The Last Time (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 7

After the cops did their questioning, they let us go to go back home. Puck and I walked back to the car in silence, neither of us uttering a word.

He started the car and I turned to him.

The look on his face caused a deep feeling of sorrow to well in my chest. He looked as if he had lost everything.

He turned to me and said,"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not stopping that dirty excuse of an Everafter. You should have let me take care of him." he said as he turned the key that had been dangling in the ignition.

I sighed,"Why do you always do that?"

He looked at me in confusion,"You're always thinking that everything is your fault."

"Well I learned it from the best."

I turned towards him and gave him a hard stare,"What does that even mean?"

Puck stared at the steering wheel.

"Did you mean that I'm so unstable that I always think that everything revolves around me? That every single thing that anybody does somehow involves me?. Is that the reason why it took you so long to say that you cared about me? All through high school you hardly said a single word to me and then a few weeks ago, you start telling me that you love me and that you always have, but that doesn't make any sense Puck. What the hell does that even mean Puck?! What does any of this mean?"

He turned back to me and returned my glare,"Now you really do sound like some stuck up, self centered girl. I wasn't saying any of that. I didn't talk to you in high school because I knew that you were hurting. I thought that getting close to you would just make you think of the stupid war and all the people who died. I didn't want to be that reminder for you."

His voice softened as he pulled out onto the road, "You were spiraling this year and I couldn't lose you. I've always loved you. I just wanted you to know that."

I turned to the window and felt a huge wave of guilt flood over me. I had been so mean and judgemental of Puck and that wasn't fair. My heart sank for him as I watched the trees fly by until we made it up the driveway of Granny's house.

When Puck stopped the car, I stepped out and walked towards the front door. I waited for Puck and then held the door open for him as we stepped in.

Good thing I did because I sure as hell wouldn't have wanted to face what I did alone.

Granny was standing on top of the stairs with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

"Where have you two been?"

Puck side stepped me before muttering,"We went to the mall."

As Puck walked to his room, I was left to deal with the furious Granny whose scowl widened as she motioned for me to come sit in the living room.

When I sat down, she said,"I know that you went to go see Mirror. The police called to inform me because of all the ruckus you two made. You lied to me. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

I looked at my lap and shook my head.

"Sabrina, you know better than to do things like this. I'm extremely disappointed in you. You could have been killed."

I lowered my head and Granny sighed, "Go to your room. I want you to think about what you've done and the consequences that could have occurred."

I nodded before standing and making my way to my room.

By the time I got there, all of my anger from the day had bubbled to the surface. I picked up the pillow on my bed and chucked it at the wall. Looking for something else to throw, I took the shoe off of the floor and chucked it out the window. The next thing to go was the picture frame that held a photo of me and Red on our first day of middle school. When the frame hit the ground, the glass shattered.

I let out a scream of agony when a piece of glass bounced back up and sliced my leg. The scream held all of the saddness and despair that I had felt over the years. All of the pain from the loss, loneliness, betrayal, abandonment, anger... it all came bursting out of me in that moment as I collapsed into a heap of tears on the floor.

I heard the shuffling of feet and Puck came rushing in. He stood in the doorway and gave me an up-down. His asses focused on the blood that was gushing out of my leg and then the tears streaming down my face. He called out what seemed like reassurance to Granny and came in, shutting the door behind him.

He lifted me up bridal style and carried my sobbing self into the bathroom. He sat me on the toilet and pulled medical supplies out of my cabinet. Tears continued to run down my face as he cleaned the bleeding wound.

When he finished wrapping the gauze around my leg, Puck helped me over to the bed where he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. He moved us onto the bed so that he was holding my shaking body in his strong arms.

As he rubbed my back, I felt my eyelids starting to feel heavy. I knew that I would fall asleep soon, so I opened my mouth to say the words that I meant to say hours ago.

"I'm sorry."

He kissed my forehead,"I know."