Beautiful Bedlam (27 page)

“Are we ever going to talk about what happened tonight?” he asked quietly as they stopped at the red light. Sienna looked away from his penetrating gaze and looked down at her lap. Her phone was silently buzzing. She already received at least ten missed calls from her father. She let it go to voicemail. The last thing she needed was another long three-hour lecture from her family about what a monumental disappointment she was to them and a list of all the reasons she deserved to be grounded. No doubt Sharpe had already informed them of the disaster that was junior prom night. Logan inexplicably felt anxious and nervous with her distant behavior. Most girls would have jumped on guys who fought for them, yet she just sat next to him mute, like a perfect ice sculpture, lost in that beautiful maze of a mind of hers.

“Because I don’t regret tonight. Not a single moment. Well, except for when Sweaty Susan cornered me and manhandled a dance outta me. I’ll never get those five minutes back.” He added shaking his head. “But other than that, I don’t regret dancing with you, I don’t regret kissing you and I most definitely don’t regret defending you. And you can be mad at me all you want. And can even hate me all you want, but that’s who I am. I’m sorry if I’m not the guy who can simply walk away from a fight cos that’s just not who I am!” he sighed. His heart was still pounding with emotion and he almost sighed in relief when she looked at him warmly and leaned forward gently to peck him on the cheek.

“I know.” She replied softly, gently running her fingers through his dark hair.

“And I’m not mad at you and I certainly don’t hate you.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds basking in the feel of her soft touch. The one lone car from behind honked his horn angrily and overtook them. He opened his eyes to see the green light and quickly drove along silently praying it was dark enough in the car so that she couldn’t see him blush.

“Although I still prefer if you didn’t punch Noah in the face. He already has enough reason to hate us.” She said quietly moving her hand.

“I’ll apologize to him. Maybe…I shouldn’t have hit him.” He admitted sheepishly.

Despite declaring that he had no regrets about tonight, Sienna knew deep down that Logan did feel guilty for hurting Noah. He would never admit it to anyone, least of all to himself. The Mustang slowed down to a stop as he parked on the side of the road.

“What are you doing?” she asked feeling surprised at the sudden stop.

“I forgot to give you something.” He answered and handed her a beautiful white carnation wristband. He tied it around her small wrist.

“Better late than ever.” He smirked and she couldn’t help but laugh, it was near midnight. “Next time, I’ll give it to you before the dance, I promise.”

“Oh? And who said I’ll even be willing to go to another dance with you after tonight’s performance?” she asked teasingly in his ear.

“Mm, something tells me… you enjoyed my performance… more than you let on Miss Rivers.” He replied in between soft tender kisses. This kiss was a lot more intimate than before. They were alone in the small space of his haven, the cherry red Mustang. Everything felt so much more intimate and personal. She ran her fingers through his dark hair again sending thrills down his spine and moaned softly in to his mouth as his hands gently skimmed down the sides of her hourglass figure. The material of her ivory dress was thin and clung to every edge and curve of her warm womanly body.  He wanted her. He had always wanted her but he didn’t want to frighten her. She was different to all of the other girls he had been with. She was special to him and close to his heart. She was worth waiting for. Her cell phone burst to life buzzing around on her lap.
Dad
. She pulled back to answer her phone.

“Ignore it.” He whispered as he slowly left a trail of tender kisses along her neck to her collarbone.

“Mm, I should really get this.” She sighed, not moving away from him. The phone finally stopped vibrating much to her relief.

“It’s Dad, he’s probably wondering where I am.” She smiled reveling in a rare moment of teenage rebellion.

“Yeah, you’re right. It is pretty late.” He replied returning the smile and pulled back from her. Her green eyes were lit with desire and she read the same emotion in his dark eyes. Sienna leaned forward to kiss him once more allowing her hands to explore his shoulders, chest and back. She loved him with all her heart, she always had. She wanted to give herself to him in every way possible. She could hear the sound of sirens blazing as an ambulance van rushed past them. Her tiny silver flip phone came to life yet again and this time they both sighed out of frustration. She flipped it open to listen to the first of a dozen angry voicemail messages.

“Sienna you little bitch! Where the hell are you? You ungrateful cow we gave you cell so you could use it! You’re so stupid you probably don’t even know how! You’re so useless! GET HOME NOW! Mum and dad just had a huge fight and-“ the sound of Meredith’s screeching neurotic voice was abruptly ended as Logan snapped her cell shut.

“Logan!” Sienna squealed.

“How do you let her talk to you like that?” he asked shocked, still clutching the cell in hand.

“What do you mean? She’s my sister. Sisters always fight.” She replied meekly.

“Exactly you’re sisters, not master and slave. She treats you like garbage and no one ever does a damn thing. Cora’s no better either. I don’t even want to mention your mom.” He said contemptuously.

Sienna didn’t know what to say. Instead she sat in shock blinking rapidly. She felt a flood of embarrassment wash over her. Logan had grown up with her, and more specifically Meredith. He’d witnessed first hand how awfully her sisters treated her. He didn’t understand how someone so smart and strong could let her own blood treat her like crap every day. Sienna turned her face away from him. The last thing she wanted was his pity.

“I don’t want your damn pity, Logan.” She spat out feeling angrily to cover her embarrassment.

“Good ‘cos you’re not getting any from me.” He smiled lovingly at her and snapped the cell in half and threw it out of the window.

“Logan! What the hell? Meredith’s going to kill me!”

“And I’m going to kill me if I hear about her again!” he replied rolling his eyes heavenward. It was no surprise that he disliked her before, but now he seemed to really truly despise her.

“That cell that you’re supposed to be grateful for is probably from the last century. I’ll get you something a little more twenty-first century and worthy of Sienna Rivers.” He grinned at her horrified expression.

“I am not one of those girls who expect to get showered by gifts by their boyfriend!”

“I’m your boyfriend, huh?” his cocky wolfish grin catapulted her heart straight to her throat.

“Erm, er… I mean… we don’t need to put labels on anything.” She stuttered nervously.

“You’re cute when you’re nervous.” He said against her lips and kissed her once more.

“Now I say we go for a nice long ride and then I get you home, back to dear old mom and Anastasia and Drizella.” She laughed at how he knew the names of the ugly stepsisters. She had only forced him to watch Disney’s Cinderella at least a dozen times one summer when they were nine years old. He winked at her as he started the car and her heart swelled at the memory. She turned the radio on. The sound of Daphne and Celeste’s “U.G.L.Y” erupted and Sienna squealed with joy and began singing the chorus. Haven Falls was a small town that had a tiny population of no more than a couple of hundred of people. Therefore, there was only one radio station, which seemed to be obsessed with playing songs from the twentieth century at night.

“U-G-L-Y, you ain’t got a alibi! You ugly! Hey, hey, you ugly!”

“Oh hell no!” He cringed at the hip-hop beats and immediately lunged towards the knob and turned it to another radio station blaring out Bon Jovi’s infamous words “It’s my life!” She couldn’t help but let slip a small smile as his eyes slit to her and he gave her his stunning hundred watt gleaming white smile causing her heart to suddenly accelerate much like the speed of the car. He then drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, rocked his head back and forth and sang along with the words perfectly. He had the perfect deep rock voice and he took his eyes off the road for a couple of seconds to look at her as he sang the chorus. She couldn’t help but laugh and whoop and put her hands up in the air and as he sped the car along the empty streets. She had never felt so free and so alive when she was with Logan. They laughed and sang 80’s rock songs all the way til they reached her driveway, which was blocked by a parked police car and an ambulance van.

The neighbors were stood outside in their fluffy night robes and wore shocked expressions. Sienna jumped out of the car and stood frozen to the spot as two paramedics led a stretcher in to the garage. The door was open slightly. Sienna began walking towards it quickly despite Logan’s warnings not to but she didn’t listen instead she sprinted inside ducking under the yellow tape and past the police officers and made it about two feet inside before she saw it.

Red. The world was painted red. She saw a glimpse of her father slumped over in his old favorite chair with a gaping hole in his forehead, blood and brain matter splattered across the walls and floor and the revolver lying on the floor. Suddenly the air around her seemed crisper, the wind seemed to be colder against her face. Logan quickly came up from behind her. She could see his mouth moving yet she could barely make out what he was saying.

“Don’t look.” His voice came out deep and slow and spun her around so she’d stop looking. She could see a police officer yell at them and gesture to move but she could barely hear him over the sound of women crying and she subconsciously knew it was her sisters and mother. Logan hugged her and held her against him as if to shield her from the truth and the pain. She opened her mouth but no words came out, only bitter cold silence. Sienna felt nothing but an ache in her soul and a void in her heart where her father used to remain. She felt empty and hollow. Logan cried out her name several times to which she did not respond. She merely stood still in her stunning ivory gown frozen in shock and numb to the world around her like an ice princess, fragile like glass.

He shook her gently almost as if he were afraid that he would break her. But she was already broken. Her father was dead, he had killed himself and Sienna knew that all that was right in the world was suddenly not. 
Nothing will ever be right again
, she thought numbly as the world blurred around her and she closed her eyes and gave in to the darkness as she felt her knees give in below her. Logan caught her and held her in his arms and immediately strode towards the medic nearby. He looked towards the doorway of the home he had shared so many of his childhood memories in and saw a distraught Mrs. Rivers glaring at him seething with what looked like pure hatred. He followed her line of sight and realized she wasn’t staring at him. Rather, she was glowering at her beautiful unconscious daughter.

She then abruptly slammed the front door shut as if she couldn’t bear to look at her, as if she blamed her leaving Logan standing in the snow still suited and booted in all his tuxedo glory holding his beautiful girl in his arms, her perfect white dress now marred with her father’s blood, surrounded by police cars and paramedics. The blue and red neon lights shone bright in the dark but Logan seemed unfazed by it all. A strange cold fear gripped him as he looked down at that angelic face resting against his shoulder. Her thick dark lashes lay heavy against her perfect olive skin like two perfect dark crescent moons concealing those glorious starry green eyes burdened with anguish much too raw and intense for a teenager to bear. She was frail and tiny and much too beautiful, light as a feather in his arms, like a pure white dove. Things were only going to get worse before they were going to get better but that was okay because Logan was determined to be there for Sienna every step of the way.