Chapter 72
ALEX
Kate said she thought I had a fractured rib. It didn’t surprise me.
It felt like Connor always aimed for my ribs - like he liked watching me struggle to breathe.
She gave me ibuprofen when she was finished. It wouldn’t do much, but it was better than nothing. She smiled softly at me, her hand brushing my arm in a way that didn’t make me flinch.
“You can stay as long as you want,” she said gently.
I nodded, forcing a smile I didn’t quite feel. She didn’t push. She just squeezed my arm once and then called Kai back in.
He appeared in the doorway a moment later - hair a little messy from running his hands through it, face softer than before. And I exhaled in relief.
He wasn’t angry.
He was just worried.
“Why don’t you get Alex settled in the spare room?” Kate said, her tone warm but firm. “Then you can have a little lie down. I’ll bring the pasta up for you.”
“Oh. Okay.” I nodded. It was obviously her way of telling me I needed to rest without making it sound like an order.
Kai stepped closer, offering me a small, gentle smile - the kind that made something in my chest loosen.
“Come on,” he said softly.
Silence drifted around us as we walked upstairs. Kai was at my side, though I managed just fine.
I didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to make this situation any better.
When we got to the spare room, Kai untucked the bed sheets and pulled them down, gesturing for me to lie down.
“I really don’t need to lie down,” I said, shaking my head. “It doesn’t hurt that bad.”
“Alex, please.” His voice was soft, but the concern in it was impossible to ignore.
“Okay,” I sighed, giving in. I eased myself into the bed, trying to hide the wince as the mattress dipped under me. Kai noticed anyway - of course he did - but he didn’t say anything. He just sat at the end of the bed and pulled the covers up over me with this careful, almost protective touch.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “For letting her help you.”
I nodded slowly, my eyes darting away from his. I couldn’t look at him. Not when he was being this gentle. Not when I felt this exposed.
“It’s never usually this bad,” I whispered. “When Connor hits me, it’s never usually this bad, but the last couple of weeks he’s been more annoyed at me. I think after the egg thing-”
Kai’s head snapped up.
“The egg thing? With me?”
“Oh.” My fingers immediately started fiddling with each other, twisting, untwisting, anything to avoid looking at him.
“He thought I was sleeping around or something because of the egg in my hair, he thought it was…” My voice trailed off, heat crawling up my neck.
“He didn’t know about the job, so I couldn’t tell him. ”
Kai didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe.
He just stared at me with this stunned, horrified softness that made my stomach roll.
“He thought you were… with someone?” he said quietly, like the words tasted wrong in his mouth.
I nodded, eyes fixed on my hands. “Yeah. And I couldn’t explain it because he never let me have a job, so I couldn’t tell him why I was there. And then he just… assumed.”
The silence stretched, heavy and thick.
I swallowed. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
Kai’s voice came out low, rough. “Alex. He hurt you because of that?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to.
The truth was written all over me.
“That’s why you weren’t in school the next day,” he said, piecing it together.
“I spent the day in bed,” I said through gritted teeth, the memories flooding back all at once. “That one was a bad one.”
Kai’s jaw tightened.
“What about last week?” he asked. “Were you really sick?”
I shook my head. “It’s because he got my face. He never normally gets my face. He didn’t want the teachers asking questions.”
His eyebrows lifted, something sinking into place. “Was that because of me as well?”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t need to.
The silence answered for me.
“Shit, Alex.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It was the Xbox, wasn’t it?” His eyes flicked over to me, full of a kind of horrified understanding. “I knew something was wrong.” He dragged a hand down his face, and I could tell he was blaming himself.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said quickly, trying to make him feel better, trying to stop that look on his face. “It’s because I didn’t hear him and he was calling me.”
Kai stared at me like he couldn’t believe I’d said that. Like the words physically hurt him.
“Alex,” he said quietly, “you don’t have to make excuses for him.”
I swallowed, looking down at my hands. “I’m not. I just… I don’t want you thinking it was because of you.”
“But it was because of me,” he said, voice low, steady, but shaking underneath. “Because you were talking to me. Because you were happy for five fucking minutes.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but nothing came out. Because he wasn’t wrong. And he wasn’t right. And I didn’t know how to explain the difference.
Kai leaned forward slightly, his voice softer now. “You shouldn’t have to pay for that. For talking to someone. For having a friend.”
The word friend hit me harder than it should have.
“That’s why you kept pushing me away.” His green eyes traced mine.
I blinked, my throat tightening. “I didn’t want him to twist it,” I whispered. “I didn’t want him to hurt me more because of you.”
Kai’s expression cracked - just a little - like he’d been holding something together and it finally slipped.
“Alex,” he said, barely above a whisper, “he shouldn’t be hurting you at all.”
I shook my head quickly. “I know… but it’s… it’s not like it’s all the time,” I murmured. “It’s just when he gets stressed.”
Kai’s expression tightened, like the words physically hurt him.
“Alex,” he said softly, “don’t do that.”
I blinked, confused. “Do what?”
He shook his head, leaning forward a little. “Don’t pretend it’s fine just because it isn’t every day. ‘ Not all the time’ isn’t a defence. It’s not supposed to happen at all.”
His voice stayed gentle, but there was something fierce underneath it.
“And stress doesn’t give him the right to touch you,” he added quietly. “Ever.”
My breath hitched. “I don’t know how to make him stop,” I whispered. “I’ve tried.”
Kai’s whole face softened, the anger draining out of it and leaving something rawer behind - something that looked a lot like heartbreak.
“Alex…” he breathed, barely getting the word out.
He shook his head slowly, like he couldn’t believe he was hearing this from me, like it physically hurt him to imagine me trying to stand up to someone who only hit harder.
“You shouldn’t have to make him stop,” he said quietly, voice thick. “That shouldn’t be your job.”
He shifted closer on the bed, careful, like he was afraid I might flinch.
“You’re not supposed to fight for your own safety,” he murmured. “You’re not supposed to try and manage his moods or predict when he’s going to snap. That’s not… that’s not something you should ever have had to learn.”
His eyes flicked over my bruises, then back to my face - and he swallowed hard.
“You tried,” he said again, softer this time. “And you shouldn’t have had to.”
He hesitated, then added, even quieter:
“You don’t have to do it alone anymore.”
My fingers tightened in the blanket. “Kai… if he finds out I told you, it’ll get worse,” I murmured. “I don’t want you getting dragged into it.”
Kai’s eyes widened, and for a moment he just stared at me like the words had knocked the breath out of him.
“Alex…” he said, voice low, “I’m not scared of him.”
He shifted closer on the bed, slow and careful, like he didn’t want to spook me, but he couldn’t stay where he was either.
“I’m scared for you,” he added, quieter now. “Not of him.”
I opened my mouth, but he kept going, his voice steady even though I could see the tremor in his hands.
“You’re trying to protect me from something that’s already hurting you,” he murmured. “And that’s not fair. You shouldn’t have to worry about me on top of everything else.”
His jaw tightened, but his eyes stayed soft - unbearably soft.
“If he finds out you told me,” he said, “that’s on him. Not you. And I’m not going to let you deal with that alone.”
He swallowed, the words thick in his throat.
“You’re not dragging me into anything,” he said. “I’m choosing to be here.”
He hesitated, then added even more quietly:
“And I’m not going anywhere.”
My breath stuttered, the words hitting somewhere deep and unsteady inside me.
He wasn’t scared of Connor. He was scared for me .
I didn’t know what to do with that.
Kai’s gaze searched mine. “Okay?”
I nodded, slow and shaky, a single tear slipping down my cheek before I could stop it. “Thank you,” I whispered, the words barely holding together.
Kai didn’t say anything at first. He just moved - slow, deliberate, like he was giving me every chance to pull away - and then his arms were around me, warm and steady, gathering me in against his chest.
The breath left my lungs in a shaky rush.
He held me like he was afraid I might break, but also like he wasn’t going to let me fall apart alone. His hand slid up to the back of my neck, fingers threading gently over my head, and I felt myself melt into him before I could think about it.
“You’re safe,” he murmured into my temple, voice low and certain. “You’re safe here.”
And for the first time in a long time, I almost believed it.