Page 63 of Drowning

Fiery Passion

S e v e n

While Kane and Emerson were off doing their own thing, me, Ace, and Stone spent the day trying to get Eli to calm the fuck down. Dealing with his stubborn ass was hard enough, but add in the fact that he'd been drinking vodka like it was water since he got out of bed, and it made it even harder.

Emerson had returned home after being missing for three days, not wanting to talk about where she had been or what had happened. And fuck, it bothered her brother more than we thought it would.

We had all agreed to keep the knowledge of Damon's abuse and murder to ourselves until Emerson was ready to open up to us about it. But for Eli, it was absolute torture. He wanted to bethere for his baby sister. He wanted to fix her and take all her pain away, but felt completely powerless when she made it clear that she didn't want to talk about it and that she didn't want help from anyone.

We knew that she'd eventually come to us and trust us with her deepest, darkest secret, so we didn't push. But Eli wasn't having it, and because of her silence, he drowned his emotions with liquor... which was the worst thing he could've fucking done. He was getting aggressive, starting fights with anyone who looked at him the wrong way. Ace and I tried our best to keep him in line, but it was a losing battle. We had to come together and support him, just like we knew we would eventually need to do for Emerson. But first, we had to get Eli to understand that drowning his sorrows in alcohol wasn't the answer.

But shit, he wasn't willing to listen to any of us, so we didn't push him.

Waiting for Emerson to get back, I rolled a blunt and sprinkled it with little crumbs of coke to hype up the somber mood of everyone in the house, and then took it down to the beach, where I posted up around a roaring fire. Ace and Stone stayed inside, taking turns watching over Eli to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

As I relaxed by the fire alone, I twirled the blunt in my fingers, anxious to light it, but I was trying to wait for Em before I did.

When I heard the rumble of her bike, I stared hard at the back of the house, just waiting to see her pull down the driveway with Kane. However, I was shocked to see that it was just Emerson, who bolted off her fucking bike as if it were on fire and then ran straight into the house. Kane wasn't anywhere in sight.

Okay then...

I got up from my seat and walked back to the house, curiosity filling the voids in my mind. Just as I reached the steps to climb the back porch, Kane rode in on his bike, looking rough as shit ashe pulled off his helmet and whipped it to the pavement with all of his strength.

Kane wasn't one to mess with when he was fucking angry. I'd seen him almost beat a motherfucker to death, all because earlier that night the Patriots had lost to the Cowboys; poor bastard accidentally bumped into Kane in the bar, and he pummeled him until he broke his fucking wrist… then he resorted to kicking. I didn't want to be on the receiving end of Kane's diabolical wrath—none of us did.

"Uh oh," I began, walking towards him with extreme caution as he made his way to the back door of the garage. "What happened out there?"

"I ruined her fucking night by accident, and now I think she's spiraling even worse, and much quicker than we anticipated." He shakes his head, clearly pissed at himself, and barges in the back door.

I follow him, needing to know more before I try approaching Emerson. He grabs a Bud Light from the fridge, twists off the cap, and collapses onto the couch, sucking down the icy-cold brew without stopping for air.

Grabbing myself a beer, I sink into the cushion beside him. "What did you do?"

He looks at me and shakes his head, muttering, "I accidentally broke her necklace."

My jaw drops, and a pained sigh leaves my throat as I turn to him to explain why she freaked the fuck out. "Her father gave her that the day he let her join the club."

"Fuck me," he huffs, hanging his head in shame.

"It'll be alright, trust me. She just needs some time, Kane," I assure him, trying to make the guilt building inside of him easier to deal with. "We'll fix it."

Looking blankly across the garage, he remains silent, clearly needing some time to sort through the shit in his head. I standup and give him a friendly pat on the back of his shoulder, but he doesn't even acknowledge it.

"I'm going to check on her, but if you want to talk later, then I'm all ears, brother."

He nods and motions me away, wanting to be alone for now.

I quietly made my way to Emerson's room, bracing myself for the storm that was sure to come. When I found her, she was sitting on her bed, clutching the broken necklace in her hand. Her eyes were red and puffy, and I could see the pain etched into her face. Due to her tears, I was able to see the bruises on her face from where her makeup had washed off, and it fucking enraged me. It took everything in me not to fucking say something to her, but somehow I managed to push it to the back of my mind with a mental note to bring it up at a later time. Instead, I sat down beside her and wrapped my arm around her, trying my best to offer some comfort, which had always worked for me before.

Emerson and I had a special bond, one unlike any of the others she had with the guys. It gave me hope that I'd be able to pull her out of her funk, soothe her sadness, and finally put a fucking smile back on her beautiful face.

"It's okay, Em. We'll fix it. I promise," I said softly, staring at the pearls clutched protectively in her shaky hand.

She didn't say anything, just continued to stare at the broken necklace for a while as we sat closely, silence looming over us. And then finally, she got off the bed and went to her dresser for her bottle of Xanax, pouring a few into the palm of her hand. Washing them down with my beer that she snatched out of my hand, a smilefinallycrept across her lips as her eyes landed on the blunt tucked behind my ear, and her mood switched just like that.

"Have you been waiting for me to smoke that?" She grins, her dimples popping, defining her already perfect cheeks.

"Indeed, I have." I match her grin and remove the blunt, pulling my zippo out of my pocket to light it.