Gabriel's Salvation: small town, misunderstood MMC, overcoming trauma, first love romance

17. Chapter Seventeen

Ihead to bed, re-reading Nate”s message again and again. He made me sound like a pathetic little bitch.

I drift off to sleep and wake up somewhere around 4 a.m. Reaching for my phone I unlock it and look straight at the messages. No reply.

I call her phone and she answers on the fourth ring “Riley, it’s Gabe…”” I manage to say before the line goes dead. Strange. I try again this time she answers on the second ring. “Riley, it’s Ga..” again the phone goes dead. Wait, is she hanging up on me? I try one last time and this time she answers straight away. “Gabe, I don”t want to talk to you, goodbye.” And the phone goes dead again. I try again and it goes straight to voicemail, letting me know she”s either blocked me or turned her phone off.

I roll back over and fall back to sleep. When I wake up later I try her again but it”s clear she”s blocked my number as it doesn’t even let me leave a message now; it just tells me the number hasn”t been reached.

“Nate?” I call as I make it to the kitchen. “Nate you in here?” I ask as I bang on the bathroom door. But he”s nowhere to be seen. Getting out my phone I pull up Facebook, hoping to message her on there. But no matter how many times I type in her name I can”t find her. I check out Nate’s profile since I know she was tagged in a picture on his, but the tag appears to have left. Fuck, did she block me from there, as well? Can you even block someone you”re not friends with? I scroll through Nate’s pictures. The ones of him and Princess Isabella, and find her page. There are videos taken today of her, Nate, Riley and a few others all at the beach. I look through the pictures and find one of Riley on her own, sitting and reading under an umbrella. She”s wearing that same swimsuit she wore the first time we hung out. I take a screenshot of it, then crop out the background and assign the picture to her contact.

Next, I crack open a beer and put on the TV. I try to distract myself with my favorite show but keep feeling this irrational annoyance every time I see Jax mother-fucking Teller, and remember how much Riley liked him. How she turned away from me to him that first night we spent together.

I open my phone again and like some sort of stalker, begin scrolling through Isabella”s photos. More pictures at the beach. Pictures of her and Nate building a sand castle, pictures of some guy and girl kissing. A picture of Riley…what that”s not Riley, it looks like Riley, but it”s not. Remembering the fact that the first time I had Riley’s phone someone called Twinnie kept calling, and that Riley mentioned she has a sister. I”m assuming this must be her sister… shit, what was her name? Harley? No. Harpy? Who even gives a fuck?

I continue scrolling, almost giving up till I see a group picture of people building sand castles. I can see Isabella and Nate beside some random guy. Who the fuck is he? Riley”s new boyfriend? He looks kind of familiar, but I don”t know from where. Then Riley and her sister. I zoom in and realize it”s the sister facing the camera and Riley on her knees digging. I zoom in further and notice an unmistakable bruise poking out of the bottom of her swimsuit. Right on her ass. I feel a mixture of pride and guilt knowing she”s walking around with a physical reminder of our night together.

I check the time stamp on the phone. The picture was posted less than twenty minutes ago. I grab my shoes and make my way to my bike. I drive, much faster than legal, to get to the beach. When I get there I make my way down to the beach. I check the phone again. There”s a picture posted of them just a few minutes ago and behind them you can see rocks, letting me know they are on either edge. Shit, which way do I go? Looking left, I notice the end of the beach is far away, out of eyesight, but on the right, it”s not that far, plus there seem to be shops and bars nearby. Taking my chances, I head that way. As I do, I eventually find Riley sitting alone on a rock. I peer around and see the rest of her friends all laughing and squealing in the water, but Riley”s all alone.

“Riley,” I say softly as I reach her, but as soon as she looks up and sees me she tries to slide off the rock. “Fuck!” she gasps before rubbing her hand against her ass.

“Does it still hurt?” I ask as I carefully lift her off the rock and place her feet back on the sand.

“What my ass, my pussy, or my heart?” she snaps back coldly.

“Erm, all three I guess.”

“Yes, they all fucking hurt,” she snaps again, as she turns her back on me.

“Riley please, don”t be like that,” I say, hating how pathetic and whiney my voice sounds.

“Like what? Hurt? Bruised? In pain?” she shouts. “No it’s good, now I have a physical reminder of how much you hurt me every time I sit down”

“Riley, it wasn”t like that. It means you’re mine,” I try to explain but she cuts me off.

“Well, if being beaten and bruised, and being in pain is what it means to be yours, then I”m glad I never was,” she screams as she attempts to push me.

I reach out to grab her, to shake some sense into her, but instead, I see a fist coming towards my face. I move, but not quite quick enough as it just catches me on the tip of my chin.

“I don”t know who the fuck you are, but keep your fucking hands off her!” the asshole from the pictures shouts, “and if I find out you’re the same dickhead that left those bruises on her, you”ll have more than just me to deal with,” he screams in my face.

I swing my fist back ready to attack but Riley jumps in between us both. “Stop it!” she shouts. “You need to leave, now!” Wait, she wants me to leave?!

“Come on Rilez, he says, looping his arm around her shoulders.” I stand glued to the spot as she walks away, nestled up to him like he”s some sort of hero. Is this her new boyfriend? Really? The blonde haired beach bum is who she traded me in for? Sure, he may have muscles but I’m guessing rather than spending the weekends being thrown around the bed, she’d be forced to watch him throw a football instead.

I keep staring at them, but she doesn”t even look back at me once. Fuck her.

“Who was that?” Ava asks as she walks out of the water, past me to where she throws her arms around her boyfriend”s neck.

“It was nothing, just some drunk asshole,” I lie.

“Didn”t look like nothing,” Izzy adds, walking up to us, holding hands with Nate. I see the worry in Nate”s eyes and give a slight nod.

“Hey Ava, how about you and Bella go get some ice cream? My treat.” Nate suggests as he bends down and hands Izzy his wallet.

“What do you want?” Izzy asks sweetly.

“You?” Nate jokes back with a cheeky wink. I can”t help but smile as I watch the way they both look at each other. If true love were a real thing, these two have it.

“I”m serious,” Izzy laughs as she turns bright red.

I can’t help but smile at how sweet and innocent she is. A total contrast to Ava who has taken to being glued to her side. Which I guess makes sense since both their boyfriends have a total bromance going on with each other.

“So am I,” Nate replies with a wink. “But if we”re talking about ice cream, surprise me.”

I watch Izzy, Ava, and the other two boys take off to get us some sweet snacks.

“Okay, so now cut the bullshit, who the fuck was that Riley?” Tucker asks.

“Was it who I think it was?” Harper asks as she stamps her feet.

I just nod. “What did he want?” Nate asks but again I don”t know what to say so I just shrug and look away. I can feel his piercing gaze linger on me.

“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” Tucker asks with a bite in his voice and sounding nothing like his usual playful, carefree self.

“That was my brother,” Nate says as he looks down at the floor, looking almost guilty.

“He”s your brother?” Tucker says in surprise.

“Yeah. Look, I”m not trying to excuse what he did…” Nate begins.

“What exactly did he do to you, Riley?” Tucker asks, looking at me with his brow furrowed.

“It doesn”t matter. He hurt me, that”s all you need to know,” I reply, hating the way they”re all looking at me like some delicate little angel that needs protecting.

“And you”re okay with that, are you? Having a brother that goes around hitting girls?” Tucker questions. I notice that he has his fists clenched and his breathing has gotten a bit faster.

“Woah! It wasn”t like that!” I snap, trying to interrupt.

“You don”t have to lie, Rilez; we”ve all seen that big ass bruise. We’re not stupid,” he growls.

“Okay, so yeah, I guess technically he did give me it,” I admit sheepishly. I can feel the heat setting into my cheeks and I blow out a breath. “But it’s not like you”re thinking; he didn”t hit me or anything, it was kind of done, erm, in a different way,” I admit, feeling the blush deepen. Can this be any more embarrassing? How can I tell them, without really telling them that I liked it? That I wanted Gabe to spank me. Am I crazy?

“A different way? What sort of…. Ooooh, a different way,” Tucker says, now looking embarrassed and red-faced himself.

“Yep.” Harper laughs.

“But still, there”s rough and there”s ROUGH, and that”s goddamn ROUGH. What was he fucking playing at?” Tucker says as he shakes his head and begins to get angry once again.

“Again, I”m not excusing any of his behavior, not at all. Believe me, I wanted to beat his ass when I heard what he did. Heck, he got a punch to the nuts for it,” Nate smirks.

“He did?” Harper gasps.

“Yeah, he did,” Nate confirms. “But what you”ve gotta understand about Gabe is, he”s broken. Like I don”t know if there”s enough glue in all of America to stick him back together kind of broken.”

I know it”s his brother, but hearing anyone talk about Gabe like this fills me with a sense of sadness. Not for myself, but for Gabe. To know this is what people, especially those who are supposed to love him, think about him.

“Don”t get me wrong, Gabe can be the greatest person in the world. I”ve told you about the shit I went through, right?” he asks Tucker, who affirmatively nods at him. Both me and Harper give each other a ‘do you know anything’ look before we both shake our heads.

“Yeah, well, without him I wouldn”t have survived.” Nate sighs and I can tell he isn”t just talking hypothetically. “He saw and did a lot of bad shit, probably more than even I realize.” A visible shudder runs through Nate’s body and he has this glazed over look like he’s remembering things that weren’t pleasant to experience.

“That doesn’t...” Tucker begins but is cut off by Nate. “You don”t understand,” Nate snaps as he tugs on the root of his hair. “He had it hard. Really goddamn hard. I was lucky, I got to know love and kindness with the Jacksons when I moved away. He didn”t get that. He spent his time alone in the house where our father abused us. You can’t even begin to imagine how much that shit fucks you up. Hell, I don’t even know and I was there for most of it,” Nate says as his voice begins to shake.

Again, me and Harper share an ‘oh shit, I don”t think we should be hearing this’ kind of look.

“He’s got a big heart, bigger than anyone I know. And he will put his life on the line to save you if he cares for you. But dude, that side is buried deep behind hundreds and hundreds of walls. He doesn”t know how to love or be loved. Even with me he struggles to connect.” Nate turns his attention to me now, “I”m not saying forgive him, Riley. What he did to you, it is unforgivable. But know that I honestly don”t think he meant to hurt you.”

“Can we talk about something else, I just can”t do this now.” I sigh as I rub at my temple. I can”t stand listening to this. I don”t know what the future holds for me or Gabe but I know that I can”t deal with it now. It”s taking all my energy not to either sit and cry or run after him.

“Of course,” Nate replies with a sympathetic half smile.

“I got ice cream,” Izzy calls and instantly a weight seems lifted from Nate because when he hears her voice, his whole face lights up and he gets a goofy grin on his face.

“And that”s why we”re going to keep all this to ourselves,” I whisper.

“What? Why?” Tucker asks.

I nod my head in the direction of Izzy and Nate who are giggling just a few feet away. “Do you want to be the one who makes either of them choose between the loyalty they have for their best friends and family, and the loyalty they have towards each other?”

“Good point,” Tucker says, nodding in agreement.

“What are you guys whispering about?” Ava asks, as she wraps her hands around Tucker”s waist.

“Well, it wouldn”t be much of a surprise if we told you,” Harper answers without missing a beat.

“My birthday? Aww babe, you”re the greatest,” she says leaping into his arms and kissing him.

“You do realize we”re gonna have to help Tucker find the perfect gift now,” I laugh with Harper as Ava and Tucker begin making out.

“Who are you kidding? You know we would have had to anyway. If we left it to Tucker he”d get her a football or something,” Harper giggles in return as we walk away.