Page 210 of What We Break
It's his fault.
He couldn't just leave it alone. Couldn't just be happy for me. Had to pick at it. Had to undermine it. Had to make her feel small. Had to tell her things that were private.
And tonight? Tonight he went for the kill.
He told her I stopped him from leaving. He knew exactly what that would do. Knew it would prove to her that she came second.
He did this on purpose.
He wanted her gone. He's been trying to get rid of her since day one, and tonight he finally succeeded. Sacrificed my happiness to keep things the way they are. Just me and him. Just the two of us in this big, empty house, miserable together.
A sound cuts through the night.
Tires on gravel.
I look up. Twin beams of light sweep across the trees. A truck engine rumbles, low and familiar.
Blake.
He’s back.
He's coming home. Probably thinks he's safe. Probably thinks he got away with it. Probably thinks I'm asleep and tomorrow he can just wake up and act like nothing happened. Like he didn't just take a wrecking ball to my entire life.
I don't move. Not yet.
I sit on the damp steps. The cold seeps through my jeans, and I stare at the yellow light that flicks on in the workshop window. Wind picks up, rattles the pine branches. I barely feel it.
I watch the truck pull around the side of the house toward the workshop. Watch the headlights cut out. Hear the heavy thud of the door closing. His workshop. His sanctuary.
Minutes pass.
He's in there. Taking off his jacket. Setting up his tools. Safe in his little fortress of solitude while I'm sitting out here in the wreckage he made. He's just going to go back to work. Like nothing changed.
I stand up.
The grief in my chest hardens. It crystallizes into something sharp and deadly.
I’m not sad anymore. I’m not desperate.
I’m fucking livid.
I walk down the driveway. My hands are fists. My breath is coming in short, sharp bursts.
He thinks he’s my brother? He thinks he’s protecting me?
Brothers don’t do this. Brothers don’t destroy each other.
I reach the workshop door. I don't hesitate. I don't knock.
I slam it open.
And I step inside to burn it all down.
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BLAKE
Ican't sit still.
