But me?
I’m tense as fuck.
I watch the door.
Sage
Mars is so warm and he smells like safety. I never want to leave his side. I want to stay just like this. My arms and legs draped over him while he holds me like I mean the world to him. It’s nice to mean the world to someone.
It’s nice to be seen for who I really am.
A smile pulls at my lips and I slide my knuckle across my bottom lip.
I’m snapped from my happy thoughts when I hear a crash in the other room. Mars was visibly tense after he locked his bedroom door, but now he’s wound so tight he might snap. As long as I’m beside him, I feel safe. I know his dad is a dick, and I know he worries about what I think, but I don’t care. His dad is probably just as horrible as my mother.
It’s one of the things we have in common. Somehow we manage to paint our gray world with bright colors and it doesn’t matter if anyone else likes it.
The floor outside the bedroom door creaks and Mar’s fingers press harder against my shoulder like he’s bracing for impact. I rub his chest, painting invisible loops on his smooth skin. I hope I can give him the same bravery he gives me.
There’s something about being with Mars that makes me feel like I can conquer the world.
The knob turns and his eyes dart to the door. It doesn’t budge but his dad pushes against it then says, “Boy, you got ten seconds to unlock this door before I come through it.” His voice is deep and gravelly.
Mars’s Adam’s apple wobbles and in the next second he’s on his feet. I sit up in bed, watching tight wedges of muscle flex in his back as he stalks to the door. When he unlocks and opens it, he blocks his room from view so his dad can’t see inside.
“Sorry, Dad.” I hate the way his vibrant crimson aura seems muted now. I see myself in him and my heart aches.
“This is my fucking house. You don’t lock doors in my house. Understand?” I can’t see his face, but I can hear the bitter anger in his voice and it makes my stomach turn into a mass of knots.
“Yes, sir,” Mars mutters.
“Are you hiding something in there? If you brought meth into this goddamn house, boy…so help me I will knock your worthless ass out.” His voice trembles under the weight of fury and I draw my shoulders up. It’s instinct whenever I hear shouting. It makes me want to vanish.
I can’t do that now though. Not when Mars so desperately needs strength.
“I’m not doing meth or anything else, Dad.” I know Mars is being truthful. He told me about his fuckup in the past and how being thrown in jail straightened him out for good. It’s more than just words though. I see it in the way he works his ass off and goes to school. He’s not who he used to be.
“Bullshit,” his dad seethes. He pushes against the door but Mars stands strong. “Move your skinny ass before I put you through the fucking wall.”
The way he speaks to Mars makes my skin crawl. I can’t handle the way his words burn my ears anymore. Mars doesn’t deserve that shit.
I’m on my feet and moving across the small stretch of floor when the bedroom door flies open, smacking against the wall with a bang. Words fly out of my mouth the moment my eyes meet the tall, bulky bully. His gaze sweeps the room and then he sees me. I’m too pissed to be scared right now. “Who the hell do you think you are, talking to him that way?” I blurt.
His eyes are green and narrowed and his dark hair is disheveled making him look even meaner, if that’s possible. He blinks rapidly as he takes a step closer to me, then another until I can smell the stale liquor on his breath.
He stares at me like he sees a ghost or something. He doesn’t move anymore, like the sight of me halts his footsteps. Mars shoves his body between us.
“Dad, back off,” he says through clenched teeth.
“What the hell?” His dad mumbles the words but I hear them. I expect him to fly off the handle. I’m ready for chaos to ensue, but it never happens. Mars’s dad is stuck. He blinks his green eyes at me then Mars.
“I-I gotta go. I gotta get the fuck out of here. I want her—whoever she is—out of my house when I get back, Mars!” Each hurried step he takes makes the floor tremble until he’s out of the front door.
It’s not until Mars hears his dad’s car start outside that his shoulders relax. “What the fuck was that?” He says it more to himself than to me.