The Bad Boy (25 page)

The McKingsley’s
are going to hate me. Hailey and Matt are going to hate me. Hell,
I’ll even fucking hate myself. I should have done something else to
save him.

I couldn’t wait
for any longer. The suspense was killing me.

I walked up to
the front desk and waited for the nurse to look up at me. When she
finally did I right away asked, “Is Austin McKingsley okay? Have
you heard anything about it?”

She shook her
head in sorrow and my heart fell. “They are still operating on him
sweet heart. I’m sorry.”

Not even
acknowledging her, I pushed away from the front desk and went back
to my seat.

Let
him be okay. Let him be okay. Let him be okay.

I kept chanting
in my head. Austin was too good of a person to die. He was so young
and had so much going for him.

My thoughts
snapped back to what the kids were saying about him. I bet those
were the kids who had beat him before also. Why is he defending
them though? Why would he defend them? If—no
when
Austin
makes it through, I hope now he comes clean and tells the police
these kids’ names because, because of them Austin might
die.

All of a sudden
the doors to the waiting room burst open and yelling fills the
silent room.

“
Where
the fuck is he?”

My heart spikes
up and I feel my throat close. I jump out of my chair and just
stand there as Jared screams. His family is right behind him trying
to calm him down. My eyes fill with tears as I see them because I
know they will hate me for what has happened.

Jared’s eyes
snapped in my direction and he comes rushing over to me. Roughly he
grabs my shoulders and shakes me. “What happened to him
Emilie!?”

My heads gets
fuzzy from all the emotions and the fall I took earlier. I try to
speak but I can’t with all the commotion. Jared is still shaking me
but his words aren’t making it to my ears.

Mr. McKingsley
comes up behind Jared and pulls him off of me. Jared is fighting,
struggling against his dad screaming a million things. I see Timmy
and Willis behind him looking terrified at the scene and it breaks
my heart because they are young. Too young to watch this all
happen. To have this all happen to them.

Jared is in front
of me again. This time he’s pleading me to help him figure out what
is going on. Gently he grabs my face between his hands. “Emilie,
babe please what happened with Austin?”

That did
it.

I broke down in
his arms and clutched to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist,
his shirt twisting into my fingers as I let the tears fall. “I am
so sorry! I should have helped him. Saved him. Done something
more!”

Jared pulled me
to his chest and rubbed my back. “I need you to tell me what
happened. Please.”

I chocked on my
sobs and nodded. Jared led me to a chair and the whole family
surrounded me. No one seemed mad at me. They understood that I
tried to help Austin right? They knew I would never hurt Austin or
try to get him hurt.

Jared grabbed
hold of my hand and squeezed it. I looked into his eyes and I
didn’t see any more hate. Sucking in a deep breathe, I dove into
the story. I left out the meeting with Mrs. Hanglinton and just
said I was out in town for the day.

When I got to the
part of the fight scenes, I started breaking down again. The images
that flashed through my mind were so real. The knife cutting into
Austin, the way the kid could so easily pull it out and leave
Austin. The way Austin kept coming and going out of
consciousness.

The worst was
when he threw me off of him to save me. I couldn’t wrap my head
around that fact. It just showed how good of a kid he was and I
couldn’t believe we might lose him.

“
I am
so sorry I couldn’t help him.” I chocked wiping my face. I looked
down at my hand to see blood on it. My cheek was bleeding
again.

Jared pulled me
up from the chair and looked down at his family. “I’m going to help
her get cleaned up.”

Mrs. McKingsley
nodded and squeezed my hand as we passed her. She was crying.
 “This is not your fault sweetie.”

Jared wrapped an
arm around my waist and held me to his side. I didn’t fight it. I
didn’t fight anything, I just let it be. I was too weak for
anything else to happen tonight. I just had to let it take its
course.

We reached the
bathrooms and Jared opened the door ushering me in first. He looked
both ways and then slipped in behind me. “You can’t be in this
bathroom.” I stated and watched as he locked the door behind
him.

He turned to me
and just stared at me. Nothing was being said from either of us. I
stood there letting him take everything in. I didn’t put up a wall
to hide my emotions from him. I let him see the sorrow, the pain,
and the guilt I was feeling. I practically poured it out on the
floor just by looking at him.

Without
hesitation he pulled me into him and squeezed me tightly. I gripped
onto his shoulders holding him to me. I didn’t want to let go, I
wanted Jared. I wanted him for myself. I should have seen that he
was right for me before this.

Conner was the
one I should have been pushing away, not Jared.

“
I
like you Jared.” I whispered into his ear. “I am so sorry that you
had to find out this way but I didn’t want to wait any longer to
tell you.”

He didn’t answer
me but I was okay with that. As long as I got out what I needed
too. He could take all the time he needed too. Or never answer. I
was okay with that.

Then he whispered
so lowly I almost missed it. “It took you long enough to admit
it.”

A smile broke
onto my face and I pulled back to look at him. “Jerk. You have
nothing else to say?” Tears were still falling from my eyes but I
was a little happier because at least we were past fighting with
each other.

He let out a
chuckle and just stared at me again. “I wish you would have told me
sooner. Would have saved a lot of shit from happening.”

I nodded my head
and laughed. “Yeah, it would have. But you still don’t have
anything else to say?” I cocked my head to the side
innocently.

He wiped his
thumbs under my eyes. “Come here.” He tugged on my hand and brought
me to the sink. He turned the tap on and wetted a piece of paper
towel. Slowly and softly he cleaned off my cut. I examined his face
as he worked and I couldn’t believe I never noticed him before.
Like actually noticed him.

The way his eyes
were soft and warm. They were only cold when something really
pissed him off or upset him. I lowered my view to his nose and
cheeks and was amazed that I never noticed his freckles before. It
made him look younger almost.

Lastly, I zeroed
in on his lips and felt my heart pick up speed. They were full and
pink. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to feel them against mine and
know that this kiss we shared this time would actually mean
something. For the both of us.

He did one final
swipe and threw the paper towel away. “I think that’s better.” He
smiled running his fingers over my cheek. It sent a shiver to run
down my spine and I moved closer to him. His eyes held intensity.
“For some damned reason, I like you too Emilie.”

Kiss
me.

I couldn’t think
of anything else.

It was all I
wanted.

The words swirled
around my head but then I stopped myself when I was inches away
from his face.

We had things to
go over. We had Austin to deal with first. We could wait but Austin
couldn’t.

“
Can
we talk more about this later please?”

“
I
think that would be best.” He stepped closer to me so our bodies
were pressed together. “Thanks for helping Austin.”

I sucked my lip
into my mouth as I stared up at Jared. “I’m sorry it’s happening
this way. I just wish I knew why those guys are beating him all the
time.”

“
What
do you mean ‘all the time’?” Jared questioned.

I let it slip.
Shit. But I couldn’t lie to him, not after what happened tonight.
“That night we went to the party together Austin came home all
beaten and asked me not to say anything. I’m sorry Jared. If I knew
it was something this bad I would have.”

Please don’t be
mad. Please don’t be mad at me. We just made up.

Jared shook his
head. “If he has a chance to hide it, he will.” He didn’t seem mad
but disappointed really.

“
What
do you mean?” I asked knitting my eyebrows.

Jared looked down
at me. “It’s a long story Emilie.”

“
Tell
me why they beat him. I need to know now after what I just saw.” I
demanded softly. That’s all I asked for because it would make
things have more sense for me.

“
Emilie not—“

“
Jared
please!”

“
He’s
gay!” He yelled running a hand through his hair roughly and looking
down at the floor. “Okay. My brother is gay.” His voice trailed off
and my eyes went wide.

That was his
secret. The reason he was being beat up? Why those guys were saying
what they were saying?

“
That’s—why…” I couldn’t think of anything to say to that. It
was horrible. That’s the only way I could describe it.

“
You
have no idea how much I try to protect him from all the bullying
but it isn’t enough.” He looked at me with grief. “Tonight was an
example of that.”

“
I’m
sorry that he has to go through that and you.” I said pulling him
into a hug.

He didn’t move to
hug me back but stayed limp in my arms. “I tried so many times to
watch out for him but it never will be enough. If I lose him
tonight—“

“
Hey!”
I pulled him back and stared into his eyes with a glare. “He is
going to make it! Do you understand me? Austin is not dying. You
are not going to lose your brother.”

“
You
better be right.”

“
I
am.”

God, I hope I am.
I knew I shouldn’t have said that because I can’t control anything
and if I’m wrong… I just hope I’m not.

We both jumped
when a loud ringing blared through the silence. I looked down at my
phone screen and answered it when I saw it was Hailey.

“
Hello?”

“
Emilie! What the fuck is going on?” She yelled all breathless.
“Matt got a text from Jared saying that Austin was in the hospital
and got stabbed!?” There was clear panic in her voice and I looked
over at Jared who was staring at the floor.

“
Are
you guys on your way here?” I asked turning my back to Jared. I
think he needed some privacy but I wasn’t going to fully leave him
alone. I had no idea what he was thinking and wanted to make sure
he wouldn’t do anything irrational.

“
We’re
like five minutes away.” She was talking again but it sounded
distance so I assumed she was talking to Matt. This time she was
speaking to me. “Is Jared with you?”

“
Yeah
were in the bathroom right now.” I looked behind me to see Jared
sitting on the floor with his head on his knees and his hands
tangled in his hair.

“
Why
are you guys in the bathroom?” She seemed surprised and
confused.

“
It’s
a long story…” I said looking away again and closing my eyes. My
cheek was throbbing so I switched the phone to my other
ear.

“…
to
do.” She finished talking but I missed the beginning.

“
What
did you say? I missed the first part.”

She repeated
herself. “I said ‘you have a lot of explaining to do.’”

I nodded my head.
“So do you Hailey. Where the hell have you been today?”

There was a
paused for a moment before I heard her giggle a little. “I have
some very good news for you.”

I smiled as I
said. “You told him?” My voice was overly happy and Jared came up
next to me looking confused. I put up my finger telling him to hold
on for a minute.

“
I’m
not saying anything—oh we’re here!” Before I could say anything she
hung up the phone on me.

I closed my phone
and slipped it into my back pocket. I faced Jared and gave him a
small smile. “Matt and Hailey are here. Let’s go meet them in the
waiting room.”

He nodded still
looking distant from me as he moved towards the door. I slipped my
hand into his when we got into the hallway and gave it a tight
squeeze. I was letting him know I was here for him no matter what
happened.

He understood by
the look he gave me and then we were walking hand in hand back to
everyone. Some weight was lifted off my shoulders knowing that
Jared and I were fixed and some things were cleared up.

I still owed him
a huge apology for everything I said and did to him but that would
just have to wait until later.

We entered the
room and all eyes snapped to us. Hailey and Matt were seated with
Willis and Timmy. I raised my eyebrows when I saw Timmy squished
against Hailey’s shoulders. I didn’t know they were close. Or that
they even knew each other.