Broken

Chapter Thirty-Five

"You ready to go home?"

I looked up from my work to see Justin. He was now in just shorts and a hoodie. He must have just finished with football practice. I had stayed behind in the library to try to catch up in my classes and was mostly successful in that regard.

"Yeah," I said. I started packing all my stuff into my bag. I zipped my backpack up and Justin grabbed it. He slung it over one of his shoulders and held out his hand for me to take. I bit my lip and gave my hand to him. "I don't know about this...in public."

"Hayley," said Justin as we walked out of the library. "There's no one around and I'm only holding your hand."

"I know, but I've never done this before," I said.

"I know," he said.

"Do we still need to go to your place?" I asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, I need more clothes."

"You know you could just do laundry at my house," I suggested.

"Yeah, I don't know how to do that," said Justin. "And there's clean clothes in my closet so..."

"I am going to have to teach you how to life," I said.

"How to life?" Justin asked.

I nodded, "Yeah. Laundry, dishes, all that. Wait, do you know how to take out the trash?"

Justin rolled his eyes, "Okay. I can do everything, but laundry." He unlocked his car and put my backpack in the backseat next to his duffel bag. I got in the passenger seat and buckled up.

We talked the whole way to his house. The drive went quick, but as we were pulling up to his house the tension changed completely. A familiar black truck was parked outside of Justin's house. I saw Justin's grip on the steering wheel change. He parked the car and got out quickly. He waited for me at the front of his car. He took my hand and held onto it tight as we walked towards the front door.

"Justin, I thought you said he was gone," I said.

"I thought he was," said Justin. He pushed the door open and we entered the house. I looked up and saw Lykos walking down the staircase. He looked just like I remembered him. He had that serious look on his face and his vision was set on Justin.

"Welcome home," Lykos said.

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Justin.

"My mother lives here, Justin," he said. "And she's currently not here. Neither is your father and I'm sure that isn't a surprise." He glanced over at me. I looked up at Justin and saw the stern look on his face.

"Come on," Justin said to me. He took my hand and pushed past Lykos, bumping into his shoulder. He was out of the way for me. I followed Justin upstairs to his room. He immediately went to his closet and pulled out a bag. I sat down on his bed and watched him. He shoved clothes into his bag without a care of them getting wrinkled. I resisted my urge to fix it.

"Justin," I said. He looked over his shoulder at me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said. He dropped his bag in front of his closet and walked over to me. "I just...didn't expect him to be here. I should have... My mom just..."

"He is her son," I said. I looked up at him as he took one of my hands in his. "She probably regrets what happened with him. It seems like...a complicated situation."

"That doesn't mean we should just trust him," said Justin. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "I want to go back to your place. I can't handle him right now."