Chapter 18 #2
“Obviously,” Vail rolled his eyes, his cocky, strong attitude back in place. “You think we’d let you move to a mansion and not have us over? We’re gonna wreak hell on those rich bastards.”
Lee nodded, though he wasn’t hiding his feelings as well as Vail, in my opinion, “I can’t wait for them to see us show up on your doorstep. Might cut you down on popularity points with the brat pack,” he added, using a word we called the kids of the insanely wealthy on The Hill.
“Casey Suzanne Cooper!” her mother shouted into the woods from the edge of her property. “I know you all are playing in there! Get in for supper now!”
Casey looked up at me, cradling my face in her hands, and wiped several more tears away with her thumbs. “See, Shaw? It’ll be okay. I promise. We’ll still be together.”
I didn’t trust myself to speak, especially when I noticed Vail watching me carefully, as though warning me not to fight her.
So I just nodded, dropping my head, feeling like a part of my soul was pulling away as she rose to stand.
I held her hand until the last possible second when her fingertips left mine, and she waved to us as she started back to her house.
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay? We can challenge Hunter and his goons to a softball game and totally kick their asses!
” She smirked, thinking of the last time we played them, before turning and running away.
“So, what’s the deal?” I muttered, not looking at Vail when she eventually vanished from sight.
I could sense it. He was going to say something that was going to ultimately piss me the fuck off.
If I looked at his face while he said it, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from punching him right in his nose.
“Shaw, Casey has an opportunity to have a better life-”
“I know that!” I spit. She was going to live in the East End. She’ll be out of Harley, free… and from what I’ve heard about her mom’s new boyfriend, he honestly sounded too good to be true.
“If we keep bringing her back here to spend time with us… what do you think is gonna happen?”
No… he was really going to do this. I vehemently shook my head, clawing at the ground over and over again, my nails leaving gouges in the dirt.
“She won’t ever leave,” Lee said, his voice oddly flat, quite unlike his usual M.O. The traitor. He was going along with this.
“I love her,” I rasped, my throat hurting from all the crying and screaming I’d done.
“I know you do,” Vail murmured gently, and I felt his hand lightly touch my shoe, as though testing me to see if it was okay.
I was okay with them touching me… sometimes .
It just wasn’t the same as when she did it.
Though I flinched a little now, I remained where I was, eyes squeezed shut and fingers digging deeper into the earth. “We all love her,” he said softly.
That I knew.
We all loved her. We all needed her in our own way.
But we also needed each other. That was why we never fought about it.
Sure, we liked to flaunt it when she gave one of us special attention, showing off to the other guys, but at the end of the day, we were a unit.
And they were my brothers. We only worked well when we were together, and now, the most essential piece of our foursome was leaving, and they were letting it happen.
“If she calls, don’t pick up,” Vail said, his voice cracking ever so slightly. “If she writes, throw out the letter. If she tries to visit, we’re busy.” He was speaking as it’d already been decided.
“She wants us,” I groaned, wishing the pain in my chest would stop. “She wants to be with us, I know it. Why do this?”
“Because we’re all she knows,” Vail sounded a little stronger now. “Once she adjusts to her new life and sees what opportunities and security she has there, she might want it more. Who are we to keep her in this shithole with us? That’s not love.”
Yeah, yeah, the whole, if you love something, you let it go, spiel.
I fucking hate that saying. It’s bullshit.
If you love something, you hold onto it for dear life.
There was too much bad shit in this world.
That was why when you found something good, you kept it close, cared for it, and loved it with everything you had.
“I don’t know if I can,” Lee murmured finally. My head whipped up, feeling a bubble of hope. If Lee was on my side, we could overrule Vail. Why did we have to do what he said, anyway?
“It’s gonna be hard,” Vail agreed with him but shook his head. “But think about what is best for her . Not what we want.”
Fuck him… seriously, fuck him. As much as I hated this, as much as it made me feel like I would never be happy again, he was right. What was best for Casey? We all talked about escaping Harley, but it had always been together . Not apart.
“What if…” I wiped my eyes one last time, vowing never to cry again if I could help it. Fuck this feeling. “What if she does come back?”
“Why the fuck would she come back to Harley?” Vail scoffed.
He was lounging in the leaves, leaning on one elbow, while his legs were stretched out before him, crossed at the ankles.
I could swear, this bastard was too good at turning off his emotions.
Yet when he loses it, he was the scariest motherfucker I’d ever seen.
He would change, becoming a monster, but the one that protected.
I would never be afraid of him hurting any of us, even though he has one murder under his belt.
He moved on from it as nothing had happened.
“She could possibly,” Lee agreed with me, also watching Vail. “I don’t know why she would, but maybe if her mom and Matthew separate, or if her new school bullies her to the point where Liza lets her come back here, where she’s comfortable-”
“Liza wouldn’t do that,” Vail said thoughtfully.
“She wouldn’t send Casey to attend school here just cuz the rich kids might give her a hard time.
Besides, she’s tough as shit. They won’t be able to break her down.
” He sounded proud as he spoke of Casey, and I got it.
We were all proud of how she always handled herself.
Tough with assholes, sweet with us… most of the time.
“Whatever, fuck the reason, then,” Lee pressed on, staring Vail down as he leaned toward him, almost like he was challenging him.
I observed, curious to see how this would play out.
“I want to make some things clear… we’ll play along and leave her alone, as hard as it will be, I agree with you.
She needs to take advantage of this opportunity.
But …” he added, holding up a finger, “She comes back to Harley, comes back into our lives, then we get to hold on. No more pushing her away. I wouldn’t be able to handle that. ”
“Me neither,” I added, watching Vail, daring him to disagree with us.
Vail went quiet for a minute, staring off through the trees as though lost in thought before he finally nodded.
“Fine. If she comes back, but only for a real reason… not cuz she’s pulling one of her brat-moments, and being stubborn and angry with us for ignoring her…
” he sighed heavily, and I felt a spark of hope flicker in my chest when he nodded again. “Then we can keep her.”