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With each swing the glass shattered into tiny pieces as the sound echoed through the room like music to their ears. Nothing felt more liberating than letting out your built up emotions on an unsuspecting object.
Next up it was Nolan's turn with a TV that was due for dismantling. With one swing of a metal bat its screen cracked and split into bright shards of light dancing across the walls like stars at night. Content with their destructive work they both stood back admiring their creative destruction within the contained space.
"You know, what I love about this place?" One hard blow against the wall shattered the wooden bat against the metal support beam. "You can let it all out. Venting into the void."
"So you've been here before..."
"Yes, it's my brand of therapy. I've been here a few times since Mia and I have gotten engaged." Nolan looked at her, gauging her response. "The happier I am with Mia and our life together the angrier I get about Maggie's death."
"Wow," Lexi breathed out in surprise, watching as Nolan's next swing broke more than just the TV. He slammed the bat against the stack of broken pallets, grunting out his anger.
"Maggie, never got a chance to have a happy life," Nolan began with emotion thick in his voice. He picked up another object and violently threw it at wall, channeling all the pain he was feeling through each action that he made. "She was one of my favorite people. She was too good to suffer the way she did!"
Lexi felt a swell of emotion overwhelm her with Nolan's words, reminding her just how much he'd gone through as well.
His blows grew more aggressive, his breathing labored as he punctuated every word. "My happiness--our happiness--came with so much misery. It feels selfish and unkind to look forward to a future."
"Nolan, I'm sorry!"
"It's not your fault kiddo," he chuckled bitterly, shaking the sheetrock dust from his boots.
"Neither is what happened to Maggie and Mia."
"I know. We don't control the universe." Nolan sighed, raking his fingers through his hair and Lexi was glad she'd decided to put her hair up.
They stayed in the silence, Nolan's breathing returned to normal.
"I'm sorry, Nolan, Mia never--"
"She gets my grief in a way nobody else does. She's been here with me before."
"I had no idea you were holding onto so much. I know it's not easy, it wasn't your fault."
"I know that, do you?"
Lexi looked at him confused as he closed the distance between them.
"It's your turn. Use the moment, Lexi." Nolan merely smiled back at her, reaching behind himself for something he'd been carrying but had hidden from Lexi's view until now. He pulled out an aluminum baseball bat and held it up like a trophy before handing it over to her with a flourish. "Your weapon of choice," he said with a smile as Lexi accepted it carefully. "Let it out."
“Wait, what?”
“You are the love of my life’s best friend, you’ve become my adopted little sister. I have watched you pull away the past few months and everyone see’s it. It’s hard watching someone you love be torn apart from the inside. Right here, right now, this is your safe space. Let go, Lex.”
Stunned by his words her whole body shook and she retreated, putting distance between them. She stumbled and looked at the wreckage at her feet.
“So you want to know how amazing I am?” Lexi whispered. She bent down and picked up a vase, her eyes searched the space that was feeling more like a cage than a room the longer the minutes ticked away.
Her knuckles were white from the grip she had on the vase. She backed away. “It’s my fault. MINE! One of my stupid decisions got the people I loved most killed!” Lexi broke, throwing the vase against the wall, leaving shattered pieces everywhere. Digging her fingers into her hair, she closed her eyes. Buried emotions bubbled to the surface and consumed every inch of her. “It’s—” She hiccuped. “It’s my fault. They were coming to get me. They wouldn’t have been out that ni-night.”
“It was not your fault.”
“H-how?” They would have been home in bed, not spinning out on black ice in the middle of nowhere.
“Why were they coming, Lex?” His tone was calm, and demanding.
“Because of me and my stupi—”
“Lexi. Why?”
