Cinders

~64~ Pieces~2

As soon as I see him completely heartbroken, I lose it. I don't even wait for him to say anything as I wrap my arms around him and bury my face into his chest, and sob.

Taylor immediately wraps his arms around me tightly, holding me as if he never wants to let me go. I can suddenly hear sobs coming from his chest. He's just as happy to see me as I am him.

Taylor isn't a crier; I've only seen him cry once for sure—When mom got hurt last year. I think he might've cried when he saw me in the hospital when I was 15, but I was so out of it that I'm not positive. There's no doubting it now...he's crying.

It kills me even more to see this strong dude broken.

Once I calm down he leads me inside and shuts the door, motioning toward the couch wordlessly. He sits down and I sit next to him. From the looks of him right now, I doubt he can say anything without crying.

"She won't tell me what happened. She just said that it's better if you ended things now. She said you're still a great guy, but she can't be with you anymore."

Tears start falling down my cheeks as I look over at him. He's staring hard at his hands, as if he's trying to set them on fire.

"I'm not an idiot...What happened, Taylor?"

I deserve to know.

He finally looks at me hard, tears filling his eyes again. He shifts on the couch for a moment and then clears his throat.

"I messed up, bud. I got drunk the other night and I messed up. Your mom had every right to break up with me."

I'm so sick of this. I refused to push it with mom, because her heart was so broken that I didn't want to make it worse—But he owes me an explanation.

"You cheated?"

Taylor says nothing as he stares back at his hands...confirming my theory.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes. What did we do wrong? Was it because I stole that car?"

Shit! Was this all my fault?!?! Maybe he was sick of always dealing with a delinquent.

He suddenly spins around quickly and faces me. His face is so pained that it takes my breath away. He looks like I just ripped out the rest of his heart. He cups his hands around my cheeks, making me look at him.

"You listen to me, Liam Alexander, and you listen good...This is NOT your fault. DO YOU HEAR ME?!?! This is NOT your mom's fault. This is MY fault....I love your mom more than anything else in this entire world. I will never, EVER forgive myself."

He has to stop talking, because he's about to start crying again. Once he gains back his composure, he continues.

"Does your mom know you're here?"

"No—She's gonna kill me. I told her I was running down to get a soda from the gas station...Took a cab here instead." I grin a little and roll my eyes. I'm always doing something stupid.

He sighs as he gets out his phone. I can only assume that he's texting mom, telling her I'm here. I'm dead.

"Where is your mom staying?" He asks. He sounds too casual. He's trying too hard to act like he doesn't care. It's probably driving him nuts not to know where she is.

"With dad. She was gonna stay with Megan for a while, but they had an opening in the complex we used to live in. She's gonna take it. It's not ready for a week, so she's with dad until it is."

He's silent as he processes what I said, and after a minute let's out a sigh.

"Wanna get a pizza while we wait for your mom?" He asks, sounding like he has a little life in his voice again. From the looks of him, I doubt he's eaten, or showered, in days. I didn't have the heart to tell him I had already eaten.