Darkness Before Dawn Part 13

"You could always take it," she chimes.

"No, I don't even wanna be a lawyer anymore," I slur as I sway to get more whiskey.

"What!" she shrieks. "You went through three years of law school and now you don't know if you want to be a lawyer? Are you f.u.c.king crazy?"

"Babe, just leave her alone. Talk about this tomorrow," Aubry says before he kisses Aimee's lips shut. She shakes her head in disbelief as she tells us to be careful and says goodbye.

Connor heads out shortly after she leaves, and as I lock the door behind him I realize that Cole hasn't called me all day. I groan loudly as I flop back on the couch across from Aubry and sip on my drink. Maybe I should go out tonight. I mull over reasons why going out wouldn't be a good idea and come up short. Then again, I am justifying everything with "Cole screwed that Barbie b.i.t.c.h while I was kidnapped." My stomach turns at the thought. What an a.s.shole. I was kidnapped, living in a f.u.c.king bas.e.m.e.nt and he was s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around with other women. The more I think about him being away so much in the past weeks, the angrier I get at everything. The rational person in me knows that he wouldn't cheat on me, but I wasn't gone long enough for him to have to...whatever.

"Aubry, we're going out!" I announce as I walk to my room, tipping my cup a little too much and spilling some whiskey on my feet. "f.u.c.k," I grumble as I wipe the top of my barefoot clean with the bottom of the other. Aubry says something behind me and when I walk out of my room I find him on the verge of falling asleep on the couch. I wake him up with a couple of light slaps on the face and lead him out of the apartment.

"Where are we going anyway?" he asks sleepily.

"Out. Anywhere that has a bar."

He shrugs his answer and we ask Spencer to drive us to a small place nearby. Cole is supposed to get in later tonight and I do not plan on being home at that time, I'm afraid of what I'll do when I see him.

We sit around the bar, and to my dismay, there's a Cubs game on TV, which means my drinking partner is solely focused on that. I roll my eyes and take my phone out of my purse. I find two missed calls from Cole and a text message that says he'll be home at nine o'clock. I ignore him and call the last person on my call log instead.

"Two calls in one day? I feel honored," Dean says in an amused tone.

"Shut up. I had no one else to call," I reply. "Besides, we haven't really gotten to talk."

"Not my fault," he quips.

"I forgot how annoying you were." He laughs loudly into the receiver, making me back it away from my ear. "I met my dad today."

He lets out a low whistle on the other side of the line. "So you know."

My eyebrow lifts and I remember he can't see me. "Know what?"

"About your dad and Alex."

My heart drops. "What about them?"

He exhales sharply. "Where are you? I'm a.s.suming lover boy isn't with you since you're calling."

"No. I hate him. I'm at a bar."

"Hate him, huh?" Dean says in a playful tone.

"Don't start. I'm at Jimmy Green's. You coming or not?" I ask shortly.

"Be right there, Princess."

An unwanted s.h.i.+ver runs through me. "Don't call me that. Ever."

He hangs up the phone on me so I turn my attention to Aubry, who, of course, was listening to my entire conversation.

"You told him to come here?" Aubry asks angrily.

"Maybe?" I whimper.

"I can't f.u.c.king believe you, Blake. I can't f.u.c.king believe you." I cringe at his tone. He never calls me by my name unless he's beyond p.i.s.sed off.

I try to appease him by finis.h.i.+ng the story and making him feel guilty for not wanting Dean to tell me what he knows. I really need to know, now more than ever.

I rub my forehead trying to contain the impending headache that I feel coming my way as I pace our empty apartment.

"Call again," I growl at Bruce who has been trying to reach Spencer for the past half hour.

As usual, when my flight landed I called Blake, and to my pure horror, she didn't answer the phone. She hasn't been answering her phone all day and the one time she did call me, I couldn't answer mine. Everything is exactly as it was that day. That horrible day. I don't think I can deal with any more heart palpitations.

"Let's go," I demand. "We're going to Mark's. That's where she was going when I spoke to her."

I call Connor's cell phone again and this time he picks up. He tells me that he left Blake with Aubry in the apartment earlier tonight and hadn't checked in since he'd been busy.

"I'm going to Mark's."

"Don't bother, he left the office after we did. Dude, you don't even know what happened..." Connor says before he proceeds to explain.

Needless to say, I feel like absolute s.h.i.+t that once again I wasn't here when she needed me the most. I know there's nothing I can do about it, my only options are to quit my job or take her with me everywhere I go. Since she's not going to let me do either one of those, I need to figure out another solution to this. The worst part is, I wasn't even working today. Not that I was any less busy, but on top of not being here for her, the fact that I was a car ride away and ignoring her calls because I was under pressure to finish s.h.i.+t...it doesn't sit well with me.

"So she met her dad?" I ask to be absolutely sure.

"Yeah, man. It wasn't pretty. She walked out of there...it was bad, Cole. She was pretty f.u.c.king upset."

"f.u.c.k," I mutter. "Thanks. I have to keep looking."

"Hold on," Connor says as he switches over to the other line.

I put the phone on speaker and place it on the seat next to me as I crack my knuckles and try to figure out who else to call. Aimee! I haven't called her yet. I'm about to hang up the phone, but Connor comes back to the line and apologizes.

"I know where she is," he breathes.

"Where?" I ask on edge.

"Green's with Aubry."

"Did she just f.u.c.king call you?" I growl, not able to hide my annoyance about it.

"Nope. Dean did."

My mouth pops open in disbelief. I close my eyes and take deep breaths to control the rage I feel rippling through my body. "I need to get to Jimmy Green's, Bruce," I say through gritted teeth, trying to figure out why the h.e.l.l neither she nor Aubry decided to let me know they were going to a sports bar.

"She called him, Cole. Remember that when you get there."

I let out a harsh laugh. "Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much f.u.c.king better, a.s.shole. f.u.c.k. Why would she call him?" I mumble to myself.

"I don't know, but...just be careful. Dean's nice, but don't try him, dude."

"Don't try him? Are you f.u.c.king kidding me?" I shout.

"Just be smart and rein in that temper of yours before you find yourself in some s.h.i.+t you don't wanna deal with. Get Blake and get out of there. I wish I could go, but I still have some s.h.i.+t to take care of."

I hang up with Connor and place my elbows on my knees while I will myself to calm down. I know I need to be open-minded about this. Blake wants her answers and he's one of the only people willing to answer her, but f.u.c.k. And what the f.u.c.k is Aubry thinking? I'm going to kill him when I see him. I can't wrap my head around why she would contact him and have him meet her at a bar. I decide to call Aimee, which ends up being a bad idea because she tells me that when she left our place Blake and Aubry were already pretty drunk. So Blake drunk dialed Dean, lovely. This just gets better and better. I'm working my a.s.s off trying to build something for us, and she's calling a guy that helped kidnap her behind my back. I shake my head in amazement and turn my attention to the city lights around me. At least she's okay, that's all that matters.

When we pull up to the bar, I take one more minute to calm down before wiping my clammy hands over my dress pants and getting out. I look inside and see Aubry sitting in the bar watching highlights of the game and I anxiously look around for Blake. When I spot her looking beautiful yet sad, so f.u.c.king sad, in a dark booth with a guy sitting across from her, I close my eyes and count to ten. I see that Spencer isn't far away from her and is watching them intently, and that calms my nerves some. I walk in and go straight up to Aubry and smack him in the back of the head.

"s.h.i.+t. What the f.u.c.k?" Aubry says, ducking his head and glaring at me. "Oh. Cole."

"Oh. Cole?" I growl. "Oh, Cole? Where the f.u.c.k is your phone?"

"Out of battery," he slurs, his blue eyes glazed over.

"You're so drunk."

He laughs humorously. "So is Cowboy!" His eyes widen when he realizes his own words. "s.h.i.+t. She's with Dean."

I narrow my eyes at him, but make no comment before I walk up to the booth they're in and stand with my arms crossed at my chest glaring at both of them. Their hushed conversation ceases and their heads turn to me. When they see me, their eyes go wide. Dean recovers quickly and raises an eyebrow at me. Blake recovers just as quickly and glares at me. She's p.i.s.sed at me. SHE is p.i.s.sed at me? h.e.l.l no.

"What is that face for?" I ask, feeling my jaw work as I place my hands on the edge of the table, clutching it to try to keep from making a spectacle by chocking Dean and pulling her out of here.

"I don't want to talk to you. You can go home," she says flatly, her eyes blazing, before returning her attention to Dean, which p.i.s.ses me off even more. I feel my body shake and I grip the table harder.

"You don't want to talk to me?" I ask in disbelief, gaping at her. "You don't want to talk to me? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE f.u.c.k I'VE BEEN THROUGH IN THE PAST HOUR?"

"You need to chill out," Dean says.

I push the table, picturing it hitting his face but it doesn't budge. "Stay the f.u.c.k out of this!" I growl, anger taking over my veins. I let go of the table and watch his eyes flash when I lean over to grab him. My ragged breathing and blazing thoughts interrupted by the sound of Blake pounding her small fists on the table, which makes the cups of ice clatter. I blink away the cloud of rage that masks my eyes before looking at her.

Her gray eyes thunder before they become cat-like slits. "You?" she asks, sliding out of the booth to stand in front of me. I take a step back so I can see her face better. "You?" she repeats pounding one fist on my chest. "f.u.c.k. You!" she screams loudly before turning around and storming away. I grab her forearm and pull her back to me, which makes her turn around and glare at me. She then jerks her arm away and proceeds to walk to the front of the bar. By the time I reach her I'm fully aware that every head in this place is turned to us, as Blake sways drunkenly away from me, and I shake in rage behind her.

"Blake, you better turn around and talk to me. NOW," I shout when I get outside.

"Go home, Cole," she shouts back as she continues to walk down the street. Both Spencer and Bruce are scrambling to get on either side of us, and I just want to tell them to leave us alone for a G.o.dd.a.m.n minute.

"I am going home. We're going home right now, dammit!" I yell back.

She stops walking suddenly, making me crash into her back and put my arm around her waist to keep her from falling. I lean forward just for a second, just long enough to fill my airways with her scent. That flowery scent that makes me think of Spring and suns.h.i.+ne and drives me wild. She turns slowly and s.h.i.+mmies in my hold, pus.h.i.+ng me away from her and I step back enough so that I can see her face.

"We," she slurs while sloppily signaling her hand between us, "are not going anywhere. You can go home. I'll talk to you tomorrow." The mixture of the tone of her voice and her troubled eyes makes my heart beat ten times more rapidly than normal. I feel the air constricting in my lungs, as her eyes continue to suck the life out of me.

My stomach drops. "What do you mean?" I ask quietly, ignoring the pain I feel wedging in my chest. The pain that I've felt so many times before, you'd think I would no longer be phased by it. But it hurts. It hurts when she pushes me away.

"I mean that I'm not going home with you tonight. You can go home by your d.a.m.n self," she says, stomping her foot for good measure. I know she's drunk and acting irrational, but something about the way she's looking at me while she throws her fit doesn't sit well with me.

"Blake, just talk to me. What's wrong? What did I do?" I plead.

She shakes her head somberly, tears pooling her eyes. "What did you not do?" she whispers hoa.r.s.ely. "You know what? It doesn't matter. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I can't even think straight right now."

I watch her walk away from me again as I mull over what just happened.

"You just gonna let your girl go like that?" Dean's voice asks behind me, snapping me out of my trance.

I turn around to see him leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette, with his legs crossed out in front of him. I blink a couple of times, processing his words and what just happened.

"Stay out of our lives!" I demand, narrowing my eyes at him before taking off in a sprint toward Blake. I run up behind her, lifting her off the ground on my way to the car.

"Put me down, Cole," she demands, which makes me tuck her face into my chest and hold her tighter. When we make it to the car, I put her in the back and sit beside her, and then turn to Spencer who's standing outside of the door.

"Spencer, take my car and take Aubry home, please."

He nods and walks away from us before Bruce turns on the car and drives us away. Blake tries to writhe out of my hold the entire ride home, clawing at me and biting my arm, but I won't let her. She refuses to speak to me but I don't care. I'm not even mad at her anymore, I realize after the fifth time she bites my forearm. I'm just relieved. Relieved she's safe and in my arms, relieved she has to go home with me because all her s.h.i.+t is there, relieved we bought our place together and her name is on the house so she can't just walk away from me. Because walking away isn't that simple anymore, and even if it was, I wouldn't let her.

I rub my forehead and exhale before I kiss her head. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you today. Again."

She pushes away from me and looks at my face, her eyes red and glazed over from the alcohol and tears. I get the feeling she's going to scoot down as far away from me as she can, and this time I won't stop her. Instead, she surprises me by climbing into my lap and wrapping her arms around me, burying her face in my neck as she begins to sob. My heart crumbles for her, the way it does every time she lets me see her pain. I can't imagine what she went through today, seeing her father for the first time. I squeeze her tight against me and soothe her by running my fingers through her hair, the way I always do, because it's the only thing I know to do when she's like this.

When we get home, I walk out of the car still holding her in my arms and carry her to our apartment. After placing her on the couch, I get her a gla.s.s of water and some ibuprofen.

"You feel okay?" I ask quietly as she takes the water and pills.

She hiccups a breath and nods once she puts the gla.s.s down.

"Do you want to talk about what happened today?" I ask quietly.

She shakes her head and new tears begin to stream down her face. "I can't."

I get up and walk to the kitchen to see if I can find anything to eat.

"What happened at Mark's office?" I ask after putting some bread in the toaster.

She ducks her head down, but not before I catch the hurt look in her eyes. Her hair creates a curtain around her and all I can make out are her pursed lips.

"Blake, what happened there? Why did you even go? He could've brought whatever you needed over here," I respond with a sigh.

She looks up at me for a long moment with narrowed eyes and tilts her head, as if she's contemplating asking me a question. I raise an eyebrow expectantly.

"Why do you care if I go there or not?" she asks harshly.

I shoot her a confused look. "I just don't understand why you went. You know he would've brought whatever you needed. You didn't have to go there!"

"Are you worried because you didn't want me to run into your dirty little secret?" she seethes.

I gape at her. "What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?"

She shakes her head slowly, giving me a disgusted look. "You and Barbie. Or Skipper. Or whoever the heck she is! The blond from Mark's office!"