✓ [18+] WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL

IV. Burning Down The House Bitches

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IV. Burning Down The House Bitches

I wake up to the sound of giggles next to me and let a small smile slip with my eyes still closed.

I open one of my eyes to take a peek and little Sarah is standing next to where I'm laying with her fox stuffed animal under her arm and her hair a mess from just waking up. She's smiling down at me and looks over to somewhere behind me. That's when I notice someone is holding my hand.

I lean up and look to see Bex curled up on the curve of their sectional asleep and grasping my hand. She must have came down here to lay with me after spending time with my brother last night. I look back at Sarah and smile. She giggles once again and looks up to see my brother walking down the stairs.

"Sarah baby, don't wake up your mama and auntie," he says quietly and waves his hand to her for her to follow him into the kitchen. I smile happily at how amazing of a dad my big brother is.

I can smell the coffee pot already brewing and Bex stirs in her sleep, squeezing my hand. I roll over onto my stomach and lay my chin on the throw pillow. I look at my best friend peacefully sleeping and am so thankful I have her in my life again. The eight years without her were hard and honestly I don't know what I'd do without her now at such a crucial time in my life.

When her eyes open, she wipes the sleep from them and turns to face me. She smiles sweetly at me and sits up, stretching and yawning. I sit up myself and adjust the throw blanket on top of me. I rub my head and groan. Great, I have a hang over.

Bex gets up from the sectional and makes her way up the stairs to do her morning routine. My brother Nate stops at the foot of the stairs and looks after her. It's so adorable at how in love he is with her. He's constantly watching her with every little thing she does, love struck with his first and only love.

He smiles at her and then continues his way into the living room with a glass of water and some pain medicine for me. Handing them to me, I smile weakly and quickly take the pills to relieve me of my headache. I down the water and take a deep breath. Nate watches me concerned the whole time.

"Thanks," I smile and sit the empty glass on the coffee table.

He nods with a small smile and looks up to see my nephew walking down the stairs. J.D squints his eyes in surprise to see me on the couch but shrugs it off as he makes his way into the kitchen.

"Shit, I forgot to call mom last night to let her know what was going on," I groan and look for my bag with my phone inside.

"It's fine. When Bex called me last night before coming home, I called mom to let her know you were staying here for the night," he assures me and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

I can feel him judging me and I can't help but avoid his gaze. It's not a bad judging at all, but I know he's trying to figure out what's going on with me. Hell, even I am.

"Thanks. I'm going to take a quick shower. I told Elena I'd help out at the bar today," I state and stand up.

Before I can make it to the stairs, my mom comes walking in the front door and raises her brow at me when she sees my appearance. I'm sure I look like hell. She sighs deeply and closes the door.

"Well it looks like you had fun last night Hev. How's Bex doing?" she giggles and kisses my brother on the cheek.

"I'm good," Bex smiles at my mom as she comes walking down the stairs. She stops at me to let me know she put some clothes out for me on their bed and I thank her with a quick hug.

Without waiting around to listen to their conversation, I quickly make my way upstairs and get in the shower. It's amazing at how much a shower can change your whole demeanor.

Once I get dressed and head back downstairs, I say my goodbyes to everyone as they all get ready for their work day and make my way to my car.

Once I get to Miller's Bar and Grill, it's already 9 a.m. Elena Miller, the owner and Bex's grandmother, is already here. They open at ten which means we have an hour to get everything ready to go.

It passes by quickly as I keep myself busy with cleaning and making sure everything is in order at the bar. Bex had taught me her magic of bar keeping and I quickly picked it up.

Joe Blackthorn, our most valued customer walks in and orders his first drink of the day. It must be nice to be retired and spend your days at the bar, bullshitting with everyone without a care in the world. I smile at him as I pour him his shot of Jack.

The smell of the whiskey makes my mouth water and I so badly want to drink already. I refrain myself though since I'm working. Elena would kill me if I drank on the job.

"You doing okay sweetie? You look like you had one hell of a night last night," Joe asks concerned with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Yup, I'm fine. Just had a girls night out last night," I smile reassuringly and turn away to keep myself busy. I really don't want to talk about last night. Then I'll immediately start thinking about him and want to start drinking again.

The morning goes by quickly and by noon, the Friday lunch hour is busy. I guess everyone wanted to come to Miller's for BBQ. I'm in the kitchen now working with the fryer and helping Ken, our cook, get the burgers ready. Suddenly the stove catches fire from the grease and without thinking I grab a pitcher of water that's on the counter.

Ken yells out at me to stop but I'm not even listening. Once I throw the water on the fire, it burst into flames even more and spreads. Fuck! I'm not even thinking about the number one rule you learn in any kitchen, never throw water on a grease fire.

Luckily Ken grabs the fire extinguisher and quickly puts it out. He looks at me shocked, probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I stare wide eyed at the stove and the black soot that's covering the backsplash and vents overhead. Elena comes running in freaking out.

"What the hell happened?!" she yells out at us.

"There was a grease fire and Heather just threw water on it. What the hell were you thinking woman!?" he yells at me and leans back against the kitchen island cart with his hand over his face.

I instantly begin crying and put my face in my hands in frustration. What the hell is wrong with me? Thankfully he was here because the could've ended badly.

I feel arms wrap around me and I turn to bury my face in Elena's shoulder as I break down from not just the fire accident, but because of everything that just keeps piling up.

I silently pray to God that I can continue on living like this until I finally find the light at the end of the tunnel. Something, anything, just has to change. This string of bad luck has to end at some point.

Right?