Page 78 of Win You Over
When Finn clicks again, a video starts playing. It’s old and grainy. The phone that took it dated, but it’s clear enough to make out what’s happening.
My stomach roils at the images before me.
A young boy, with strikingly similar features to Holden, is on the floor, dead leaves and twigs around his prone body. A group of boys surrounding him, two of them holding him down.
“If we’re going to welcome the charity cases into our fold,” Finn starts, waving the remote at the screen. “I figured it’s best we got to know them a little better.” His voice is bitter and so far from that of my best friend, it breaks my heart.
He turns up the sound on the screen, and it crackles through the speakers.
“Beg and we’ll let you go,” the voice on the screen demands. The kid’s face is out of the shot. Whoever was filming kept the camera pointed at Holden.
Next to me, Holden stiffens. His hand that was holding mine drops. His skin is pale, his chest rising and falling frantically.
“Turn it off,” I yell. “Fucking hell, Finn! Turn off the fucking video!”
Around us, people are staring, some of them snickering at Holden, others clearly unamused at Finn’s antics as they shake their heads his way. But no one makes any effort to turn off the horror in front of us.
Finn pauses the video, the screen freezing over Holden’s face twisted into a grimace. The room falls eerily silent.
“See, Holden, when yourboyfriend,” he spits the word before continuing, “told me about all that ugly scarring on your body, I needed the full story. It took a little internet research to find an obituary for your dear old dad and then a little bit more searching until I found your friend, Lucas. He was more than happy to turn this video over for a price.”
There is so much to digest in that sentence. So much I want to ask.Why, being one. But my mind snags on the first words and what Finn has implied.
I look at my boyfriend, shaking my head vehemently as he takes a step away from me. Betrayal lining his features.
“I didn’t, baby, I promise. I would never.”
Holden turns away, his gaze set on the man I call my friend, and then he’s running, people stepping aside as he barrels into Finn, his fist connecting with the other man’s jaw.
Someone yells ‘fight’ just as Finn takes a shot at Holden. Finn is too drunk to put up much of a fight, and Holden gets in another punch. I’m moving forward to get between the two of them when I catch the glint of a knife in Finn’s hand.
“Holden,” I yell as Finn launches towards him.
My body comes between them, colliding with Finn’s, and there’s this awful sensation in my side. Heat and pain, but the kind that burns too fucking much to be anything but bad news. I trip backwards, my mouth falling open when I look down at the red blossoming on my shirt, the knife sticking out of my lower abdomen. “Dad” is engraved into the handle and I wrap my hand around it, feeling the solidness in my palm. My mind races, catching on the thought that this can’t be happening because Holden’s knife is in his bag in my room. This must be a dream. I’m dreaming. But why does it hurt so badly if it’s not real?
Finn’s eyes widen, his hand covering his mouth. Static fills the room, and my vision blurs.
“Fuck. I didn’t mean to,” Finn wobbles, stepping away with his hands up. “If you’d just seen me, Remi, this never would have happened. God, I’m so sorry. Fuck!”
I ignore him, trying to find the only person who truly matters. But my legs are too weak and my head feels fuzzy, like it’s full of cotton wool.
“Holden?” I think I say his name. Tears are running in waves down my cheeks when my knees hit the floor.
Then there are soft hands on my face and someone is calling for help and my head spins making me dizzy. So I close my eyes and hope when I wake up, that this was all a big, bad dream.
Chapter 29
Holden
Theo’s hand runs softly over the back of my head, his hold on me tight. But it does nothing to quell the silent sobs wracking my body.
“I’m sorry, Hold,” he apologises over and over, like this is his fault. He has nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one to blame. It wasmyknife, and I was the one too weak to stop Finn from hurting Remi. Once again, all the shit in my life is because ofme.
Maybe being with someone as amazing as Remington – calling him mine,lovinghim – maybe that reality was never meant to be.
Theo shifts his weight beneath me, the old bed creaking with the movement.
“Do you want to eat something?” he asks and I shake my head.
