Her smile is absent when she wakes the next morning, he is absent. Her eyes fall on her body when she is in the bathroom, the bruises on her arms are gone but there are new ones on her ribs. Her thighs look bruised too, she goes with her fingers from her knee to her underwear and feels the pain under the tip of her thumb. It's tiny but she knows it's there, it hurts. The water on her face washes away the blurred lines she sees and the dizziness she felt last night. She dries her hair with a semi-wet towel, dresses with a stupid grey shirt of his that hasn't been packed yet and puts on her fishnet tights from last night. The last look she takes in front of the mirror shows something she already knew: she's a mess. Her leather jacket covers only her chest it's not long enough to cover the blues on the back of her legs. The shirt ends at the middle of her thighs. She finds a lighter in the kitchen and a cigarette on the ground near the window. It's twelve p.m.
Her vans are soaking wet when she reaches the first phone box. Shitty battery died, and once again she repeats, "please," after telling Avery to come and pick her up. About ten minutes later, she sees his car parking on the other side of the street. Taking a run for it, he opens the door from the inside and she jumps in, rubbing her legs with her wet hands, reaching for the heater.
"It's almost December Hayden, what the hell are you wearing?"
She doesn't answer, just takes off her shoes and closes her legs under her body as she shifts in the warm seat. But Avery doesn't leave it. "I really thought you two were-"
"Well no. Maybe." She stops, closing her eyes. Avery starts moving the car out of the driveway he parked into and gets going back to the house. "I'm not sure." Hayden finally says, pressing her forehead against the window and speaks again. "Can we go someplace to eat?"
The drive isn't long until they find a café they can eat at. Avery brings the hot steamy cup of coffee to his lips and Hayden frowns, makes a face about the smell and grabs the milk off the counter before turning back to their cubicle. Her shortbread has just been served and a nice black and gold cup is sitting neatly next to the teapot. A smile spreads across her face as she sits down again.
Being the eldest in the family hasn't always been a kind gift to Avery Iverson. The child whose whole life was written before he even could walk. Born a couple weeks early, he'd made his appearance in the world with everybody around, making sure each breath, each smile, each wink, was being done properly. He was an easy child and a very caring one. Aged two, he received a brother for Christmas. Now, everything that had been expected of him had just doubled. He had to prove himself before his little brother. Aged four, Hayden came in the picture. And life was never the same again. The twins, years later, were a package deal, so nobody minded. They all just welcomed the pair as a long-awaited gift. But Avery always had it in his heart to protect his only sister, as if she was the only child he had under his wings.
Now sitting in a beaten-down coffee house not far from Beswick, staring at Hayden in-between bites of his pancakes, Avery felt the need to let go. Her slightly pink blonde hair hanging around her face, framing it with the help of two tiny braids, is still wet. The collar of the oversized shirt she is wearing shifts from one shoulder to the other as she eats and drinks. Avery looks at her and sees a stranger. He sees the beatings, the dots on her arms, even though they're from the past, they're here. He can still see some bruises on her body and it's driving him crazy.
"I can't let you go back there, like, ever, Hayden." He says, dropping his pancakes in his plate, trying to reach for her hand.
She smiles behind her cup of tea, slides it across the table when it's empty, and she attaches her hand to his before speaking. "Maybe I won't try to go there anymore, I don't know." She says, tears gathering in her eyes. "He's leaving."
***
As the day goes by, the twins spend their afternoon in Hayden's room, checking on her. That's until she receives a text and pretends to go out for a walk, putting on her leather jacket and black boots. "Don't wait up, I'll just find my way back." She says with a smile.
She could say the text was urgent, important, dangerous.
Need to talk
She meets Ash in front of the mall, their usual spot, but heir meeting is different than usual. He doesn't bother kissing her, nor does he push back her hair behind her ears as he would. He places his face closer to her neck, as close to her ears as he can and presses his fingers into her forearm at the same time. "I saw Lou today. Told me about you."
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...
