The Sound of Silence (Previously I Know What You Did Last Summer)

Twenty-Six {I Heard Life Is Overrated}

A deafening silence hung heavily between us. I could see the gears in his head shifting as thousands of questions and possible scenarios raced through his thoughts at lightning speed.

Every red light he'd glance in my direction, open his mouth as if he were about to speak, then shut it and revert his attention back to the road, jaw clenched. It wasn't until he missed the turn that lead us back home that I finally spoke up.

"Where are we going?" I whispered.

His hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. "We're gonna have a little fun. Get your mind of things."

There were so many words, so many response I wanted to snap back with but all that left my mouth was, "It doesn't work like that, Colt."

He turned down a winding road littered with red, white, and blue decorations. His teeth grazed his bottom lip as he shot a quick look over at me.

"I know, Ave." He said, stretching his arm across the console between us and gently touching the top of my hand. "But I'm gonna do everything in my power to get both of our minds off that son of a bitch before I do something I'll regret."

I turned away before could see the tears pooling in my eyes. I kept my eyes trained on the road ahead, my head shaking when I caught sight of the giant carnival sign hung between two lamp posts.

Neither of us said a word until he parked the car and lifted his hand so his fingertips brushed my chin and jerked it slowly so I was looking at him.

"I'm sorry, Ave." His voice wavered a little. "If I had known. . ."

"What would you have done, Colton?" I cut him off, my voice rising. "Who would believe me over the soon-to-be Governor's son?"

"You wouldn't have had to go through this alone." He snapped. "You shouldn't have to face him everyday."

We exchanged a long, intense look before he dropped his gaze and climbed out of the car. I reached for my door handle as he walked around, nearly tumbling out of the truck when he opened it from the outside. He caught my arm before I could, earning a quick jerk away from me.

"Avery." He took my face between his hands, wiping the tears that had broke passed the surface. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. And you're sure as hell not gonna let that piece of shit win."

Rather than respond, I took his hand and jumped out, shutting the door to the truck behind me.

"There is no winning or losing, Colton." He dropped his hands limply to his sides. "No matter how much you wish you could turn back time and stop it, you can't. What happened happened, Colt. I'll never be the same girl I was before."

*

We sat in the truck outside the house for a good twenty minutes in absolute silence until Colton finally cut the engine and sighed.

"Do you remember your first party?" He asked.

I thought about it for a moment. "Freshman year?"

"Yep. Alex Davidson's eighteenth." Colton nodded. "You were so scared. Hell, you didn't even want to leave the house that night."

I opened my mouth to cut in, but decided it'd be better to see where he was going with the story before I said anything.

"When we got there you were even worse. You clung to Landon and me like your life depended on it. You looked so lost, so afraid of everything around you." He shifted his body entirely in my direction. "Then Landon walked away and you were left on your own, without his protection. I watched you like a hawk that night, Avery. I know you thought I was drunk, sticking my tongue down some chicks throat, but I wasn't."