Hey guys!
I know, I know. You all hate me, huh? I don't blame you. I really don't. I would like to say that this chapter...wasn't easy to write. I thought and thought this chapter for the longest time, and when I finally put pen to paper-er, fingers to keyboard, I had trouble expressing how I wanted everything to unfold.
Not to mention writer's block. But...thanks to the Dave Matthews Band (the song Crash into Me) I managed to finish this. It's a bit different from the other chapters. There are lots of POV's. Almost every character really. I felt that they needed some face time. Not to mention the twist(s) that unfolds.
Alright, I hope you enjoy this. I'll try harder to write faster, but it all depends on the characters. They tell me what's happening and I write it. So, go on.
Enjoy.
Thanks and Happy Readings! (:
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Chapter Thirty-One
"Dec has something to say."
Hearing those words had Declan sweating. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell Tori that the reason Ricci was barely alive was because of him, Declan.
This whole situation just made Declan hate his father-no, sperm donor, all the more. Taking things out of him was one this, but to harm his friends? Declan wasn't sure what he'd do the next time he was in the presence of that man.
"Dec?" Bradie's voce drew him out of his thoughts. "You were going to say something?"
She concluded speaking with a squeeze to his hands, and despite everything, Declan found himself smiling. Bradie did that to him. For him.
Declan shifted his gaze and looked at Tori. "This was my fault. I know who did it and why."
He saw her gulp. Heard it too. "What are you talking about?"
Tori's voice was barely audile, but because there was no other sounds, Declan heard her.
"My car..." He paused and took a breath, then started over. "It was my car you two were in. my father is behind this. I don't know why he would want to try and kill me, but I know that he's the only person I know psychotic enough to do something like this."
Tori didn't say anything. Instead she sat down and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was looking down at her hands, her fingers fiddling together. And, as Declan watched her, he noticed that she was...different. Yeah, she was usually hesitant around them all, but this was too much.
Tori was hiding something.
"Tori?" he called out to her.
Her head shot up and her eyes looked all watery. She was going to cry. Or at least trying to hold it back. Though she wasn't very good at it.
Bradie's hand was removed from his and in the next instant she was by Tori. "What's wrong? Are you mad?"
Dani was now on Tori's other side. "Are you alright?"
As the questions came, Tori's tears came down harder. "This isn't Declan's fault. It's mine." She sucked in some breath. "All mine."
Everyone was confused. Declan could see it in their faces. How was this Tori's fault? She hadn't done anything wrong. If anything, the wrong had been done to her.
"I can't be here. Ricci wouldn't want me here anyway." She started to get up, but with Bradie and Dani on either side, she stood no chance.
"Why would you say that?" Dani's soft voice rang out. "Ricci loves you. Of course he'd want you here."
