Did she know?
Has she known the truth all this time, or is she as naïve as me?
I shake my head. “I can’t, not yet.” Finding some strength from somewhere, I get to my feet once more. “I’m sorry, I just need—”
I march toward the door but stop when I’m standing in front of my rescuer, who’s blocking my escape. Her eyes shoot around the room, taking in all the photos of my entire life that surround us. Photos of a man who might not have even existed.
“T-thank you, but I need—”
She thankfully steps aside and allows me the escape I desperately crave.
Voices from the living room carry up to me as I stumble up the stairs and damn near fall head first into the bathroom.
Dragging Toby’s shirt from my body, I step into the shower and turn it on, desperate to wash him and this night from my body.
I’m blasted with ice-cold water for a minute or two that makes my teeth chatter and my skin erupt in goosebumps.
The second it begins to warm up, my knees buckle and I drop like a rock to the floor. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I wrap my arms around them and rest my head on the top. I drag in heaving, shaky breaths as my body begins to warm, although I never stop trembling. I think it’ll take more than some warm water to rid me of the shock of this evening.
I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting there with the water raining down on me, but eventually, there’s a soft knock at the door.
I ignore it, hoping that she’ll leave me alone.
Sadly, though, that’s not what happens. The door opens despite my silence and I squeeze my eyes shut, praying I could just vanish into nothing so that Mum can’t see me bleeding out all over the bathroom.
But when a voice fills the small space around me, it’s not Mum’s.
“Oh my God, Jojo. What happened?” Bri demands.
I don’t look up, I don’t acknowledge her, but I can’t deny that her presence doesn’t make everything a little easier to take.
There’s a thud beside me which forces me to look up, and when I do, I find Bri in the shower, fully dressed—minus her boots—and dropping to her knees before me.
I shake my head once again, unable to even find the words. But she doesn’t need them.
She just gathers me up in her arms, not giving a single fuck about the water raining down from above, and holds me while emotion climbs up my throat once more. I shatter all over again, my mind playing out the events of the evening so vividly it’s as if they’re happening all over again.