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"Why?" I ask between sobs.
Aaron just huffs in reply. "You don't get to embarrass me. I'm Aaron fucking Brentwood. You best remember that next time you decide to make a stupid decision."
Words escape me and I can do nothing but sit on the floor. My tears dry up, but the ache in my chest doesn't stop. I still haven't moved when there's a pounding knock on the door.
I look over at the door, watching as Aaron glides over.
"Probably the fire department coming to clean up your mess," he mutters annoyed, before pulling open the door slightly.
I can't see who's on the other side, but before Aaron can say anything, there's another bang as the door swings open out of Aaron's grip and Beau, Chase and Jax stalk in.
My eyes widen – and to his disbelief, so does Aaron's.
The three guys look over to the kitchen, finding me still perched on the kitchen floor, eyes red and smoke still hanging in the air. I stare at them in shock, letting out a gasp when Beau shoves Aaron against the wall. His hand fists Aaron's shirt, Beau towering over the slightly shorter man.
"What the fuck is going on?" Beau growls at him.
Chase moves past them to the kitchen, kneeling down to check on me. "Are you okay?" he asks gently before looking at the smouldering pile of paper on the stove.
I shake my head. "No," I answer, a sob breaking loose as I crumble into my emotions again.
Jax stands next to Beau, arms folded. His stern face and composure screams 'protective brother' as he glares at Aaron heatedly. There's something about him that scares me – like he could really hurt someone if he wanted to. But I also feel safe with that information, because something inside of me screams it would never be me. And I truly believe that.
Surprisingly, Aaron says nothing. He just holds Beau's glare, his own eyes spitting daggers. I guess he realizes he's caught – there's no way to really explain this in a way that blames me. Or maybe he just knows that they won't believe him and there's three of them, and only one of him.
Chase runs his hand down my arm, pausing. I look down, spotting the finger marks that I know Chase is looking at too. He doesn't say anything about them, just moves his hand further down to my elbow, helping me off the ground.
"Beau," I start, when I've gotten myself firmly on my feet. He doesn't look at me, but his head moves slightly, indicating he's listening. "He's not worth it."
Jax pushes the door open and stands out of the way. His brother pulls Aaron from the wall and pushes him towards the door. "You're going to leave while she gets the rest of her stuff. If I catch you anywhere near this complex before we leave, I'll bury you so fucking deep, they'll need an excavator to find you," Beau sneers.
Aaron's eyes shift to me standing in the kitchen with Chase, his cold glare sending shivers through me before he turns and disappears from sight down the hallway. Jax slams the door closed, sharing a look with his twin before the two of them relax slightly.
Beau turns, walking over to me. "Are you alright?" he asks, taking in my tear-stained face.
I shake my head. "He saw me with Oliver and lost his shit. He destroyed the one item in this apartment that I love more than anything else," I reply, voice breaking.
The three of them look at the burnt contents on the stove sadly. Jax folds his arms, looking around the room. "Grab everything you can. You're not coming back. We'll help you carry it."
"I'll help you pack things," Chase says in a soft tone, waiting for direction.
I stand frozen still, looking around the room as my mind tries to process what to pack. Eventually, I pull myself together long enough to set all three of them to work. We fill bags and boxes with my belongings, making the bare apartment look even more empty than usual. Thankfully, I don't have a lot of personal possessions. Nearly my entire Groveton life gets packed up, minus the larger stuff.
Chase and Jax walk ahead of me as we leave the complex, keeping an eye out for Aaron, but he's gone. Even his car is missing as we start carrying everything along the pathway.
"How did you know where I was?" I finally ask as we cross the Groveton campus.
Chase turns from ahead of me, giving me an embarrassed look. "I came to spy on your date. I wanted to see if it was going well. You weren't there but some people out the front of the coffee shop were talking about 'the raging maniac yelling at his ex-girlfriend'. I connected the dots."
I just nod in reply, unable to find words.
Beau hums next to me. "Sometimes his stalker-ish tendencies come in handy. At least, this time they did."
We fall silent for the rest of the walk, the four of us focusing on carrying everything. I can feel my body get more and more exhausted, relieved to see the lobby of their apartment. My arms are sore from holding everything, and when I get back into the apartment, I drop it hard in a pile next to the tv.
Chase comes up next to me, pulling me towards the couch. "Sit down. You need to relax. I'll get you some wine."
"Okay," I mutter in a monotone, staring at the floor.
