AllFreeNovel
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We're sitting around,eating pizza and drinking beer. Everything feels calmer now, the stress of whether or not I'm back on drugs is gone, but something seems to still be bothering Zayn. He's distant. Spaced out. He's not laughing when Knox cracks a joke about how he proposed to Amelia in a rush to be the first one to get engaged. He doesn't even freak out when we're finally let in on the insane way he plans on proposing to Delaney, with ink permanently embedded into his skin.
“What the fuck are you going to do if she says no?” I question in almost panic.
His jaw locks and he drops his pizza back on his plate. “E, you're my boy, but insinuate that I won't be spending the rest of my life with that girl again, and us thinking you're back on drugs will be the least of your worries.”
I look over at Zayn who has barely touched his food, but his third beer is long gone. “Are you hearing this?”
He simply nods. There's no emotion. No humor. No little comment that Knox always does what Knox wants, and the only person who can get him to change his mind about anything is Delaney. Not even a joke about him being whipped.
“All right, what's wrong now?” I ask him, refusing to sit in this tension any longer. “I took the test. Knox watched me piss in the cup.”
“A sight I wish I could wash from my brain with acid,” he quips.
I roll my eyes at his dramatics and focus back on Z. “What's up, man?”
He shrugs. “You didn't tell me.”
“What?”
“I've always been there to help you with this shit, and when Alec gave you drugs, you didn't tell me.”
My head drops, and I exhale slowly before looking back up. “I didn't tell you because you've always been there for me. I watched you practically ruin your life trying to make sure I didn't end up back on that shit. Everything is back on track for you, and I didn't want to watch you lose your mind worrying about me again. I had it under control.”
He watches me, as if he's trying to figure out if I'm telling the truth or not, but then he sighs and leans back in his chair. “Fine, but if there is a next time, you fucking tell me. I don't care if you're tempted or not. We're brothers, E. You tell me.”
“Okay,” I promise. “I'll tell you.”
That seems to relax him because he turns to Knox with a smirk. “And you're a fucking ballsy dumbass. I've told you that already.”
He chuckles. “You're just mad you didn't think of it.”
Amelia rolls her eyes. “He proposed with pyrotechnics. I don't think there is a more Zayn way of doing it. But E is right, Knox. What if she says no?”
Knox puts a hand on his chest. “Do all the fucking Donovans have no faith in my relationship? Damn, princess. I thought at least you were on my side.”
The corners of my mouth raise as it finally feels like the laidback hangouts we like to enjoy, but that smile gets wiped right off my face the moment the door opens and Tessa steps in with Delaney.
Fuck.
“No,” I say instantly. “You can't fucking be here.”
“E,” Tess breathes.
She looks upset. Like there is something plaguing her mind. But I can't find it in me to care right now. Not with what she's risking by being here.
I shake my head. “Don't fucking E me. You can't be here!” Turning to Delaney, my eyes narrow. “What the fuck, Laney? I'm sorry you have fucking codependency issues, but why would you bring her here?”
“Watch your fucking mouth, Donovan,” Knox growls.
Fucking Christ. I get up and take a couple steps toward them, trying to get them right back out the door. “Tess, you have to go. Kennedy is upstairs and if she comes down and sees you here...You just have to go.”
“Who do you think called her?” Kennedy's voice breaks through the tension.
I turn around to see her walking down the stairs. Dried tears stain her cheeks as she comes toward me, and I can't even open my mouth to speak. She looks broken. Destroyed, even.
Tessa steps back to let her pass by, and she comes to stand in front of me. She stares up at me with pain in her eyes, swallowing harshly before she speaks.
“What did you do with the coke, Easton?” she asks.
