Chapter twenty-five

The bright, warm light shining over my face jerks me awake.

"Fuck." I groan as pain spreads throughout my body. Half of my body is hanging off the bed, and my face is smooshed against the pillow.

"Good morning, sunshine." My brother's tone sounds sharp. As my eyes adjust to my surroundings, I see Ash standing by the window and pulling the curtains back.

Fucker.

"What the hell happened?" I try to roll onto my back despite the burning pain in my side.

"You don't remember anything?"

I shake my head.

Fuck, even that hurts.

Slowly, I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and press my hand against my tender side.

Another broken rib.

Fuck, everything hurts. The pain in my chest explodes every time I take a breath.

I look up to my brother and see a scowl on his face. He looks ready to kill.

"Just spit it out already, Ash." I grit my teeth in pain.

"What the hell were you thinking, going back to the Pit?" he seethes.

Fuck. How did he know…

"How did I know?" Ash answers my thoughts. "Roman called me, demanding I pick your stupid ass up. By the way, you got your ass handed to you."

I regret the moment I snap my head in his direction. My face is sore as fuck, and my head feels like someone took a sledgehammer to it.

"That traitorous asshole," I mutter.

"D, what the hell were you thinking? Mom and Dad freaked the hell out when they saw you."

"What? How did they see me?" Regret simmers in my chest at the thought of Mom seeing me banged up.

After my blowout with my parents, I went to the Pit. Shorty took Sophia and spent the night at Tia's. She said she didn't want to cause any more tension no matter how many times I told her she wasn't, but my girl is stubborn as hell.

Ash has a pained expression on his face. "They waited up for me when they heard me dash out of the house like my ass was on fire." He pauses for a minute and his eyes soften. "When Roman called, I…I thought you were…"

Ash doesn't have to finish because I know what he is thinking. Roman only calls if one of his fighters died or was rushed to the hospital. From the way my body feels, I almost did.

I promised Ash I would never return to the Pit. I bow my head in shame, not knowing how to fix this.

"Mom told me Shorty's pregnant."

"Yeah, she is," I respond.

He nods, but the disappointment in his face does not go unnoticed.

"Take a shower and come downstairs." Before he leaves, he says, "Don't ever fucking scare me like that again."

"Ash? Did she see…did Shorty come back?"

"No, she didn't." He leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.

Once I'm showered, I throw on a plain white shirt and gray sweatpants and leave my room, grunting in pain. I walk past Shorty's room and notice her door is open. Her bed is made but she and Sophie are nowhere to be found.

Her grandmother will be coming home in the next few days, which means Shorty and Sophie won't be staying here anymore.

I make my way down the stairs, holding onto my side.

Mom and Dad are sitting at the island when I walk into the kitchen, and Ash leans against the counter with a protein shake in his hands.

"Hey," I greet everyone. "Is Shorty still at Tia's?" I ask, looking around to see if she's nearby. She hasn't texted me back when I asked her when she'll be back so we can talk.

"Yeah," Ash responds, brushing past me with his shake.

I sigh in relief, glad she won't be here when shit's about to hit the fan.

I feel like shit when Mom lifts her head. Her eyes are bloodshot, swollen from the tears she was most likely crying because of me. Dad glares at me with disappointment written all over his face.

I open my mouth to speak, but Dad raises one hand to stop me. "When did it start?"

I clear my throat. "Two years ago."

Mom gasps.

Dad shakes his head.

"Why?" Mom cries.

Why? Because I was forced to leave my heart behind, and she was forced to survive without me. I wasn't there to protect her, to keep her safe.

"You could've gotten yourself killed." Dad's voice raises an octave.

"Honey," Mom warns Dad in a soft tone.

"No!" Dad yells and turns to me. "Do you know how worried we were, not knowing what happened to you, or where you were? What the hell were you thinking?"

With both hands in my pockets, I tear my gaze away from the disappointment spread over his face.

"But I didn't." That wasn't the right thing to say, because Dad loses his shit.

"But you could have!" Dad bellows, slamming his hand on the table, and my eyes return to his.

Mom flinches.

"If it wasn't for your brother picking your ass up, who knows what would've happened."

I can't hold it in any longer.

"Well, I wouldn't have gone if you didn't make me feel like shit!" I roar back.

Dad staggers back as if I ripped his heart out.

"And you made Shorty feel ashamed, like she did something wrong."

I pace the room and rest my hands on my head. After a minute of trying to keep my shit together, I turn back to my parents.

"We didn't plan for this to happen." I drop my hands to my sides.

"But I'm not going to walk away from her, or my kid. We'll make this work. I'm not a stupid eighteen-year-old kid who's going to walk away from his responsibilities. My plans for college haven't changed."

Mom's quiet sobs force me to move toward her. I pull her in for a hug and wince in pain when she hugs me back, holding onto me with all her might.

"I'm sorry for scaring you," I mutter.

"Don't ev-ever do that again," she stutters through her tears, grabbing onto my shirt.

I gently pull away from Mom and turn my attention to Dad.

"Son, I'm sorry I made you feel—I love you. We just want what's best for you."

"And what about Shorty? She's going to be the mother of my child—your grandchild. Are you going to go back on your word and turn your backs on her when I'm not around?"

"Of course not," Mom croaks, wiping her tears away.

Dad sighs and runs his hands over his mouth. "I love you, but you put yourself in a compromising position." I open my mouth to disagree, but he raises his hand stopping me. "You will go to college in Tennessee as planned, but Sadie will not join you."

"The hell she won't," I hiss, and panic surges. Leaving Shorty behind after all she's been through is not an option. That's another reason I went back to the Pit. I need to find ways to release all this pent-up anger and hopelessness.

"You don't have a choice in the matter." My dad furrows his brows.

"Sweetheart, your father is trying to say that while you're going to school, we will look after Sadie. I would never let anything happen to her," Mom promises.

"It's not about that, Mom. I want to be there when she has her first ultrasound. I want to be there for her when she has morning sickness. I want to feel my kid kick for the first time. And you're taking that away from me, from Shorty?"

"No, of course not. I'm just trying to be realistic," Dad says.

Before I can respond, Shorty's voice stops me from saying something I would regret.

"Donnie?" I shut my eyes when I hear her soothing voice, and fuck if that doesn't calm the beast within me.