Pirouette

19: Cross Me

• Keyboard-warrior trigger warning in this one •

~ Flashback ~

"Fee? What's wrong?"

She looked at his face and couldn't help but search for any sign of his lie. He was looking at her with a worried, but slightly furrowed expression. She had to confront him. It was now or never.

"Take off your shirt."

His brows immediately rose. "Damn. Not even a drink first?"

"I'm not kidding," She said sternly and crossed her arms with a serious look. "Take it off and show me your shoulder."

His little grin fell and he slowly looked down. "Fee..."

"Why are you lying to me?" She stepped forward right in that moment as his defeated face gave it all away; he wasn't trying to hide it no more. "Adam."

"Because it's not worth worrying about," He sighed and met her eyes. "It's nothing, I promise you. I've got a handle on it."

How funny was it? He sounded exactly like she did when he confronted her with her problems. "We said no lies—YOU said no lies. You said that you couldn't be in a relationship with—"

"I know what I said!" He shouted and palmed his face. "But you wouldn't understand this, Fiona. There's nothing to be done about it, it is how it is."

"You are getting hurt by someone!" She shouted back. She was not gonna stand there and listen to him say there was nothing that could be done about that. "Are you honestly telling me right now that if I was in your shoes, you wouldn't be yelling at me right now, too?!"

"But you're not!" He said and met her with a hard glare. "You're not in my shoes, and if you were, you would be able to see that I'm telling the truth here, Fee. This is how it is. I can't change it, it's just something that I can't control."

"What do you mean by that? Who's hurting you?" She stepped even closer when he closed his eyes and turned away. "Don't fucking turn away from me! Tell me who's hurting you!!!"

"It's THEM, alright!?" He yelled back and whipped around. "It's the old kids I used to hang with in the streets. Satisfied?"

Fiona was speechless for a moment. Then, with tears pressing in her eyes, she took a step back. "I thought you had quit all your connections to your past."

"I have. It's not like that," He sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "They go at my school. They roughhouse me a little to show some pussy-ass form of dominance and practice their thug skills. Sometimes it leaves bruises, but it's really not that bad. They're just bored and pick on me because I don't fight back."

Fiona gaped. Did he just say... he didn't fight back? "Why the hell would you do that? You just... just stand there and take it?" She couldn't believe she was hearing this. Was this part of his whole 'I sold drugs to kids, so I deserve this' punishment he was giving himself?

"Because if I fight back, it makes it worse," Adam walked up closely to her and tried to cup her face, but she pushed his hands away. She didn't know how to feel, but she couldn't handle his touch right now. Even if she craved to hold him tightly. Or slap him. Or something. She was mad at him, but also... hurt. Why was this happening to him?