2. Scarlett
TWO
SCARLETT
I awake to the sound of pounding against my door. Groaning, I move and hear the sound of a low grunt. I blink hard and see Axel lying beside me, and everything that happened last night hits me. It really did happen, and he's still here.
Light spills into the room, and I realize it’s morning time. We slept the entire night. I love that Axel stayed.
"You okay, baby?" he asks, his lips curved into a smile.
I nod. "Yeah," I whisper.
The pounding on the door gets heavier. "I fucking know you're in there," Noah snarls. "Open this door or I'm going to bust it down."
Axel climbs off the bed and reaches for his clothes; he's watching me intently as I do the same. "It's going to be okay," he promises me.
I give him a shaky smile, hoping he’s right.
Axel opens the door, and Noah's standing there, his eyes wide and filled with anger. "The fuck, Scarlett?" he growls. "What the fuck were you thinking?"
"What?" I ask, my voice small. I've never done well with anger, especially not when being reprimanded.
"You fucking know what," he snaps. "And you?" he snarls, his gaze moving to Axel. "I fucking told you to stay the hell away from her."
I see Berna standing in the hall watching everything, all the while wearing Noah's tee. "A bit hypocritical, Noah, wouldn't you say?"
He lips thin, and he turns and glares at Berna. "Told you to get the fuck out. You wanted to fuck, I gave you what you wanted, it's now time to leave."
Oh my God. What an asshole. "Don't speak to her like that," I say, my voice louder and clearer than before. "God, Noah, why are you such an ass?"
Berna's already gone; she slams Noah's bedroom door. I hate that he's hurt my friend. Despise how angry he is.
"I'm going to ask you again, what the fuck, Scarlett?"
I blink. "What?" I ask, wondering what the hell he wants me to say.
"You're fucking him?"
I cross my arms over my chest. "That's none of your business."
"Get the fuck out," he snaps at Axel. "You're fucking done."
"Noah," he says. "We're brothers," he says, and I can hear the hurt in his voice. Over ten years they've been best friends. Over ten years they've been brothers, and I've ruined that.
"Then fucking act like it. You don't fuck my sister."
Axel nods. "It won't happen again."
I swallow back the pain. How can he throw me aside so quickly? Last night I was his, and now he's acting as though it meant nothing. How could I have been so stupid.
"It's time for you to leave, Berna," Noah says thickly, his furious gaze still firmly on me.
I hadn't even heard her leave Noah's room. My friend looks at me with hatred burning in her eyes. I know there’s no way that we'll ever be friends again. My brother broke her heart, and she's never going to forget it.
"You too, Axel," Noah says, still not taking his eyes off me.
Axel hesitates, I can see the look in his eyes, he wants to say something, but he doesn't, instead, he shakes his head and turns away. Shattering my heart in the process.
"Why are you such a dick?" I ask Noah when everyone's gone. "I mean you've broken Berna's heart and then done the same to me. Why is it always about you? Hmm, why can't you ever take anyone else's feelings into consideration."
His chest starts to heave. "I fucking took you in. I could have let you go into care, but I stepped up. I did what our parents wanted."
I shake my head. "You've done what you've wanted. All their money is gone, Noah. You think I'm stupid? You've spent almost everything they'd left for us. You took the money that was supposed to be for my school. You stole it."
He shakes his head. "I took what was owed to me, I gave up everything to look after you, and for what? For you to act like a whore and sleep with Axel? You fucking stupid bitch, it should have been you that was in that car with them when they died. Would have saved me a fucking headache."
Tears burn my eyes. "What?" I hiss. Never did I think he'd ever say something so cruel to me.
He snarls at me. "You heard what I said. You're a fucking whore, Scarlett, and I'll be damned if you are under my roof."
I stare at my brother, the only family that I have left and wonder what went wrong? How did we end up here?
"Don't worry," I hiss. "I'll be gone within the hour." I'm not going to stay and be treated as though I'm something I'm not. I don't deserve the words he's spewed today, and I certainly deserve better than Axel fucking Beckett.
Noah laughs. "Yeah, I'd love to see where you'd go. You've got no one, Scarlett, no one wants you." He turns away, his laughter taunting me as he moves to his bedroom. He closes his door, and my tears start to fall.
What the hell happened in the space of a night? I finally thought I was happy that I had found someone I could be with, I had my friend, and my brother had thrown a party in my honor. Life was good. Then in the blink of an eye, I've lost everything and everyone.
I pack my bags, taking everything, I own that's of importance along with my clothes, laptop, and documents. It takes me less than forty minutes to have it all packed up. When I exit my room, I can hear Noah's snores coming from his room, and I know he’s fast asleep.
I pack everything into my car, the one that belonged to my mom. It's a 2001 Corvette, it's cute, and I love that it belonged to my mom.
"Scar?" I hear that deep voice, and unlike yesterday when it made my heart race, now it just fills me with pain. "Are you okay?" Axel asks.
I don't turn around as I open my car door. "What do you care? You made your decision, and it wasn't me. You're an asshole, Axel, and I never want to see you again."
I climb into the car and reach for my door to pull it closed. "Where are you going?" he asks, holding onto the door, not letting me close it. This time I look up at him. His eyes wide as he takes in the box on the passenger's seat. "Where are you going, Scar?"
"Away," I snap. "Let go of my door."
He shakes his head. "No, not until you tell me where you're going."
"That's none of your business."
"What about Noah?" he asks, and I can see the pain in his eyes.
Too damn late.
"What about him? I'm nothing more than a whore who's ruined his life."
His eyes widen, and he takes a step back, I pull my door closed and turn on the engine. It's time to get the hell out of here. I can't deal with this shit anymore. I've been hurt enough today, and looking into Axel's eyes any longer will make my anger slowly ebb away, and I can't allow that. He hurt me. I wouldn't have minded had he spoken to me and we talked about what to do next, but instead, he walked away without a care in the world.
Now it's my turn to do that.
Five weeks later
I walk through the animal shelter, my heart heavy and my mind muddled. The stupid test burning a hole in my purse. I’ve tried for the past week to ignore the signs, but after throwing up for the fifth morning in a row, I couldn’t push it aside any longer. I have no idea what to do. These past five weeks have been hard, probably the hardest that I've ever done. When my parents died, I had people around me that were there to support me. Now I have no one.
"You're back," the woman says with a bright smile.
I nod. "I am, I was looking at rehoming a cat." I'm lonely, and the housing I have allows a pet. I've spoken to the owner of the apartment, and he's assured me that it's okay. I need a pet. I've always wanted one, but Noah never let me get one.
I was lucky I was able to get scholarships to help me out. I was hoping to have a dorm room, but by the time I had found out there was no money and I had to scramble quickly to find scholarships, it was too late, all the rooms were taken. Thankfully, the woman at the Bursar’s office helped me find what I needed, and now I'm settling in and working my ass off at college along with a part time job in a coffee shop to help me along the way.
The woman's smile widens. "That's excellent, why don't you have a look at the cats we have here and see if there's any you’re drawn to. When you're done, come and find me."
I nod. "That would be great, thank you."
It doesn't take long for me to find the cat that I want. It's a small tabby kitten that is cute as a button and very friendly.
"Ah," the lady says when I find her a little later. "Tilly is going to be the perfect house guest."
I laugh. I love the name Tilly. "Hopefully," I say. "You've a big shelter here, do you get a lot of animals?"
She nods. "Unfortunately, yes, we do. If it weren't for the volunteers, this shelter wouldn't exist."
"Are you looking for more volunteers?" I ask, wondering if I could do one evening a week. I'd love to give back and being around animals is a wonderful feeling.
She beams at me. "I am, if you're interested, I'd love to have you onboard. I'm Evelyn."
"Hey Evelyn, I'm Scarlett," I say with a smile for the first time in five weeks. I actually smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Let's get you set up with Tilly, and I’ll explain about the volunteer work. We’d love to have you with us."
I have a feeling this is exactly where I'm supposed to be, and maybe, just maybe, this is what I need to move on with my life.
Six hours later, I'm home, sitting on the sofa with Tilly on my knees. My gaze on the white stick has two pink lines.
Fuck. I'm so screwed.