Their shoulders sag, disappointment and worry evident, as they pull seats closer to us and settle in.
Max’s gaze heats as it swings right back to me. “You should know, her phone has banner notifications. I know for a fact that her parents saw a few along the lines of ‘It’s not what you think.’ Did you fucking cheat on her? Because I’m beginning to see a fucking pattern here.”
I cover my face with my hands, groaning before I look back up, meeting his gaze. “The only pattern is that Alora is a psycho bitch who has it in for us. She fucking snuck into Beau’s house and found me passed out upstairs.”
“What?”
Beau nods. “It’s true. I caught her up there after Daphne ran out. Alora had her phone all set up to record and everything. She was going to do who knows what with him, and make sure she got it on video—I assume to taunt Daphne with it, because nothing else she’s done so far has worked to keep these two apart for more than a nanosecond.”
“That cunt really has it coming to her.” Scarlett crosses her arms in front of her.
Xander’s gaze slides to Scarlett with one brow raised, but he says nothing.
“So, Daph walks in and sees what?” Max aims his stare at me.
I throw my hands up. “I’m not completely sure, but it’s obvious she didn’t know I was passed out. Who knows what she saw or what Alora said. Daphne wasn’t even supposed to be there—she said she was going to stay at home. Worked out nicely for Alora that she changed her mind, though. Mission accomplished; no recording necessary.”
Xander shakes his head. “I wish we’d realized what was happening when she took off out the door.” He puts an arm around Scarlett, who is shivering. None of us thought to grab jackets when we left. He sighs. “I’m still not sure we could have stopped her. She took off like a bat out of hell in that little car.”
“So, then what?” Max eyes each of us. “You went out searching for her?”
“Of course we did. We’ve been driving around for hours.” Scarlett’s face blanches. “I saw the look on her face before she got into her car. She was destroyed. Again.”
A strangled sound works its way up from deep in my chest. “Fuck.”
Just then, the doors Max had pointed out earlier swing open and Daphne’s parents come out. All five of us stand up, anxious.
“Mr. and Mrs. Davis—” I take a deep breath when I see the obvious scowls on their faces at my presence. “Is she okay?”
Mr. Davis puts his hand on his wife’s shoulder, drawing her against his side as his gaze slides over our group. “We hope so. She has a bump on her forehead where it hit the window and some bruising on her chest and hips from the seat belt. Her car is totaled. The entire front end crumpled when she went into a ditch out on Route 11. She might have some whiplash, too—we aren’t sure yet. Frankly, we’re lucky it wasn’t worse.”
Mrs. Davis sniffs a little, wiping a finger under her eye. “She said she was trying to shut off her phone.”
Daphne drove into a ditch because we’d kept texting her, kept calling her. I take a steadying breath, but when I exhale, it shudders out of me. I want to throw up.
“She’s sleeping now. No visitors allowed until tomorrow morning.” Her mom’s eyes seek me out specifically. “Micah, we’d appreciate it if you’d not come by immediately. I don’t think she wants to see you. She’s very upset. Rightfully so, from the text messages we saw.”
“It’s not what she thinks.”
Her dad takes a menacing half step toward me, his jaw twitching. “You won’t see her until she says she’s ready. Is that clear?”
My lips part, and I stare at him. In my peripheral vision, Scarlett’s hand flies up to cover her mouth where it gapes open.
The tips of my ears feel like they’re on fire. “I didn’t do what she thinks I did. I was passed out.”
Beau clears his throat. “He’s telling the truth.”
“Look, she’s upset right now and as her parents, it’s our job to protect her from things that hurt her. We’d like to request that you give her space to recover—at least until we can sit down with her and discuss things.”
I swallow hard, my gaze moving between the two of them. “Mr. and Mrs. Davis, I really care for your daughter. Please—” I ignore the wide-eyed expressions of my friends at my admission.
“Micah, I hope you understand that for us, she comes first. Until she asks to see you, you should respect our wishes—hers and ours.”
“She really said she didn’t want to see me? I would never hurt her.” I glance down at my hands to realize I’m so unnerved they’d think that way about me that I’m trembling. “If you want to know who’s really hurt her, I’ll tell you.” I try to swallow, but it gets stuck in my throat. I need for them to believe me. “I’ve always protected her. Always.”
Beau grips my shoulder. “Come on, man. We can’t see her right now anyway.”
Scarlett scoots away from Xander to wrap her arms around me, trying to offer me what comfort she can.
Pain lances through me as I realize her parents aren’t going to budge.
My gaze connects with each of theirs and I silently plead for them to see the truth.