Page 26 of The Aftermath

“You should have come to me, Angel. To Tamsyn, to any of us for that matter. What the fuck are we here for?” I can see the pain in his eyes. I know I hurt him and I feel so badly about it. Silas pulls me into his arms and holds me against his chest, and everything else just fades away. There’s no past. There’s nothing that can hurt me out there when I’m with him.

When he pulls back, he leads me back over to the couch and sits down, dragging me into his lap. We listen as Tamsyn rambles on about some bitch at school she hates. Rylan threatens to kill her if it will make Tamsyn feel better, and we all laugh.

We stay like this most of the day, just talking and listening to Tamsyn and Rylan bicker back and forth. We laugh and giggle, and it’s like everything else falls into place.

As the sun begins to set, we get hungry and decide to head out to find something to eat. Rylan grabs me a light jacket to put on to cover the bandages on my wrists before we go.

We end up at the local diner having breakfast for dinner. No one seems to mind all that much as they chow down the food. That’s when I see Silas’s eyes narrow and his jaw clench. I glance over to see what it is he’s looking at and notice the mayor. I look back at Silas, but his eyes are hard and set on the man.

“You okay?:” I ask him. He nods his head.

“Fine. You’re staying with me tonight.”

“I don’t want to go home,” I tell him.

“You’re not.” I nod my head, agreeing with him, as we finish our food. After we pay and head outside, we all break up and leave. Silas is silent on the ride back to his house. I don’t like the idea of being there, but he isn’t going to let me go that easily.

We pull into the driveway when he turns to face me, ready to say something.

“What is it?”

“Stay away from my dad,” he says.

“I don’t talk to your dad, Silas.”

“I know and we’re going to keep it that way,” he informs me.

“What’s this about?” He shakes his head, running his hand through his hair.

“You want to talk about things now? Then tell me what the fuck you were thinking when you cut your wrists, Angel.” I take a deep breath and blow it out.

“I was having dinner with my mom and dad. Things got out of hand. I was frustrated and didn’t know what to do. I left and took off walking. My head wasn’t in a good place, Silas. I found myself sitting there just wanting it all to go away,” I admit to him.

“All of what? I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me, baby, and believe me, I want to fix it.”

“It’s not that easy, and I can’t tell you right now. I will, Silas, just not now.” He seems to think that over for a long minute before he nods his head.

“I could force it out of you, but that wouldn’t make me any better than whoever hurt you. I’m just sorry, Angel. Sorry, I wasn’t there before. Sorry, I wasn’t there last night.” I start to reach for him, but he shakes his head and climbs out of the car. I reach for the handle and climb out, following him up the steps and inside. His mom is there, smiling at the two of us.

“Angel! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. How are you?” I force a smile.

“I’m good. How are you?”

“Been well. I hope everything is okay,” she says, looking between Silas and me.

“It’s fine. She’s staying here for a few days,” Silas tells her. Her smile is instantly gone.

“What do you mean? That’s against the rules, Silas,” she reminds him. I see the look in his eyes, the one that says he’s going to snap.

“You think I give a shit about the rules?” he asks her.

“You should! You weren’t raised to be this way.” He laughs now, and not a good laugh, either.

“There are no rules in this society. Not anymore. Ask your husband. I’m sure he knows all about breaking the rules,” he seers at her before grabbing my hand and dragging me up the stairs with him. We make it up to his room, and he slams the door behind us. I’ve never been in Silas’s room before, but if I had to guess what it looked like, this would be it. He’s painted the walls a deep red and mostly everything in here is black. I giggle a little because this is exactly how I could picture Silas living.

“What’s so funny?”

“Your room.”

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