Page 89 of Rumi: The Hawthornes

I was halfway across the room from her, and she still flinched so hard that her hands flew up to cover her face.

Suddenly I couldn’t breathe.

“I’d never hurt you, No,” I choked out, staring at her in horror.

“I know that,” she replied, straightening.

“Sugar, just tell me who hurt you.”

I was desperate. Begging.

I was no longer angry that she wouldn’t tell me.

I was terrified that she wouldn’t and someone would hurt her again.

She stared at me silently for a long time without speaking.

“Pop.”

“Goddamn it, Nova,” I replied, my voice shaking. “Just tell me.”

I couldn’t believe she still wouldn’t tell me. I was standing in front of her, begging, and she was still evading. Giving me bullshit answers. Didn’t she see how desperate I was? Didn’t she give a fuck that it was killing me that she wouldn’t let me protect her?

Something changed in her eyes, then. Something big. Something I didn’t know how to decipher.

“I’m leaving,” she said calmly. She stepped forward. “Get out of my way.”

“Nova.”

“Just don’t,” she said softly, the words ringing with finality.

“I gave you space,” I blurted, turning as she walked around me to the door. “I didn’t fuckin’ call or text you because you said that’s what you wanted. I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to reach out and nothin’. Not a fuckin’ word. This is what you want? You’re goin’ back to whoever did this? You’re protectin’ them?”

She just stared at me.

“You want me on my knees?” I asked, dropping down. “I’m fuckin’ sorry, okay? You’re my best friend, No. Mybestfriend. Why won’t you let me help you? Let me help you, Sugar.”

“Bye, Rum,” she said quietly. “I’ll call you, okay?”

I watched in disbelief as she left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

I wasn’t sure how long I stayed that way, kneeling in the middle of the room staring at the door. I couldn’t even wrap my head around the fact that me and Nova had gotten to a place where she lied and hid things from me. I knew all of her history and she knew mine. The time when her mom had driven her and her brother around town, wasted out of her mind, while Nova prayed in the back seat that they wouldn’t die. The time when I’d stolen a wrench from my grandpa that had come in a set that my gram had bought him, and he’d searched for it for months but I’d been too afraid that I’d get in trouble for taking it so I’d buried it in my parents’ backyard and never come clean.

We told each othereverythingthat mattered.

This wasn’t how things were going to go. I refused to let her keep me at arm’s length when she was clearly in some kind of trouble. Nova may get pissed and she could despise me if she wanted, but I wasn’t going to just keep my mouth shut, even if I had to point out every single bruise in front of the entire club until someone got the truth out of her.

I got to my feet and threw open the door, hurrying toward the front of the club. I was frantic as I searched for her.

“Auntie,” I murmured, interrupting my aunt Molly’s conversation. “I need your help.”

“What’s wrong, Rum?” she asked, reaching for me. Her hand on my shoulder wasn’t comforting, though. It felt like a shackle. I needed to find Nova.

“Nova’s hurt,” I told her baldly. “Can you come look at her?”

“I saw that shiner she had,” she replied with a grimace. “She said she tripped or something.”

“She didn’t trip,” I muttered, shaking my head. I was still searching the room, but she wasn’t there. She must’ve already gone outside. “She’s got huge bruises. One on her back and another on her thigh.”

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