Page 110 of Picture Perfect

I’ll fucking kill them first.

"Whatever they've done, I'll fix it," I vow to the silence, to the girl who can't hear me. "I'll burn their world down if I have to."

I can taste the venom of my words, a deadly cocktail brewed from years of suppressed rage and pain. It's a lethal promise, one I intend to keep. She's not staying here, not another night in this hell they've made for her.

"I'll tear them apart," I vow, feeling the beast in my blood wake up, ready to fight, to protect, to destroy. "They think they can play gods with your life? Nah, they haven't met the devil yet."

My heart drums a warrior's rhythm, each beat a call to arms. For her, I'll be the avenging angel, cloaked in shadows, wielding my love like a blade. They've unleashed something in me, something feral and unforgiving. With Snowflake in my arms, I'm not just a boy with scars and a bike—I'm the storm they never saw coming.

"I'll kill them for this. I swear on my life, Snowflake. You're not spending another night in this house of nightmares."

And I mean every word. Because when everything else is stripped away, when the world turns its back on you, love becomes a weapon. And for Addy, I'll wield it without mercy.

I stare into the void of her room, my words still hanging like a mist between us. The silence is a living thing; it suffocates, stretches, until finally, she shatters it with a voice so frail it could crumble to dust. "It won't change anything, Dre."

Her words are a hesitant stream, tainted with fear, as if each syllable is a step through a minefield. "They'll just... they'll call the cops. They'll drag me back here, kicking and screaming." She looks up at me, those green eyes searching mine for something I'm not sure I have.

"Snowflake," I urge gently, trying to coax the rest from her lips.

But then she halts, her gaze snagging on something invisible to me. Whatever she's about to say gets lost, choked by a sudden fear that flickers across her face.

"What is it?" I probe, scanning the room, desperate to understand, to protect.

My eyes follow her line of sight, landing on the shelves cluttered with knick knacks. Porcelain figures, picture frames capturing false smiles, all of it a façade for whatever darkness is eating at her. But there's nothing there I can fight, nothing I can tear down with my bare hands. It's an enemy as intangible as the dread that coils in my gut.

"Talk to me, Snowflake," I whisper, my voice a lifeline thrown into the abyss of her fears. "Whatever it is, we can face it. Together."

The silence returns, heavy and expectant, as I wait for her to let me into the war she's waging within.

"Snowflake, whatever it is, you're not alone," I say, my voice barely above a whisper. The room feels charged with an energy that makes my skin prickle. My arms tighten around her, and I press my face into her hair, breathing in the scent of lavender and something wild, like a forest after rain.

"I promised you. You aren't alone anymore and I'm not going anywhere. I've seen darkness, Snowflake. There is nothing you can show me that will scare me away."

She shivers, but not from cold. It's fear, raw and unfiltered, and it slices through me sharper than any blade ever could. "Dre, I can't—" Her voice breaks, and it's like hearing glass shatter, each piece a fragment of her spirit.

"Shh," I soothe, my lips brushing her ear. "I've got you."

In the silence that stretches between us, a resolve settles over me like armor. In this quiet space, with her trembling against me, a vow takes root deep within my soul. I will be her protector, her avenger. The darkness within me, the part of me that knows pain and rage, rises to the challenge. It's a demon I've wrestled with all my life, but now I give it purpose. Now, it will serve her.

"I promise you, Snowflake," I murmur against the shell of her ear, feeling her pulse flutter like a caged bird. "I'll slay every last one of your dragons. No matter what they are, no matter where they hide. I'll burn down their castles and scatter their ashes to the winds."

Her breath hitches, and she leans back ever so slightly, just enough to look into my eyes. There's a plea there, a silent call for help that I can't ignore. The scars on my skin, the ink that tells stories of my own battles—they all scream in recognition of her pain.

"Even if it drives me mad," I continue, the words a dark incantation, "I'll piece you back together. I won’t let this world break you any further."

The demon inside me smiles, baring its fangs in a twisted grin of anticipation. It's ready to fight, to bleed, to destroy for her. It whispers of redemption, of salvation found in the act of saving another. And I listen, because maybe, just maybe, in protecting her, I can finally escape the shadows that have haunted me for so long.

"I'm not worth it." Her voice trembles, and she searches my face for the truth.

"Bullshit," I spit, my gaze steady. "You're fucking everything, Snowflake. Everything."

She nods, a fragile gesture that carries the weight of her broken trust. "Okay."

"Okay," I echo, and the word feels like a battle cry.

Chapter fifty

Dre

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