Ruin Me

70. Helpless me

The boys were all meant to arrive home at varying points on Monday, except for Nico who was stuck abroad with his family. I woke up early in anticipation of their arrival; the entire weekend had been torture without them. I hadn't realised how much their voices and laughter and life filled up the empty spaces in the corridor and in every room. Without the Silent Boys and the rest of the Kings Bridge boys it was as if the life had been sucked out of the dorms taking my energy with it. I'd practically moped around, something even my dad had picked up on, my long mournful face as I anticipated the very moment they would all come back to me.

Just like he'd said Nico had called me, as had Mitch and Sawyer, the only one I hadn't heard from all weekend was Grey. I was terrified for him, and every ounce of my being missed him. The fact that there was no school only made my agitation worse as I had nothing to distract me from lying on the roof staring out at the driveway and watching car after expensive car fly up it searching for one that would contain one of the Silent Boys. With each passing moment my impatience only grew, I needed them here now.

My heart leapt out its chest when I finally saw a head of chestnut brown hair on a muscular body clambering out of a long black dark car with tinted windows that could only belong to one person. I swung myself back inside through the skylight and vaulted down the stairs five at a time.

"Mitch!" I was on him before he even had a chance to shut the car door, my arms hooked themselves around his neck and my legs knotted around his waist as I buried my head against the reassuring presence of his chest.

"Cara!" He seemed equally as pleased to see me and buried his face into my hair, "you won't believe how much I've missed you."

"Trust me," I insisted, "I would."

"No more being apart," Mitch laughed as I finally detangled myself from him and set my feet back on the ground, "it's bad for my health and for my looks," he pointed at his forehead, "you see these, worry lines."

I laughed but inside I was agreeing, I definitely didn't want to do anything that would harm his perfect looks.

"No more being apart," I nodded, "I think I can get on board with that."

"Uh huh," Mitch nodded in dramatic sternness, "I'm taking you home with me for Christmas."

I grinned inwardly before helping Mitch unload his case from the trunk and following him upstairs to his room barely containing my smile the entire time.

Now I had Mitch for distraction I spent the rest of the morning playing cards with him and listening to his stories of his younger sister Emily who he completely doted on. Both his parents were noticeably absent from his stories, he only referenced his mom once when commenting on how drunk she was, so drunk that she spilt red wine all down herself and threw up her thanksgiving dinner in the middle of their hallway.

"Your mom," I asked tentatively, Mitch still had the ghost of a chuckle on his mouth and I didn't want him to lose that but I had to ask, "why was she so drunk?"

Mitch hesitated for a moment before admitting in a quiet voice, "my dad spent thanksgiving with one of his array of flings. His secretary would you believe, could he be any more of a cliché? But he's never spent thanksgiving or any kind of holiday with one of his women before. Mom thinks it might be something different this time, he might actually have feelings for this woman. She's scared he's going to leave her."

"But he treats her like shit," I shook my head uncomprehendingly. But who was I to talk, I let someone treat me like shit for over a year and was never able to detach myself.

"He keeps her in a nice house and she can buy fancy handbags and be in with the other trophy wives," Mitch shrugged a cold expression washing over his face.