My brows furrow as I cut myself off. Shay isn’t screaming at me at all, but at Ben and fuck, he looks absolutely wasted. I’ve never seen him like this.
“I’ve been worried sick,” she yells, getting no reaction out of Ben in the slightest. “Where have you been?”
He burps and nearly makes himself sick as I walk through the living room. “What’s going on here?” I question slowly as Ben’s eyes snap up to mine and go wide.
“Don’t even get started,” Shay demands, pointing a finger at me “You’re in a world of trouble but I have other things to deal with first. Go down to your room, I’ll come and speak with you once I’ve handled this.”
I give her a tight, apologetic smile and nod before turning for the hallway.
“YOU,” Ben yells, making me glance back over my shoulder to see him falling off the couch and onto his knees as he drunkenly points at me. He tries to stabilize himself against the coffee table but tumbles forward and catches himself against the floor. After righting himself, he stares back at me, eyes glassy and filled with regret. “This is all your fault.”
“What?” I demand, looking back at Shaylee to see the same perplexed expression on her face as she glances between me and Ben. “What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything.”
“If you never came here, I would have been fine.”
“BEN,” Shay shrieks in horror, wide-eyed as she gapes at her husband. Hurt pours through me but I don’t have a moment to think on it as Shay glances back at me, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, sweetie. You know he didn’t mean that. He’s just…clearly, he’s drunk too much and needs to sleep it off. You know he loves having you here.”
“I, um…” I start, walking backward, retreating to my room as tears prick my eyes. “I’m going to go…”
“NO!” Ben yells then instantly starts sobbing. “You have to know.”
I come to a standstill, watching him in confusion. “Know what?” I question as Shay continues looking between us, just as unsure as to what’s going on.
“Ben, what are you talking about?”
He looks up again and he breaks. His sobs become loud and uncontrolled while guilt and regret come pouring out of him in waves. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”
“Yo,” a voice says softly from behind me. I glance back to find Blake making his way up the hall and stopping to stand at my back. Clearly seeing something’s going down here. He leans into me and whispers. “What the fuck is going on?”
I shake my head and hold up a hand, blocking his way to stop him from idiotically running into something he probably doesn’t want to be involved in. “I don’t know,” I tell him. “Maybe it’s best we leave Shay and Ben to figure this out.”
“Ya, think,” Blake grumbles.
We go to walk away when Ben cries out. “No, don’t go. I have to tell you. It’s my fault, all of it. You have to forgive me.”
“Forgive what, man?” Blake questions, watching Ben over the top of my head and only now realizing that what’s going on out here is all sorts of fucked-up.
Ben looks up at Blake and devastation has him crushed. He sinks back against the couch with tears on his face, not daring to take his eyes off Blake. The two of them have formed a great friendship over the past two months and I don’t doubt that seeing him like this is silently killing my brother.
Ben’s head sinks into his hands. “It was me. They’re dead because of me.”
My chest tightens as I stare at Ben. My stomach is weighted down with dread and I repeat his words over and over again in my head, wishing that he’s referring to anyone apart from my parents, but who else could it be?
Shay stands like a statue, her face white and staring in horror. “What are you talking about?”
“Rochelle and Jacob. It’s my fault that they’re gone. I thought I could put it behind me but since they showed up the guilt has been eating me alive.”
Shay’s eyes fill with tears. “Tell me you’re lying, Ben,” she begs. “That’s my big sister you’re talking about. Tell me you had nothing to do with this.”
He meets his wife’s heavy stare and slowly shakes his head. “I’m sorry, baby,” he whispers. “I can’t do that.”
I take a hesitant step forward and Blake instantly curls his fingers into the back of my shirt, holding me in place and stopping me from making any rash decisions. My eyes blaze with anger. “What did you do?”
“I…” he cuts himself off, looking away in shame.
I force myself forward, catching myself against Blake’s strong hold. “YOU HAVE THREE FUCKING SECONDS. WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PARENTS, BEN?”
“I GAVE THEM UP,” he yells back at me. “Anton Mather’s came for me and I gave them up.”