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Dad droppeda kiss to the top of my head when he set my plate of food in front of me. It wasn’t as big of a helping as he normally gave me. I think he was beginning to notice that my appetite was diminishing as well. But I hadn’t tried to hide it. Maybe he and Mom hadn’t really noticed, or maybe they were just finally beginning to realize it wasn’t going to get any better.
“How was school?” he asked me.
School was school. People threw me nasty glares, talked about me behind my back. Jacob was there most of the time as a buffer, though. And when he was there, people tended to keep their mouths shut.
I probably would have dropped out a long time ago if it weren’t for him. He’d become my savior and my light on some of my darkest days.
“Eh,” I muttered, shrugging my shoulder. I didn’t want to tell them I was being bullied. Trent would lose his shit, and I didn’t have the energy to deal with it. I also didn’t want him going after Seth. I knew Trent well enough to know he’d blame it all on my ex.
Mom frowned at me from across the table, but Dad reached over and squeezed her hand, giving her a silent look that I didn’t understand.
Why couldn’t I have someone who loved me as deeply as Dad loved Mom? They fell in love in high school. Mom already had Trent when they met, and yet, Dad still loved Mom unconditionally. It was the kind of love that hit you like a fucking freight train. There was no denying what the two of them shared, what I knew they would always share.
So, why did Seth have to walk away? Sure, we were only “together” because of a deal we made, but still. I thought there had been genuine feelings there between us, at least on my part. He’d even said he liked me, wanted me to be his girlfriend.
What happened to all of that?
Dinner went smoothly. Trent and Dad carried on a conversation about Trent’s job. Mom even engaged with them some. I just picked at my food, eating the meat as Trent had asked me to. I didn’t want to disappoint him. He was probably one of the only people I didn’t want to disappoint anymore.
But this was getting harder to deal with.
And I was just so fucking tired. Tired of dealing. Tired of pleasing. Tired of just everything.
After a while, my stomach not being able to take anymore and nausea swirling up my throat, I pushed my plate away and stood up. No one said a word as I left the table and went straight back up to my room.
* * *
Trent
I steppedout onto the porch the next morning, meeting Jacob outside before he came in to get Bailey for school. She had a car again—courtesy of me—but I didn’t want her driving herself right now.
She and Jacob had become extremely close in a short amount of time, and honestly, I was glad she had him. He was a good protector, and he gave a damn about her.
Unlike other people.
And with how bad Bailey’s depression was getting, she needed every bit of support she could get. But unfortunately, I didn’t think this shit would get any better for her considering she hated being pregnant, and abortion was illegal in our state.
I was terrified that this kid was going to kill my little sister in more ways than one. I wasn’t sure if any of us would be enough to save her.
Chills ran down my spine at the thought.
“How bad?” he immediately asked me.
I sighed and shoved a hand through my hair before dropping it back to my side. “Bad,” I quietly told him. He swallowed thickly and looked up at the sky for a moment before fixing his eyes back on me. “I’m late for work because I had to coax her out of bed. She’s fucking losing it, Jacob.” I gritted my teeth and fisted my hands before forcing myself to relax. “Dad thinks therapy will work for her, but I don’t think so. I think it’s going to make this worse. She’s always opened up to me. It didn’t matter what it was, she told me. And now, she’s fucking close-lipped.”
Jacob closed his eyes for a moment, his face tilted down to the wood of the porch. Finally, he looked back up at me. “Honestly, I think at this point, we need to try everything we can,” Jacob told me. I shook my head. He clamped a hand to my shoulder. “Trent, at this point, we have nothing to lose. Something has got to give.”
I gritted my teeth, my mind flickering to Seth. “As much as I hate to admit this, Jacob, I think the only person who has any hope of saving Bailey at this point is the one who did this to her.” And I hated admitting that. I fucking loathed it. But I knew in my gut that I was right. Seth had broken her, and only he would be able to piece her back together. God, when they’d been together, she had been glowing. I’d had so much hope that she would gain control of her anxiety, and I could go chase my dreams.
But then he’d left when she had needed him the most.
Jacob clenched his jaw, not liking what I’d said either. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders, my hands slapping my thighs. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“I say stop fighting your dad on therapy and let him do what he can to help her. In the meantime, we’ll both continue doing whatever we can to keep her here with us.” It was clear he wasn’t going to budge on this issue with Seth. But I’d do whatever I had to keep my sister alive and breathing. If that meant letting Seth come back around if he ever came to his senses, then that’s what the fuck I would do.
I sighed, looking out over the lake. “I have a feeling this shit is about to get a lot worse before it begins to get any better,” I told him. “I hope you’re prepared for that because I know this shit with her is going to get dark—real fucking dark.”
And it was going to scare the shit out of me when it did.
