Chapter 14

Ash and I pull up to Shorty's school twenty minutes after Ash received the call from Tia. Without a second thought, I grabbed my keys and jumped in my car with Ash in the seat beside me.

Tia didn't go into specifics, just that Shorty needed me. That's all I needed to get to my girl who had the power to get rid of the demons from my soul.

We step out of the car and run toward the school's double doors where Seb is waiting for us.

"What's up, man?" Seb fist-bumps my brother and me.

"Where is she?" I skip the pleasantries eager to get to Shorty.

Seb flicks his head behind him.

We follow.

Tia is standing outside the girls' bathroom with her arms wrapped around her. When she sees us, relief emanates from her, and her shoulders relax.

"What happened?" I ask Tia.

"I don't know," she says. "Sade just lost it and ran in the bathroom. She won't talk to me or anyone else."

I nod and walk through the door. The first thing I see is Shorty sitting with her back against the wall, her knees pressed against her chest. Her head hangs low to her chest, and her ponytail bobs up and down as her body shakes with quiet sobs.

I hate to see her broken, fragile, and alone. I want to wrap her up in bubble wrap so nothing can ever hurt her.

Without speaking, I sit beside Shorty, lifting her onto my lap. Surprisingly, she doesn't fight me. Her legs wrap around my waist as she cries into my chest. I hold her tight as I rub small circles on her back, trying to console her.

We don't speak.

The sound of Shorty's whimpers and sniffles fills the room. After a while, she relaxes, and the sobs dissipate.

"What are you doing here?" she whispers brokenly, her tired voice breaking the silence.

"I'm here for you," I say against her hair that smells like strawberries.

Shorty lifts her head. Her lips are swollen, and her face is blotchy from crying. I run my hands in her hair.

She shudders at my touch.

I tighten my hands on her hips when she tries to move. Shorty fists the fabric on my hoodie and exhales. "Why aren't you in school?"

After everything she's gone through, she changes the focus on me.

"No class today."

This is the start of the weekend for college tours.

"What happened today, Shorty?" I ask, stroking her face and loving the way her soft skin feels.

She tries to turn away, but I don't let her.

I seized her chin with my thumb. "Hey, don't do that."

I wait for a response, but one doesn't come.

"Talk to me," I push again.

She stares at me with her deep brown eyes that shimmer with tears. Chocolate brown eyes that I could get lost in. She's so fucking beautiful. I mean, yeah, she's always been beautiful, but right now, the vulnerability she's showing is a huge turn on.

Great. Now my dick is growing hard.

Shorty must've noticed my body's reaction when she says, "Seriously, Donnie." She groans, trying to push me away.

I chuckle, feeling ashamed and horny.

Shorty continues to wiggle free, giggling, but that just makes it grow harder. "I really need you to stop moving," I grit through my teeth.

She giggles again, as if she's taking joy in my torture.

"It's so good to hear you laugh," I say.

Her face softens, and then she finally speaks. "I was thinking about Jo, and I just…"

"Fell apart," I finish for her.

She nods and gives me a half smile.

Fuck, I'll take it.

I'm not surprised Josiah was the reason for her breakdown. Shorty and Josiah were close growing up. Not one day went by that he never looked out for her.

He protected her.

When Seb called to tell me Josiah was missing, I didn't hesitate to get into my car and drive to the hospital.

When I walked into Shorty's room without knocking, she wasn't surprised to see me.

"Seb called you?" she asked with a small smile.

I nod, pulling up the chair closer to her bed.

Taking her small hand in mine, I ask, "What happened?"

Shorty glances at the window and sighs. "Jo's been missing, and no one has seen him." She sniffs and turns to me.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, rubbing small circles inside her palm.

"Did you know he has bipolar disorder?"

I shake my head because I never knew.

She sniffs and wipes her nose with her other hand. "Yeah, he, um… he was diagnosed when he was sixteen years old. Jo drank more and started to use cocaine."

I look up at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah," she huffs, "it was his way of dealing with everything that was going on at home."

She cries harder this time. I squeeze her hand, comforting and letting her know I'm here.

"He would have these awful episodes, and I never knew how to help him."

I could hear the torment in her words. Shorty always felt hopeless whenever things were out of her control, especially regarding her brother.

I listened intently as she spoke about Josiah's struggles and the countless episodes he had experienced.

I couldn't imagine what Shorty was feeling at a young age, not only trying to survive her father's ongoing abuse but managing to keep Josiah's secret buried deep inside her.

She explained that the changes in his moods and hallucinations worsened when he drank or did drugs. What broke my heart was hearing about Josiah losing it one day and attacking her. My hands balled into fists wanting to drive them through a fucking wall. Not only did she have to survive her father's beatings, but her brothers too.

"That's why I am so worried about him," Shorty says, looking straight into my eyes, bleeding with pain. "Without his meds…" she stops, buries her head in her hands, and cries.

I climb onto the bed and hold her in my arms. Shorty leans in and cries on my chest. I rub my hands up and down her back and place a kiss on top of her head.

She didn't have to finish the sentence because I knew that without his meds, Josiah would relapse into a deep depression leading to bad decisions.

"I just need him to be ok," she cries through suppressed sounds of hiccups.

Her body trembles with sobs when she says, "I can't lo-lose him."

My stomach churned over her words. If something happened to Josiah, that might be enough for her to jump off the bridge straight to hell.

If anything were to happen to her, I would dive into the depths of hell and bring her back to me.

"You don't have to go through this alone, Shorty. I am here for you. I want to be here. Just please don't push me away," I plead.

Those words break her walls down, and she cries hard. Shorty buries her head in my neck.

"I'm taking you home," I whisper in her ear the same time Ash walks in. He takes Shorty from me while I get on my feet. He quickly puts her back in my arms. She snuggles against my chest and continues to cry.

When Tia and Seb see Shorty in my arms, their shoulders sag in relief. I walk out the front doors with my girl. After I tuck her in my car and buckle her in, I lean down and place a kiss on her forehead.