Page 72 of The Right Kind of Wrong

“It's not for your sake, Hannah. It’s for my own. I don't want to hate you but, I really don't like you. You're a bitch; selfish and treacherous and sick. I know everyone thinks I'm the disappointment of the family, but what you all don't realize is that I'm ashamed of all of you.”

Saying everything I was saying wouldn't change a thing. I knew that. However, they were things I needed to say; things I'd kept inside for years. It wasn't good to keep things bottled up; I refused to do it any longer.

“Well, you can't choose your family,” Hannah said. There was guilt there somewhere, it was palpable in the way her usually unfazed expression had changed. Maybe a loving sister was there somewhere. “Are you done now?”

I sighed, ignoring the bit of pain I felt. Even if she did feel something she'd never show it. “Yeah. I'm done.”

She turned around and walked towards the door.

“Hannah,” she stopped in her tracks when she heard me utter her name. “Whoever you think I was with, it's true.”

My sister stiffened, turning slowly around with dread covering her features.

“What are you implying?”

“I'm not implying. I'm confirming your suspicions, Hannah.”

Her throat visibly moved as she swallowed, her gaze traveling behind me and towards the window. I half expected her to say something, curse or yell, but she said nothing and simply walked away.

***

Sleep was barely starting to take over when the door to my bedroom opened quietly. All day Nathan had spent away and other than a few text messages we hadn't been able to talk much.

It wasn't even past midnight but I was so exhausted that I hadn't been able to stay up waiting for him. He looked stressed, like he had been running his hands through his hair several times.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said softly, taking off his shirt. I hummed in response, feeling far too tired to even speak. He chuckled, removing his pants and only leaving on his boxers before climbing into bed with me.

Nathan pulled me into his arms, nuzzling my neck and taking a deep breath.

“How did it go?” I asked, my voice laced with sleep.

He shook his head, placing a kiss on my forehead before he cupped my face and kissed me soundly.

“Let's not talk about that, hm?”

By the sound of his words, it was clear that things didn’t go as he had expected. “Tell me,” I asked of him even as I struggled to keep my eyes open.

“We can talk about it tomorrow, okay? You're barely awake.”

“If it's bad news it's better that way, maybe I won't remember,” I stated.

He laughed, shaking his head. “How about you just let me hold you?”

I gave him a small smile and promptly closed my eyes, falling asleep in his arms without any trouble at all.

The next morning I woke up to the feel of a hand running through my hair and lips pressed on my forehead with a tender kiss. Exhaustion was still winning, however, and my eyes remained closed for a long time.

Nathan didn't complain and did just as he'd said the night before; he held me.

“It was a long day yesterday,” I groaned.

“For me too,” he said quietly. I opened up one eye and saw him smiling down at me and even though it was sincere, it didn't meet his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept much at all.

“I'm pretty sure Hannah knows about us,” I whispered.

Nathan sighed, running a hand over his tired face. “Jenna's family knows now too. I didn't want to bring you into this, but I had to tell her dad if he's going to represent me during the divorce.”

“It's okay,” I attempted to soothe him. “I understand. What did they say about it? Is there any way of going about it without another world war breaking?”

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