Page 17 of Sweet Anarchy

Zayn gives me a smile, his eyes watching me carefully. It's the reassurance I need right now, the strength to hold on and not break down at this clusterfuck of a situation.

"You're allowed to be yourself, Rylee. But these are your stepbrothers," Gareth argues.

"Hold up," Asher interjects. "You're not pinning this all on Rylee. We're all equally guilty here, but she's the only one copping shit for it."

Gareth shoots a look at Asher. "You're in trouble too, Asher. Don't think you aren't."

Asher rolls his eyes. "Right. Because I haven't always gotten special treatment, while Rylee got made out to be some stranger in our house. We're not doing anything wrong. Just because it doesn't fit your ideologies, doesn't mean it's wrong. It's not incest or anything."

"What will people say though?" Mom says weakly.

"Who gives a fuck?" Both Asher and I answer at the same time.

Blake holds his hand up. "Look, at the end of the day, these are our circumstances. You don't have to agree, but you don't get a say in it. Like I said, if you want us out, we're all going. Otherwise, you're just going to have to get over it. We have other pressing matters to deal with."

Mom's eyes light up, suddenly remembering my injuries again. "Yes, Rylee… care to explain why you ended up in the hospital?"

"Yeah, I was at the bar," I snipe. "I was with my other boyfriend and my friends. And right now, he's lying unconscious somewhere while my friends are hurt."

The thought of Chuck hits me hard, the emotions of the whole conversation suddenly weighing down on me like a ton of bricks. I don't even have time to process it or stop it, before a sob rips from my throat and I start crying loudly.

The tension in the room shifts almost instantly. Mom and Gareth watch in shock at my unusual meltdown, while Asher, Zayn and Blake rush over to me.

"It's okay," Zayn murmurs quietly. "It's all okay."

"Look what you did!" Asher snaps towards our parents.

It's so ridiculous that I let out a random laugh before returning back to crying. I think I've officially lost my mind.

Blake walks over to his Dad, muttering something to him. I don't catch what he says, but Gareth hesitates for a moment before motioning to Mom to follow him and the two of them leave the room. When they have disappeared fully, Blake walks over, kneeling down in front of me.

"Hey… are you okay?" he asks.

I suck in a shaky breath, wiping my eyes. "I think so…"

Asher is squeezing my hand on one side, while Zayn sits on the other, his hand perched on my leg. I can feel Asher almost trembling and I look over to check on him.

His face is so tense, his jawline hardened as he stares forward.

"Asher?"

He relaxes, looking at me. "I'm just really mad. I'm fine."

I nod. "Okay."

Zayn leans back, his fingers tightening around my leg. "Well, this was not on my bingo card today. At least it's all out in the open now."

"That's not a good thing," I mumble.

He gives me the side-eye, grinning. "Of course it is. One less problem to solve down the track. We're just going through them, one by one."

"Stop being so optimistic. It's giving me a headache," I taunt.

He leans over, kissing my cheek. "Chill, pretty girl," he says playfully.

Blake glares at him casually. "He's right. We need to focus on other things at the moment, and at least we don't have to worry about hiding anything. It was bound to come out sooner or later."

"Later would have been better," Asher groans. "They have the worst timing."

---