Page 3 of Four Times Forever

Mrs. Thornbread's mouth dropped open. Her loose skin jiggled and her eyes went black. Seconds later the whites of her eyes glowed red and her lips trembled in almost the same way Lily's did. Good. I didn't regret one second.

No one hurts Lily.

The room quietened around me, every aspect of it blended into one big black blur and it was just me and Mrs. Thornbread. She was just as guilty as Terry in my eyes. This old...this is still Lily's mother, don't go there.

I swallowed a breath and straightened up, the deafening pounding in my ears setting me off balance. She should have been kissing Lily's feet; instead, she had the nerve. Lily owed her absolutely nothing. To think, I only saw her as a victim before this.

Poor, sweet, Mrs. Thornbread. The way Lily spoke of her, it was as if Terry Thornbread was the monster and she was just too weak to defend herself.

And he was the monster. But so was she.

What kind of mother looks at the daughter who stood by her side, despite not having a mother who stood by hers, and spits such venom at them? Doesn't even utter a thank you. And proceeds to bash what she holds dear and calls that daughter a whore. What did Lily do to deserve any of the things her parents put her through? Who fights in her corner for her? Who stands up for Lily?

I do. Damn it, that's who.

Lily doesn't have to fight these battles on her own anymore. She doesn't have to carry all the pain inside her, locked away to eat away at her. Lily doesn't have to grin and bear it. I'll fight for her.

My shoulders shook as I fought the rage that wrestled my body for control. The result? My own tears, like acid disintegrating my eyeballs.

"When that old fucker walked out on you, Lily didn't have to come back to you. You brought her into hell and left her there. She could have done the same to you. But she didn't. She came back for you. SHE did. Not Terry!" I growled. The sound of his name turned my stomach. "You know what your precious husband did to that beautiful, selfless woman?" I pointed in the direction of the door through which Lily left.

"That's enough!" A firm hand grabbed my shoulder and the commanding voice got lost in the gargle of my thoughts. Pulling away, I rocked forward, almost toppling onto Mrs. Thornbread, but I caught myself.

She screamed. "Get him away from me!"

"Oh, shut up!" I tossed my head. "You were better when you weren't speaking. At least none of us could hear the stupid shit in your head. Just how ungrateful are you? Everyone is giving you the world and you're hanging on to that...that dilapidated, tattered man. What is wrong with you?"

Her frail arms wrapped around her tiny body and I could almost hear the bones clicking and clacking against one another. For a moment, I wondered if I'd gone too far.

But the alcohol and my fury played a blasting reel inside my head, loud and saturated, of memories. I remembered every single day Lily had dedicated to this woman since I had stumbled into her life. I recalled the abandonment that broke Lily as this woman allowed Terry Thornbread an almost permanent residence in her children's lives, until we...we. Shivers rattled my blood.

I turned into a cloud of steam at the seconds-ago memory of Lily's pain.

This was not enough.

She needed to hear it. And if no one else was going to say it, I would.

Chapter 3

Lily

My legs were shaking, and yet I was frozen, staring at the back of Ryan's deranged head. He was deaf to my screams. I had been yelling at him and begging him to stop for the past several minutes. It felt like he had been going on forever. Matt, Ethan, and Eric had tried to grab him, shut him up, pull him the fuck out of the room, but he was immovable.

My mother was shaking like she had wandered onto the snow-covered mountains barefoot, in nothing but a tank top and booty shorts. A nervous breakdown was imminent, and we had just got her back. I wasn't losing her again, damn it. She might be a thorn in my side, ungrateful, and neglectful, but she was also vulnerable. And she was my mom. I had been taking care of her for months, waiting for her to return to us, unsure if she would. All this anger, screaming and shouting, invading her personal space, the insanity, could cause her to run away again.

Enough was enough. I didn't know what the hell was wrong with Ryan. I had been understanding, but you'd think he was the one who was kidnapped with a gun to his head, or his skull that was almost bashed open. This was unacceptable now. I knew he loved me. And I knew he was defending me. But this was not the way.

Stepping forward, I reached up and grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him away, out of my mother's personal space. He wheeled around and shrugged me off him. I went flailing backward after catching my heel on someone's boot. Together, Matt, Ethan, and Eric reached in to keep me from landing on my ass. I looked up into his crazed, bloodshot eyes and saw my father.

But he didn't see me. Darkened, glazed-over eyes turned away from mine and back to my mother.

"I'm going to knock him out," Ethan grunted. Eric straightened his shoulders to follow behind. Tears stung my eyes hotter when I reached out to stop them.

"You okay?" Matt asked. His veins were strong in his forehead, cheeks straining against the muscles beneath his skin. Matt's blue eyes searched my face, and I nodded before looking at Ethan and Eric, making sure they didn't start kicking off as well.

"Please." I reached out and grabbed Eric's arm. He took a breath when he saw the worry in my eyes and pulled Ethan away from Ryan.

But Ryan couldn't care less about how I felt right now. Chills left tremors through my body at the thought that Ryan wasn't even here with us anymore. It was like Terry's ghost had consumed him, found a way to terrorize my life even in death.

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