Whitewashed

Quoth the Raven

Chapter 19: Quoth the Raven

“Brooke, where the HELL have you BEEN?” he explodes, making me jump. “And who is OZZIE?”

I frantically search for an excuse I am not prepared to give, “Liam-”

“Don’t give me ANY bullshit! Do you even realize-? No! You DON’T! I have an entire police sector searching for you right now!” he bellows through his teeth, taking a step towards me.

Instinct forces me in the opposite direction and I retreat further into the room.

“Liam! I can explain!” I desperately try to out shout him, but with no success.

“Do you KNOW how terrified I was to come back and find you GONE?” he shouts and I suddenly see the cloudiness in his eyes. He’s going to cry. “Your door was unlocked and- and your phone was on the counter so I couldn’t call to make sure you were alright! I didn’t think much of it until I, AGAIN, didn’t see you for DAYS!”

He keeps trying to get nearer. Why? I’m not sure, but my alarm bells keep me moving until I can find something to put between us.

Something like a door.

“It’s not what you think,” I start backing up at an angle, at this point my only possible escape route becoming the bedroom.

“There are only two options here,” the first tear falls onto his cheek. “You’re either cheating on me or that’s a gang tattoo.”

“I’m not cheating on you,” I internally shatter as my shoulder hits a wall, having miscalculated where the hallway is when not looking. He is able to get closer because of my misstep and places his arms on either side of my head.

“Then explain to me who Ozzie is,” he looks more hurt than angry. “Explain to me why you’re always gone for days at a time. Didn’t you think that I would have come over here to check on you? You never answered the door, not even once. I know you haven’t been at work because I eventually tried at ONE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING. Why would you LIE? To my FACE?”

I press myself against the wall as much as the curves of my frame will allow. The man that I had once wanted to be so close to is now someone my body naturally wants to get away from. How? How did this happen?

“I’m not cheating on you,” I whisper again, afraid and guilty that the statement is half untrue. But I love YOU. I always have, since the moment we met.

Liam looks conflicted for a moment and one of his hands drops. He brushes his knuckles across my cheek slowly, gently, “I want to believe you. I really do, but I need the truth. You have to tell me everything.”

His brown eyes search my green ones as I swallow around a lump in my throat.

Do I lie? Do I sell out Head Rush? Can I betray Haz like that?

“Brooklyn… I’m not going to hurt you,” he shakes his head slowly, another tear escaping his eyes. “I just want to know the truth.”

My mind is racing and with each second of silence, I can feel my thoughts become more and more jumbled.

He’s expecting an answer. I need to give him one.

The word leaves my lips as a whisper before I can stop it, “Trifecta.”

Understanding floods Liam’s eyes and his face contorts in pain. Suddenly, his hands violently slam against the wall and he pushes himself back, raking his fingers through his hair.

My perfect man… disheveled because of me, broken by one word that came out of my mouth.

This is all my fault.