Chapter 2
Ryan
M y gaze was glued to Lily's red-hot skin as she scurried from the room, seconds away from falling apart. The guys ran after her, but I was frozen to the spot.
I didn't think; my brain was too fried to think.
The alcohol in my blood burned hotter than it did going down. It happened too quickly. I turned around, pinning Mrs. Thornbread's eyes with mine.
"How dare you?" I mumbled first.
Her brows raised against her wrinkled forehead, skin dragged down from months of eating next to nothing and years of drug abuse. Her top lip curled and she let out a little scoff. A scoff! A display of arrogance. Her? You had to be fucking kidding me. Ooh, that little scoff was like the soft echo of a match strike as the stick lifted off the side of the box. Poof! I was the sparks eating up the string of dynamite, rushing toward the blast.
"How dare you?!" I repeated.
This time the words were biting and I even jumped from the decibel of my voice, but it resonated so deep within me that I rejoiced in the aftermath of the explosion, bathing in the debris.
"After all she's done for you, he's the one you're asking for? What happened? Did the drugs kill off your two brain cells?" I gestured, my body vibrating with such ferocity, another blast was on the horizon.
"Ryan, what the fuck are you doing?" Matt grabbed my arm, but I shrugged him off me, impassioned now and moving toward Mrs. Thornbread.
"You want to know what happened to your precious husband?" The words glided an anticipatory roll from my tongue, syncing with my steps. "He's dead." I dropped to her level and I spat the words. "Dead like the little rat that he is. And no one misses him but silly old you."
Now, I was the one to curl my upper lip and scoff.
"I mean, you'd think that after he beat the living shit out of you, you'd be happy to never see him again." I shook my head. "You're disgusting."
Mrs. Thornbread's mouth dropped open. Her loose skin jiggled and her eyes went black. Seconds later the whites of her eyes glowed red and her lips trembled in almost the same way Lily's did. Good. I didn't regret one second.
No one hurts Lily.
The room quietened around me, every aspect of it blended into one big black blur and it was just me and Mrs. Thornbread. She was just as guilty as Terry in my eyes. This old... this is still Lily's mother, don't go there.
I swallowed a breath and straightened up, the deafening pounding in my ears setting me off balance. She should have been kissing Lily's feet; instead, she had the nerve. Lily owed her absolutely nothing. To think, I only saw her as a victim before this.
Poor, sweet, Mrs. Thornbread. The way Lily spoke of her, it was as if Terry Thornbread was the monster and she was just too weak to defend herself.
And he was the monster. But so was she.
What kind of mother looks at the daughter who stood by her side, despite not having a mother who stood by hers, and spits such venom at them? Doesn't even utter a thank you. And proceeds to bash what she holds dear and calls that daughter a whore. What did Lily do to deserve any of the things her parents put her through? Who fights in her corner for her? Who stands up for Lily?
I do. Damn it, that's who.
Lily doesn't have to fight these battles on her own anymore. She doesn't have to carry all the pain inside her, locked away to eat away at her. Lily doesn't have to grin and bear it. I'll fight for her.
My shoulders shook as I fought the rage that wrestled my body for control. The result? My own tears, like acid disintegrating my eyeballs.
"When that old fucker walked out on you, Lily didn't have to come back to you. You brought her into hell and left her there. She could have done the same to you. But she didn't. She came back for you. SHE did. Not Terry!" I growled. The sound of his name turned my stomach. "You know what your precious husband did to that beautiful, selfless woman?" I pointed in the direction of the door through which Lily left.
"That's enough!" A firm hand grabbed my shoulder and the commanding voice got lost in the gargle of my thoughts. Pulling away, I rocked forward, almost toppling onto Mrs. Thornbread, but I caught myself.
She screamed. "Get him away from me!"
"Oh, shut up!" I tossed my head. "You were better when you weren't speaking. At least none of us could hear the stupid shit in your head. Just how ungrateful are you? Everyone is giving you the world and you're hanging on to that...that dilapidated, tattered man. What is wrong with you?"
Her frail arms wrapped around her tiny body and I could almost hear the bones clicking and clacking against one another. For a moment, I wondered if I'd gone too far.
But the alcohol and my fury played a blasting reel inside my head, loud and saturated, of memories. I remembered every single day Lily had dedicated to this woman since I had stumbled into her life. I recalled the abandonment that broke Lily as this woman allowed Terry Thornbread an almost permanent residence in her children's lives, until we...we. Shivers rattled my blood.
I turned into a cloud of steam at the seconds-ago memory of Lily's pain.
This was not enough.
She needed to hear it. And if no one else was going to say it, I would.