Come Break Me Down

Chapter 18

I stayed at the hotel for over a week before going back to the house to get the rest of my things. The first day was the worst. I cried myself to sleep and didn't even recognize the person staring back at me in the mirror. My eyes were swollen and red which caused me to wear my sunglasses when coming and going. After calling my sister and letting her know what had happened, she told me to come stay with her.

I ignored all of his calls and deleted his texts without even reading them. I had nothing to say to him at all. Driving back to that house wasn't easy and once again, I cried just sitting in my car. The only positive thing was that I knew there was no chance of him showing up, since he was busy filming. I walked in the front door and everything was exactly as I left it. Cleaning supplies lined the countertop in the kitchen, the laundry basket with clean clothes in it was lying on the floor, right where I dropped it.

Racing up the stairs, I grabbed my suitcase that was in the closet and threw it on the bed. I had to get everything in one trip, I didn't want any reason to have to come back. I carried everything down to the car, tossing it in the back seat.
Once I was finished, I locked the house up and drove away. In that moment, anger protected me from the pain.

I stopped at Shannon's house and knocked on the door. He opened up and I stepped inside. "Can you please make sure he gets these keys?" I handed him the keys to the house and Jared's truck.

"I think you should call him. You would want to hear what he has to say." He held the keys in one hand and his phone in the other. "Just hear him out. It's not at all what you think."

"I know he's your brother and you love him, but I really don't care what he has to say. I'm just done and I've got to go. I have a long drive ahead of me." I turned around to walk out the door. "Aside from all of the jokes, I always did really like you."

"I like you too, but I'm telling you he's not with Ari. Come on Ava, you really think he'd do that shit to you?"

"He knows her, she has his number! Shan, he doesn't give his number out to just anyone. She came to the damn house! If he's not fucking her, then how does he know her?" I raised my voice, but I didn't mean to scream at him. "I'm sorry Shannon."

He followed me outside. "That's for him to explain, but I can tell you that he's in love with you."

"That's not answering my question! You're avoiding my question, Shannon."

He shook his head and bit his bottom lip. "You're just as hard headed as him! Babe, I'd love to break it down for you, but it's not my place.. he's gotta do it. I'm telling you that you will regret leaving before letting him explain everything."

I got in the car, ignoring his words. "Bye, Shannon, I will miss you."

He let out a frustrated breath and watched me drive away. I could see him holding the phone to his ear before I was even out of sight, probably talking to Jared.

A few minutes later, my phone rang. Seeing his name on the screen, I didn't even bother picking it up from the seat. I turned the radio up, just to block out the constant sound of text messages being sent to my phone.

When I finally got to my sister's house, she was outside waiting for me. "Hey!" She said getting up from her chair and hugging me as I got out of the car.

"Hey." I wasn't as enthusiastic to see her as she was to see me.

"Tired? Come in, I made some food." I nodded, following her inside. My bag and clothes could wait until later.

Stretching once inside, I paced around her living room. "I'm sorry.. It was such a long drive."

"You poor thing, I hate that you're feeling so sad. Can I do anything to help? She asked with that concerned look on her face.

"Not really, I just never want to talk to him again."

"Um...." She covered her mouth and looked into the kitchen cringing.

Turning around, I watched Jared walk out. I felt sick and angry that Sierra would do this to me. How could she allow him to be there? She knew how I was feeling and she betrayed me.

Not saying a word, I walked out the door and back to the car. I got in locking the door and laying my head against the steering wheel. Where the hell was I going to go? I leaned forward, placing both arms on the wheel to cover my face. The door opened and I rolled my eyes, realizing that he still had the spare key to my car.

"Please, just hear me out." He leaned down, placing his hand on my leg. "Just hear me out and I promise if you don't want to talk to me after that, I'll leave."