She knew she would still reek of alcohol, smoke, weed, and of whatever she had gotten into during the past few days when coming home. Her clothes had even been soaking wet at some point. Her hoodie stuck to her head, eyes staring to the floor, face down, she enters the house slowly. She tiptoes her way to the white staircase and throws her muddy Mary Janes in with the other orderly arranged pairs of shoes. While taking her leather jacket off, she can feel that she is being watched. But the lone fact that she is indeed, being observed is not surprising, and it does not bother her. She keeps on taking off the multiple sweaters she is wearing, layer by layer; slowly showing her bruised body now only covered by a thin grey lace dress. When she steps back from the shoe cabinet and turns away, she notices the green eyes staring down at her. Father. A door slams shut above their heads, and quick steps are coming down the stairs followed by a gasp.
"Hayden!"
The woman comes down, brushing past her husband, before finally reaching for her daughter and hugging her tighter than the last time she ran away. They could hear the other doors opening in the full house and the people coming downstairs. Six of them are now staring at her: her two elder brothers, watching from the very top of the stairs, their eyes adjusting to the light of day, and then, the younger two, the twins. Pushing each other on the steps to have a better look at her, they're raising the attention back on them. Their father steps in the hallway and raises his eyes to the rest of his children. Quickly, the four pairs of eyes still gazing at the reunion disperse back around the house.
***
Her own hand pressed around her neck, she can feel the bruises under her fingers, the heat of it anyway. Her father is obviously yelling, quoting all the rules that they had set in this house long before her birth, that she had not respected. He gets hold of one strand of her hair and pulls it as she bites her bottom lip in pain.
"Pink!" he exclaims, repeating the word as if was an insult, without letting go of her hair.
Her mom is moving in the back of the kitchen, not being able to handle the sight of what is currently happening around the table. She moves away and looks at the counter instead, wishing there was at least pie or something that could keep her busy. Gail is also hoping that her sons are in their rooms, especially the twins. She sure as hell does not want them here now. She tries to lock their scared looks out of her mind before going through the cabinets. If there isn't any pie, she should just bake one.
Hayden, still stuck to her chair in fear of whatever could happen to her if she tried to run, feels her blood temperature heating up. She can sense that her body will not remain like that for long now. It's trying to move, there's a tingle in her spine that makes her shift in her seat. All she can sense now is that tingle going from her neck down her arms and into her fingers. It's like her whole body is on some kind of high. Well, it probably is. She starts scratching the tip of her nails, her fingers tightened into fists, she could almost feel her veins imploding. She will not cry, she cannot shed a tear in front of him. That is one of her own rules.
He finally lets go of her, stops screaming, and walks away. She figures it meant the end of the lecture, so she stands up, gets out of the kitchen and walks to her room in silence. Every fucking time.
***
The twins, sitting on her messy bed, are quietly exchanging words when she pushes the door open. The two eldest are leaning against the wall, waiting for her, asking the other two to be quiet. As she enters, dropping her purse on the vanity facing her bed, the four boys stop talking and just stare at her. Ethan, older than her by one year leaves his spot against near the door to push the twins away from her bed so she could sit. She is shivering; not crying in front of her father meant being extra angry, and extra cautious not to let any emotion come out. As they cover her up with a blanket, Avery, the eldest sits next to her, holding her tight. One of the twins, Callum, gets up and instantly closes the door before slipping to the floor.
YOU ARE READING
Settle Down
Romance"She came and it was two in the morning. She'd been crying. She started screaming in my backyard. She was yelling for me to let her in while I had never met her before. Mate, she was nuts. She wore that fucking purple dress. You know, the dark one...
