Because it had been a long time coming.
“Thank you so much.”
I furrowed my brow. “For what?”
She sniffled. “For doing what you did. For leading those assholes away. Had you not, they might’ve—”
I gripped her hair softly. “Never, on my life, would I have ever let something happen to you. Never. Not while you’re around me. Do you hear me?”
She nodded softly. “I just can’t help but think that this is all my fault.”
“If I could shake my head fervently right now at you, I would. This isn’t your fault. None of this would’ve taken place had those assholes just stayed at home. Passed right by us instead of coming into the parking lot. They started this. Not you, and certainly not me.”
She paused. “The police came to talk to me yesterday morning.”
“I’ve talked with them, too.”
“Is everything going to be okay?”
“Once they find those dickweeds and arrest them, I’ll feel even better. But, yes, beautiful. Everything is going to be okay. Thank you for talking with them. I’m sorry I couldn't have been there to support you through it.”
She scoffed. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here since the accident. I made you a promise and—”
“—and my father got in the way. Like he always does. This isn’t your fault. I had a feeling my father had done something, even though my stepmother wouldn’t tell me what he’d done.”
“So they’ve been here for you? Through all this.”
I sighed. “Eh, more or less. I’ve woken up to Cecilia instead of my father. The only time I woke up to the sound of Dad’s voice, he was arguing with her.”
“Arguing? About what?”
I scoffed. “A business trip Cecilia wanted him to cancel.”
Rae rose up, looking into my eyes. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
I shrugged, groaning at the pain. “That’s how he is. Work comes before everything. He thought he was doing everyone a favor by pushing the trip back once already.”
“Your father’s an absolute asshole.”
I chuckled. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“You should tell the doctors what he does to you.”
“By the sounds of it, someone already has.”
Rae blushed, but all I did was laugh. I pulled her back down to my side, feeling her curl around me. Her leg slipped between mine, and it was the closest I’d felt to her in a long time. I drew in a deep breath as my fingertips stroked her arm, sending goosebumps puckering her skin for me to touch.
“It just kinda slipped out. I’m sorry.”
I grinned. “Ah, worse things have happened. I’m eighteen, so there isn’t much people can do now except look into my father. And he’ll pay them off. Like he usually does. Then we’ll go on about our lives and he’ll buy me something out of guilt to make things okay again.”
“So this has happened before? Someone reporting him?”
“Yep. I reported him once.”
Rae sighed. “This is such shit.”
“The way I see it, I’ve got less than a year. Then I graduate and I’m free to go and do as I please. Just need that high school diploma, even if it isn’t enough to get me into a community college or whatever.”