Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
EZRA
The door slams behind us with a loud thud, making my throbbing body feel even worse. How the hell did he get into the house? I changed the locks and the garage code.
“Are you okay?” I turn to her, placing my palm on her cheek, which is now wet from her tears.
She nods slightly as she stares back at the door Zayn walked out of.
“Hey, come here,” I say and pull her against me, my arms wrapping around her tightly. She buries her face in my chest and her silent sobs convulse through her.
“Did he hurt you?”
She shakes her head while sniffling.
Hearing and watching her cry tears me apart.
I wish so badly I could go back in time and make her mine back then.
That way, none of this would ever have happened.
Zayn would never get his chance with her and never have been in the position to hurt her like this.
I hate how helpless I am. I’m trying my best to be there for her, but she feels so deeply even if she tries to hide it.
Her sobs die down as she lifts her head from me and says, “I’m sorry. This is stupid. I shouldn’t even be crying.” She wipes the tears from her eyes. “I always keep it together when he’s here, but right when he leaves, it all comes out.”
“Don’t be sorry. You’re braver than you give yourself credit.”
“Yeah?” she asks, gazing up at me. The wetness in her eyes makes them sparkle even brighter. Even her tears can’t dim that light.
“Yes,” I say and kiss the top of her head. A small smile forms on her face. I release her from my hold and ask, “How did he get in if I changed the locks and garage code?”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “I asked him to come pack his stuff. I don’t know why I thought he would without making a scene.”
“I can pack it up and move it out for you.”
She slumps down heavily on the couch, leaning her back against it and sighing in exhaustion.
I want to sit right next to her and pull her into my lap and hold her until this is all over. But I look down at myself, and all my oil stains stop me.
“That’s the thing. Why should it be our responsibility? They’re the ones who caused all this, and we’re the ones who have to put in all the work? For what? For them to keep living their lives like nothing happened?”
“It’s a shitty situation, but I think we’re going to have to do that to finally be free from them.
” She looks at me with defeat in her eyes.
“I’ll help you with everything. I promise.
You’re not alone in all this.” Her lips curve into a soft smile.
“I’m going to go shower, and then how about we go get something to eat? ”
She nods, and I’m off to shower.
I can’t wrap my head around what Zayn has turned into.
He was my best friend—my brother. He’s been there with me through it all.
I trusted him. I started noticing little changes happening a few years ago, but it felt like it was just with me.
I thought maybe he wasn’t seeing me as the friend he once saw me as.
People grow and change so it seemed explainable.
But the way his jaw clenched so hard, it was as if I was the one who had betrayed him.
I’ve seen anger in him, but not like this.
He was always the more relaxed kind of guy—going with the flow and not worrying about anything.
But that right there was not Zayn. He was like a stranger in a body I recognize.
The hardest part is realizing he’s not someone I know anymore.
I step out of the shower, looking around for my towel. The bathroom is bare. The hand towel is gone; my washcloth is gone. I do a full circle looking everywhere, and nothing is here.
What the hell?
I open a slit in the bathroom door and peek out. The hallway is empty. Should I make a run for it to my room? Would it matter if Vi saw me? She saw everything not too long ago.
A hard shiver runs through my body as I contemplate my next move. I’m making a puddle on the floor.
Oh, fuck it. “Vi,” I yell.
“Yeah?” I hear faintly. She must still be downstairs.
“Umm. What happened to my towel?”
“Shit.” I hear another faint word followed by her coming up the stairs. She stares at me peeking through the bathroom door with her brows lifted and her mouth partly open. “So…” she trails off with a slight smile, as if she did something.
“What?” I question as my brows knit together. She seems guilty of something. They’re just towels. What could she have done?
“I went through some stuff today to throw away what I shared with Zayn. I must have spaced and grabbed your towels when I went through each room.” Her lips curl inward.
“I put them in the outside garbage cans already. They’re in garbage bags.
I can pull them out if you’d like me to?
I should’ve bought new ones before I threw the old ones out. ”
“No, it’s okay. I’m getting pretty dry already,” I say between my chuckles.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s for the better because I shared that towel with Rya. So you did me a solid.”
She sways back and forth on her heels, her arms hanging beside her like she doesn’t know what to do with herself.
“Let me get dressed, and then we can go to the store and buy more,” I say, trying to break something that’s turning awkward.
She nods quickly but doesn’t move. Her gaze is still on me. I clear my throat. “I need to get to my room.” I pause for a moment. She stands there, unfocused, like she’s in a daze. “I’m naked. Unless you want to see me naked?” I tease.
That pulls her out of whatever trance she was in; she shakes her head quickly and blinks. “Oh, oh, yeah, I’ll be in my room.” She stumbles over her words as she takes a couple of steps back before she fully turns around and shuts the door to her room.
We stroll side by side inside Walmart. I told her we could go somewhere fancier, but she is fine with their inexpensive costs.
This is a completely unfamiliar situation from what I’m used to.
Rya could never step inside this store to buy household items. Unless it was groceries.
We always had to go to the most expensive places to buy even the simplest household items because a grocery store was not up to her standards.
We hit the towel aisle. I stay a couple of steps behind her and watch her run her fingers through different towels.
“What color are you thinking?” I ask, stopping next to a black towel.
“Hmmm. I don’t know. My last colors were a light blue since Zay would never let me buy a girly color.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head. “What color is a girly color to him?”
“I’ve always wanted pink, and he never let me.”
I eye the pink colors behind her.
“I told him to pick his own color and I can pick mine, and we can try to match the colors we pick to match our bathroom decorations. But he wanted light blue, and if I had chosen pink, it would have looked like a gender reveal. So I settled on light blue and made my bathroom ocean themed.”
I step closer to the pink towels. “Well, now is your chance. Which pink do you like?” I reply, looking back at her.
Her eyes dart over to the pinks as I point to one.
“There is this pink. It’s a lighter pink.
Or would you like this one?” I move my finger to another shade.
“Looks to me like an orange-pink”—the side of my lip curls up in confusion—“If that’s even the right explanation of this color.
” I take a bigger step and motion to another shade.
“Or this neon pink. Or hot pink,” I add, pointing to a brighter pink.
I look back at her as her smile grows wider.
She giggles and comes closer, and then runs her fingers towards the lighter shade of pink.
“This one?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says softly, her face illuminated by a smile.
I grab a couple and throw them into the cart.
“What color do you want?” she asks while shifting her focus towards the darker shades.
“Eh. I really don’t care.” I reach over and grab a couple black ones. “Black will do.” I throw them in the cart.
I follow Violet down the aisle to get the rest of the towels we need.
It comes to mind that this is the first time we’ve been out together—outside of the car and inside a store.
It feels like a breath of fresh air being out with someone who actually likes me for me and not just the money I bring in.
Come to think of it, I wasn’t with Rya when she would buy stuff for our house.
She always went by herself. I would come home and there would be a bunch of new stuff.
I appreciated the time she took to make our house a home because I never really thought I would appreciate going to help pick out something.
She never asked me either. This feels nice doing it together with someone.