Chapter 42
Cassandra
She read the text again, this time out loud so that it would have some real context. Every time she read it though, it didn't make any sense.
“I told your brother. I hope he has the same response as he did with me. Only seems fair. Just remember, Cassandra. You brought this on yourself.”
What did she bring on herself? Cassandra had to figure it out and each time she read it, she was even more confused than the last. She wasn’t confused on what he was talking about and what he had apparently done. That was easy enough to understand. What she didn’t get was how he had found out or why he just all of a sudden did it. There had to be a reason. She had no warning, and something felt off.
Either way though, it was going to make everything more complicated because what they had tried to avoid, had happened. Steven said it would. Nelson had told Luke about them, so Luke had found out in the worst way possible. She hoped that there was a way to mend what was going to be broken between them.
She texted Steven and told him that they needed to talk. She got one back from him telling her that he was about to meet with her brother. Cassandra asked where, got an answer, and when she called, Steven said that he was busy.
“Wait, Steven. He knows…”
Cassandra wanted to tell him what was going on and what Nelson had done, but Steven was already off the phone. She thought he had said something about being at his destination, but she couldn’t be sure. She tried to call again, but he didn’t answer. Cassandra was frustrated. She needed to speak to him and warn him. Steven didn’t know what he was walking into.
Since she knew where they were going to be, Cassandra got in her car and made her way to the meeting spot. Cassandra was convinced that if they could handle it differently, her brother would do the same. It was just going to be hard to convince him of it, that was all.
When she got to the bar where they were meeting, Cassandra got out and she could see that Steven was just getting out of his truck. He might have been there for a minute or two, but thankfully he hadn’t gone in yet. Cassandra hoped that it meant that they would be able to turn it around, somehow. Steven jumped a little bit when she knocked on his window.
“Cassandra, what are you doing here?” Steven didn’t seem to get it and she said that she had to talk to him.
“You know what I am here to do. Don’t you think you should let me do this? You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”
Cassandra assured him that it was nothing like that. She almost didn’t want to tell him. He was so perfect in that moment, ready to go to war for her and Dennis. Cassandra wanted to remember that moment forever. She wanted a lot of things, but then she saw Luke’s vehicle and knew that she had no more time. She had to get it out. It was the whole point of her being there after all.
“Nelson texted me and told me that he told Luke about us. I wanted you to know that Luke knows. I haven’t seen him get out of his truck, but he’s here. Maybe we shouldn’t be.”
Steven refused to even talk about it. He nodded his head and said that whatever was going to happen, needed to happen, and putting it off was only going to drive him crazy.
“It could end badly.”
Steven shrugged. “I already feel bad about it. I would rather get it out in the open and move on from it. Your brother will have to get over it. We are always going to be friends, and I want to stay with you. I shouldn’t have to choose.”
Cassandra nodded, but she looked to Luke coming toward them. “He’s coming, Steven.”
Steven saw that she was nervous, heard the tone of her voice, but didn’t internalize any of it. He seemed to be just fine focusing on Luke. He was coming in fast, and Cassandra was worried about what was about to happen.
“Luke, now wait. You have to hear us out first…”
Luke ignored her, walked right up to Steven, pulled back and hit him so hard that Cassandra winced herself from the sound. It was going down just like she feared it would. How were they ever going to get through it?
Chapter 43
Steven
Luke hit like a hammer. Steven already knew that. He’d wrestled with Luke for years, and even threw a few punches when they were younger. He knew he hit hard, but to feel it in full force was not exactly what Steven had expected. He hadn’t expected his head to snap back and the pain to flood through him so quickly.
If it was only the one, Steven likely would have been able to let it go. He didn’t want to fight with Luke, but he was hit three more times in quick succession, so it was becoming clear that he needed to get himself together. He blocked the next hit, and Cassandra’s voice screeching for them to stop it made him think twice about hitting Luke. He wasn’t trying to hurt him. At that point, he was just trying to make sure that Luke didn’t hit him again. He was hitting like a ton of bricks, and Steven didn’t know how many more times he was going to be able to deal with it.
Luke hit him again while he was trying to convince Cassandra that it was going to be okay. “Now look, Luke. I don’t want you to think…” He was interrupted with another hammer hit across his face. This time, he blocked the right that was coming next, and he pushed Luke back. “I don’t want to fight you, Luke. We are here to talk this through. I don’t want to do…” He was hit again.
It was becoming clear that Steven was not going to be able to talk him out of it. If he tried, Luke wasn’t going to listen to it anyway. Whatever it was that he wanted to say, wasn’t going to be heard. Luke had some energy and anger to get off of his chest. It was higher because of Nelson.
“How could you!”
Steven tried to tell him that he hadn’t meant to hurt him and that everything would be fine. They were still going to be friends. They just had to get past it. Steven had so many ways to say that it was all going to be okay, but Luke just didn’t want to hear it.