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“Molloy.”
“So, what are we talking about here? A joint, a line, or a fucking needle?” It felt like I had been transported back in time to a place I never wanted to revisit. “Oh my god.” My breath hitched in my throat. “Why, Joe, why?”
“Why do you think?” he whispered brokenly, still obediently keeping eye contact with me as I held his chin in my hand. “I broke you.”
“No, Joe, you didn’t break me.” I shook my head and blinked back the tears stinging my eyes. “You broke you.”
“It’s my fault.” He looked away then, pulling his face free. “What happened to you is on me.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I brought you into that house,” he hissed, swinging back to glare at me. “I put you in harm’s way, and harm got you.”
“I’m okay,” I choked out, reaching up to touch his cheek, only to feel the sting of rejection when he leaned away from my touch. “Don’t do this. Don’t throw away everything you’ve worked so hard for.”
“I don’t have anything, Molloy,” was his lifeless response. “I never did.”
“You have me,” I breathed, chest rising and falling quicky, as I fought to maintain my composure in a classroom surrounded by peers. “You still have me, Joe. I don’t blame you, okay? I don’t.”
“I’m him.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yeah, I am.” He shrugged. “You said it yourself.”
“That was my hurt talking,” I choked out. “I didn’t mean it.”
“It was your brain talking,” he corrected. “It was your truth.”
“Joey, come on.”
“I can’t.” I watched as another shiver rolled through him. “I can’t do this right now, Aoife.”
“Can’t do what?” I strangled out, cheeks flooding with heat as my pulse skyrocketed. “Can’t talk to me? Can’t look at me? Can’t be with me? What?”
“I can’t do this.” I watched as he dragged his hands through his hair in frustration. “Yeah, I definitely can’t do this,” he muttered, shoving his chair back and grabbing his bag off the floor as he rose to his feet. “I’m out.”
“Sit down, Joseph,” Miss Lane ordered from her desk. “Class is just about to start.”
“Yeah, without me,” he shot back, moving for the classroom door.
“Don’t even think about walking out of this classroom,” she commanded, holding a hand up in warning. “You’re already on a red book. Don’t make it worse for yourself.”
“Kind of like how me telling you to get fucked would make it worse?” he sneered, slamming his palm against the door, causing it to swing open in a whoosh. “Well, it looks like I just did, huh?”
“Joseph!”
“Get fucked, miss,” he called over his shoulder, and then he was gone, storming away.
“Oh god.” Dropping my head in my hands, I resisted the urge to chase after him. I managed to last a whole three minutes until I caved, bolting out of my chair and moving for the door like my life depended on it.
“Where do you think you’re going, Aoife?”
“I think she’s going to get fucked, miss,” Alec offered up with a chuckle. “In the literal sense, this time.”
“Language,” Miss Lane warned Alec, before turning her attention back to me. “This isn’t drama class, Aoife. No need for the Bonnie and Clyde reenactment. Return to your seat.”
“But—”
