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Dead silence met my ears. I had no doubt that Bastian was struggling to equate such a violent act with the kid we all thought we knew.
“Did he hurt you, Larkspur?” His voice sounded flat, almost distant, which had my fear of his rejection escalating. I was also momentarily stunned into silence with him calling me Larkspur, so it took me a minute to answer. Clearly a minute too long. Bastian roared, “Did he hurt you?!”
“No, Caden pulled him off of me, beat the shit out of him, and I pressed charges.”
“I'm leaving now. I'll be at the Wrights' in four hours.”He clicked off before I could respond, leaving me standing there staring at my phone. Excitement at seeing him warred with my fear of his potential rejection.
I made my way into the house and down the hall to the kitchen before dropping onto one of the kitchen stools. Dr. Wright and Poppy were already making dinner.
“I'll snip the beans.”
Poppy grinned in response and brought over the bowl.“Thank you. I really hate snipping the beans.”
“Bastian's on his way.”
Dr. Wright turned to me and I saw understanding in her gaze. “Are you okay?”
“I am, but it's going to be late when he gets here. Would you mind if I made up a bed in one of the guest rooms?”
She joined Poppy and me.“Considering he's coming to see you…and don't get any ideas, Poppy…but under the circumstances, I'm okay with him staying in your room.”She leaned over and touched her palm to my cheek.“Are you really okay? Do you want to talk about it?”
I did but I wanted it to be with Bastian. She seemed to understand what I didn't say and said,“If you find you need a professional to talk to, I will help you find someone you feel comfortable talking to. Okay?”
“Yes,” I held her gaze, “I love you, Dr. Wright.”
“Oh, Lark, I love you. I'm sorry Bastian had to be told such news over the phone.”
I played with the beans for a moment,“All he wanted to know was if Brad had hurt me. He was so angry, he was almost calm.”
“It's hard enough on both of you to be going through this stuff with his parents, but he adores you and for him not to be here when you need him…yeah, I understand his anger.”
Dr. Wright ran her hand down Poppy's hair.“You are a very wise young woman.”
Watching Poppy with her mom brought on a wave of envy because their relationship was beautiful. Dr. Wright turned her gaze to mine.
“The whole situation makes me so angry. How dare the Rosses manipulate and threaten people.”
I understood Dr. Wright's anger. “You should have seen them the night of his birthday dinner. His father couldn't even bother to look at him and his mother's stare was more appropriate for someone checking the cleanliness of a house after the cleaning crew had been through. Do you know they never once wished him a happy birthday? They spent the entire time demeaning him in front of me. And the really sad thing was that none of it came as any surprise to Bastian. Their outrageous behavior was the norm.”
I noticed tears in Dr. Wright’seyes.“And yet he and his brother are both exceptional young men despite the abuse of their parents,” she said. “And it is abuse—not physical but mental, and just as destructive, as you are well aware from your aunt's treatment. Well, if Bastian wasn't off doing something he enjoyed, something that was good for his long-term goals, Mr. Wright and I would have fought harder to keep him here. Even so, the Rosses won't be getting away with manipulating Bastian or threatening people.”
Fought harder? I wondered what she meant, but the conversation shifted, so I let it pass.
After dinner I helped with the clean up before I went up to my room to work on my homework. Maybe it was because I was feeling so melancholy, but I took a moment to really look at my little part of the Wright's home and felt a wave of warmth sweep through me. Dr. Wright insisted that I make the room my own, so I did. Painting it teal because it reminded me of Bastian's eyes and being surrounded by that reminder of him, when I wasn't able to be near him, was very comforting. The day we painted had been a lot of fun: painting, laughing and sitting cross-legged on the floor eating pizza in a room covered in drop cloths. Dr. Wright had taken Poppy and me shopping for furniture. The distressed white iron bed, with its scroll and floral details, was very feminine, but coupled with the contemporary hot pink cube side tables and the black and white bedding I picked out, made it look more eclectic rather than girlie. The walls were covered in my sketches. I had lived for almost ten years at my aunt's and yet I felt more comfortable in this room and I had only claimed it for a few months.
I settled on my bed to do homework. I hadn't meant to fall asleep, didn't think I could with how my nerves were making me feel like I was all twisted up.
I woke to the gentle stroke of a finger down my cheek and opened my eyes to see Bastian sitting next to me on the bed. Unlike how he sounded on the phone earlier, he looked at me with love, but I saw the rage just below the surface as he stared at my bruised lips.
“Bastian.”
“I'm sorry about my behavior earlier. Despite the fact that I plan on ripping that motherfucker into pieces, I shouldn't have taken it out on you.”My eyes stung from unshed tears. Bastian saw them too. “Don't cry beautiful.”
“Are you mad at me?”
He reacted like I had punched him.“Mad at you? Why the hell would I be mad at you? You're the victim.”
“I willingly went into that room with him. Maybe I'm more like my mom than I thought.”
