Page 50 of If You Stayed

“Gabriel…”

“Kierra. Tell me now. Did he force himself on you?”

Her brown eyes reappeared and they were dripping with the truth that she seemed scared to say out loud. She broke her stare from mine and nervously fiddled with her hands. She slowly nodded. “I just went into that room to get away from the crowd, and he followed me. I didn’t even know it was his room, but when I tried to leave, he blocked the door and tried to kiss…”

More tears from her.

More rage from me.

My hands gripped the steering wheel. “All right,” I stated calmly.

She placed a hand on my forearm. “It’s fine, Gabriel. I’m okay.”

“He forced himself on you,” I sniped, my anger not for her, but for Brett.

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” she lied.

“You’re not. You’re drunk and sobbing because that fucking asshole tried to take advantage of you, Kierra. That’s fucked up.”

“You showed up in time. You made sure nothing happened. So, it doesn’t matter.”

“It does!” I shouted, slamming my hands against the steering wheel. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. “It fucking matters, Kierra.”

“I know,” she whispered, her voice shaky. “I know.”

When I opened my eyes, I saw how scared she’d been. I reached over and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around me tightly and held on as if she’d never let go.

“Thanks for saving me, Gabriel.”

“Always, Kierra. Just make me a promise, all right? If you ever need me, you’ll call me. I don’t care if we’re in some kind of fight over something big or little. No matter what, we have to be there for one another, all right? We have to look out for each other. You can call me no matter what, and I can call you no matter what.”

She wiped away her falling tears and nodded slowly as she tugged on the sleeves of her shirt. “Okay. I promise.”

***

Kierra

When I showed up to school on Monday, Brett had two black eyes. Gabriel had swollen knuckles. We never talked about what happened. We never talked about that party again. Yet, I figured that was when it began to happen for me. That was the moment I’d begun to fall in love with my best friend.

11

Gabriel

Present Day

After a day that did not go as planned, I lay on my couch around ten at night, sipping a beer as I watched a movie and Bentley lay on top of my feet, snoring. My eye still stung from that damn punch.

My phone, set beside me, dinged. I lifted it up, surprised to see a text message from an unknown number.

Unknown:Are you still alive? Do you have a concussion?

I sat up slightly.

Gabriel:Kierra?

Kierra:Yeah. Sorry. I had your business card with your number on it. I just wanted to make sure you were alive.

I saved her number instantly.

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