Page 20 of Gabriel
I cross my arms over my chest and chew on my bottom lip. How does heseeme? See the things everyone else misses?
No one else has bothered asking me that. I’m sure they think it, but no one says it. Not out loud.
But Gabriel seems intent on driving his point home. “It might not be today. Might not even be this week or this month. But the thought is still in your head, right?”
I don’t answer.
“RIGHT?” He mutters another foreign curse and hangs his head. His chest heaves as he sucks in a deep breath.“Fuck!”
A sinking feeling hits me and I try to decipher where it’s coming from, but draw a blank.
“Answer me!” He straightens and takes a single step forward.
I ball my hands into fists. “Why do you even care?” He doesn’t know me. We’re not friends. Why does any of this matter to him?
A stark expression crosses his face, but it’s only there for a second before a new emotion covers it up. Anger. Vivid and raw.
“Do you have any idea how fucking selfish you are?” He pushes from the wall and stalks toward me. “Does it even register for you the kind of damage that little stunt of yours caused?”
My pulse races and a chill climbs up my spine.
He doesn’t pause to let me answer. “I saw your parents that day. After they were called to the clinic.” His lip curls in disgust.“They were wrecked. And you want to do that shit to them all over again?”
My heart pounds in my chest. My mind short-circuiting at his words.
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
Words jam up in my throat. I don’t know what to say to that. Or if saying anything will make any of this better. More likely, it’ll just make things worse, so I keep my mouth closed and ignore the sting of tears behind my eyes.
Gabriel’s expression bleeds with emotion. Anger and anguish warring with one another. My shock at his words begins to wear off the longer he stands there and I realize he’s only a few inches away. My throat constricts. He’s close. Too close.
My feet are frozen in place. My breath trapped in my lungs.
A shuddering exhale hisses through my teeth and it takes everything inside of me not to mentally shut down. To curl in on myself as I wait for whatever comes next. He’s just so angry.
Hot tears threaten to spill over, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction. He has no idea what I’ve been through.
“You don’t get to do shit like that.”
My feet finally move, but I’ve only retreated two steps before my back hits the wall
Gabriel follows suit and braces his hands on either side of my head, caging me in.
“You’re not a child. No one is going to excuse your behavior. Whatever the hell your issue is, grow the fuck up and get over it. Life moves on.”
My jaw tightens.
“And don’t for a second think it’s okay to do what you did to them. I don’t give a fuck what your damage is. Shit like that doesn’t go away for the people you leave behind.”
He barks out a humorless laugh.
“What am I thinking? You don’t care. You don’t give a fuck if you scar your loved ones. If you fucking break them.”
My head snaps up.
“For the record, you will. You’ll destroy them when you succeed with your little getaway plan.”
Frustration crashes over me and my lips press together in a tight line. No one else talks to me like this. Not about what happened. What I did. Mom and Dad coddle me. My therapist tries to understand me. But no one blames me like Gabriel is doing right now. No one else says this is my fault.
