you guys think? Let me know in the comments! I was super happy with how this story turned out :)
