Page 34 of Delirium
“What are you to him?” Ash asked out of the blue and looked at me.
I didn’t want to answer that question, because it hurt more than I wanted to admit, knowing that the one person you wanted to give your all was supposedly giving you an out, just because he was too much of a coward to tell you to get the fuck out of his life.
“Nothing,” I murmured, unable to look at either of them one second longer.
“Okay.” Ash nodded, seemingly choosing his next words carefully. “And what is he to you?”
“Everything,” I blurted out without thinking, hiding my eyes from this kid who had hell living in his eyes.
“I’m—”
“I understand that you have a death wish, Ophelia.” Indigo’s deep voice boomed around us, an underlying current of hate intertwined with every word. I turned and looked at him. He seemed furious, his eyes focused on me. “But the kid shouldn’t be the one to pay for your fucked-up behavior.”
“Go fuck yourself, Indigo,” I bit back. “It’s not like I wanted to be here. He made me come, so you can go back to your boss like a good little lapdog and tell him to either look somewhere else or to talk to me like a grown man.”
“Indigo—” Ash started, but there was no reasoning with Indigo once he set his mind on something.
“You are such a bitch, Ophelia. Motherfucking bitch.”
“Takes one to know one, darling.” I chuckled bitterly. “At least I know what I am and what I want. I don’t shy away from the shit I did, and I don’t mind saying I’m sorry. Tell me, Indigo, is Atlas talking to you again?”
I knew it was the wrong thing to say. I knew it would hit a nerve, but I didn’t care anymore. I was walking on eggshells around all of them, always careful not to say the wrong thing, not to offend any of them, but I’d had enough.
Enough of them making a fool out of me.
Enough of them thinking I was weak.
I’d had enough of playing by their rules, and if they wanted a motherfucking war with all their comments, then they were going to have it.
Faster than I could react or move away, Indigo had his hand wrapped around my throat, lifting me up from the chair as if I weighed nothing. But I wasn’t afraid of another man-child who couldn’t handle his life and live in his truth.
“And whose fault is that, bitch?” he asked, seething with anger.
“I fucked up shit, Indigo,” I choked out. “But that one is all on you.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see Ash getting off of his chair, looking around as if someone would help him if Indigo really tried to kill me. They were all counting on it, and it was obvious that Storm wouldn’t do shit even if Indigo tried to really hurt me.
“Indigo, you should let her go.” Ash spoke slowly, almost too carefully. “You’ll kill her.”
“I would be doing us all a favor if she stopped breathing. Trust me.” Indigo was relentless, his eyes holding anger that I hadn’t seen before. Atlas was a sore spot for him, a topic he never wanted to discuss, but I didn’t give a fuck about Indigo’s heart anymore.
I didn’t give a fuck about his feelings. It was obvious he wasn’t my friend and he never would be.
“For real, man.” Ash placed a hand on Indigo’s upper arm. “This is not okay.”
“Ash—”
“What the fuck are you doing, Indigo?” Atlas bellowed somewhere from the side, but I couldn’t move my head to look at him.
“I think it’s pretty obvious, Atlas.”
“Let go of her. I thought I warned you what would happen the next time you decided to act like a little bitch.”
“Fuck you, Atlas.”
“You already did that, baby.” Atlas grinned, while my eyes widened even more at the exchange between these two.
They did what? When? Why didn’t Atlas talk about that?
