For3ver Page 5

  8.) Boyfriend- Justin Bieber

  9.) You're Beautiful- James blunt

  10.) The Worst- Jhene Aiko

  11.) Say Something- A Great Big World/Christina Aguilera

  Maybe she'd just appreciate that I knew her favorite songs.... Maybe.

  RYLEY

  Something told me to try and hide the CD from Gage, but I didn't have the chance to before he noticed it.

  "The hell is that?" He frowned at the disc in my hand.

  "Nothin'. Liam's just tired of me stealing his music I guess." I shrugged and pushed past him into his house.

  I didn't know what we were doing that day, but it didn't matter. All I wanted to do was get home and listen to the CD, to hear what Liam really thought. Music was always my way of escaping, and knowing Liam, there was something on that CD that meant a lot to him. Gage grumbled something behind me and headed down to the basement.

  "Ryley, so nice to see you this morning! You look lovely!" Grandma Faith announced. Every time I saw her, she looked little more worn down, maybe it was because her daughter didn't come around and her grandkids were practically ready to leave the house too.

  "Thank you Gram." I smiled.

  "Ryley! Downstairs! NOW!" Gage yelled from the basement.

  So much for a nice conversation. Gram gave me a soft smile and patted my shoulder.

  "You mean the world to those two boys. Remember that," she said, and then shuffled into the kitchen for more coffee.

  Deciding to grab a cup of coffee before heading down, I followed her and started getting my cup ready. As soon as I began to pour the steaming liquid into my cup his voice bellowed from the basement with a growl.

  "Dammit, Ryley, get down here!" It shook me so much that he would yell at me like that, especially in front of his grandma, that I knocked my cup and coffee went all over the counter.

  "Shoot! I'm sorry Gram. Let me—"

  "Nonsense. Go on down, Ryley." She dried the outside of my cup and handed it to me.

  I thought about just going home. I was tired and Gage was obviously not in the best mood, but doing that would make him in an even worse mood. Those last few weeks, he had been in an increasingly bad mood. The compliments had stopped, the smiles stopped, hell, even the sex stopped.

  Making it downstairs, I put the CD on the table and walked over to sit on the couch by Gage. Half asleep, he didn't even look at me while he stared at the TV, watching wrestling.

  "What time'd you get in?" I asked, trying not to make him even angrier.

  "Late. Nick had to bring me home. Crashed on the couch down here till just a little bit ago."

  "Oh." Was all I could say. He looked like he had been up all night drinking. Red eyes, irritated temper. "Well, I can go so you can get some rest."

  "Nah, I got work to do for Gram in a little bit. Old woman can't do anything for herself anymore," he huffed and got up from the couch.

  I saw him stop as soon as he passed the table, then back up like something caught his attention. He turned and smiled.

  "This a love CD or something, Ry?" he sneered.

  "What?" Why was my heart starting to beat faster?

  "This dumb CD my brother gave you. What's really on it?" he wondered out loud as he walked over to the CD player. I stood to grab it from him, but he put his arm out stopping me, then gave me a questionable look. "Let's take a listen." His smile was evil, just evil. Who was this guy?

  "Gage, you look tired. Why don't you grab some rest. I'm sure Gram will understand if you don't get started right away."

  "Sit!" he ordered. I obeyed, not understanding why.

  Gage put the CD in and pressed 'play'. He stood back and folded his arms across his chest while his eyes bored into mine. He was well built, muscles shaping the sleeves of his shirt, and with that look on his face he seemed menacing.

  The first song, Light Years, was my absolute favorite song. I used to try and make Liam listen to it nonstop, but he always made fun of me. This wasn't on any of the CDs he kept in the car. Gage recognized this and cocked his head while glaring at me.

  "Interesting," he muttered.

  Clicking through the songs, Gage's demeanor got more and more tense and I became more and more ready to leave. Leave and find Liam and ask him what this was all about. Maybe he made this for his girlfriend of the month and just got our CDs mixed up. By the time 'Say Something' blasted through the speakers, Gage had enough. Turning the player off, he turned to me with the most sinister look on his face.

  "You fuckin' my brother?" he growled. My heart was hammering in my chest; I didn't know why I was so nervous.

  "What? No!" I practically yelled as I hopped up from the couch.

  "Bull. None of those songs are songs he has in the car, Ry." He walked towards me and I got a terrible feeling this was going nowhere good, and fast. Gage's temper was something I never wanted to mess with.

  "He had to get it mixed up. Let me just take it back to him and get the correct one." I tried grabbing the CD but his grip made it to my forearm first. Squeezing hard, he stared into my eyes. The eyes that I grew up with, the ones I thought I might be learning to love as much as I loved his brother's had changed into something awful.

  "You won't go see him, got it?" His grip kept getting tighter and tighter until I couldn't take it.

  "You are hurting me, Gage," I whispered, willing myself not to cry in front of him.

  He looked down at his hand then back at me, his face turning into an even meaner sneer.

  "What the hell is this, Ryley?" he ground out, tightening his grip on my arm to almost unbearable as he eyed my bracelet. Our bracelet. The bracelet that Liam and I made together.

  I tried pulling my arm away for fear that he was going to break it, but he just held tighter.

  "This." He yanked with his other hand and the bracelet went flying across the room. "Piece of shit kiddie bracelet," he growled.

  I tried holding my tears in; I tried not letting him see how much he just ripped my world apart. That bracelet was the only thing I had left of my childhood, one that was rapidly dissolving into distant memories. I couldn't hold them in anymore. Gage, the boy next door that I always loved in some way, just ruined everything.

  As if something snapped in his mind to tell him what he was doing was wrong, he let go and stepped back. He looked surprised at himself, at me.

  "Ry, oh my God. I—" He started stuttering.

  "I need to go," I said as I grabbed the CD and ran upstairs.

  I was pretty sure Gram yelled for me, but I didn't wait. I ran as fast as I could across our yards and to my car. I didn't want my mom or dad to see me like that, so I couldn't go inside, but I had to listen to those songs again.

  I put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway, driving around the pond behind Liam's house and parking in the spot my dad used to park when we went fishing. No one would've been able to see my car from there, which meant no one would've been able to see the tears. I slid the CD into the player and waited for it to start up. I knew what to expect from the songs, but I still cried. Liam meant this CD for me, but it wasn't right. I was with his brother. I was happy with his brother. Right?

  Liam shouldn't have given me the CD, even if it was just because we were 'friends'. Gage must have had way too much to drink the night before to react that way to me. He had never done that before. Why were things so difficult with those two? Maybe I should have just stepped out of their lives before I ruined their relationship with each other, but giving up my boyfriend and my best friend was scary.

  The music played on and on, filling my car with songs that a man would put together for the woman he painfully loved. By the end, I was in full blown tears, blubbering like a baby in my car. A knock on the passenger window startled me and I wiped at my face furiously to get the tears away.

  Liam stood there, hands in his pockets, waiting for me to say something. I turned the music down and reached over to unlock the door. He slid in and shut the door, looking at the water in
front of us rather than at me.

  "I'm sorry, Ry," he whispered.

  "Why'd you do it, Liam? What is this anyway?"

  He had to have known what I was talking about, even after all the years apart, I knew there was something between us. Maybe it was just young love, maybe it was just because he was my first love, but there was still something. I was taken, though, so for him to express it now, after Gage and I had been together almost a year, was just unfair. It pissed me off, too, that I still held hope that Liam and I would get our happily ever after, just like I'd pretend when I was a little girl, because I knew that wasn't going to happen anymore.

  "I was pissed at Gage for treating you like he did last night. I just.... I wanted to cheer you up." He sighed.

  "Well, it pissed Gage off."

  "He listened to it?"

  "Yea, forced me to let him listen to it." I didn't want to tell him about my arm, or about what Gage told me. It was only a matter of time before the bruises from Gage's fingertips darkened on my arm and I didn't think I could stay away from Liam if I tried, so he'd probably see them eventually.

  "Hell, Ry. I didn't mean anything by it. I promise. I just know you like those songs so I put them on a CD for you. Promise." He looked me in my eyes and the honesty from his words hurt more than everything Gage had done to me.

  He didn't mean anything by them. Why would I have been so stupid to think otherwise, though? Gage was his brother and Liam was a good guy. He wouldn't do that to his brother.

  "Listen, when Gage came home this morning I was already pissed that he left you alone last night, but I was going to forgive him because I figured he slept at your house. When I found out he slept over at Nick's place, I was furious. So, I decided that no matter what, I was giving this CD to you. I know Gage can be territorial, but I just felt... guilty." He tried explaining more, but my mind was stuck on one thing.

  "You said he slept at Nick's?" I whispered, fearing the worst part of the day had not yet passed.

  "Yea, why? He didn't tell you?" His eyebrows were pulled together.

  "No, he told me Nick brought him home last night." I couldn't quite wrap my mind around why Gage would feel the need to lie about that; he was always crashing at his friends' houses.

  Liam looked at the water for a beat longer, and then shook his head.

  "Shit. I'm sorry, Ryley. For everything today. I'll leave you to figure that out with Gage. You two need to talk."

  Opening the door, he turned to look at me once more like he was going to say something else. Instead, he shook his head, got out and left me in my car alone with hundreds of questions.

  The only way to know what really happened was to talk to Gage and I knew it, but something inside me was scared. This was one of my best friends. I had known him since childhood, been neighbors with him my entire life. I knew he had a hard upbringing, but I thought he was getting it together. Gage always held everything in, though, so maybe he was just a really good actor.

  I drove home, parking in my driveway and leaving the CD in my car. Walking across the lawn, I saw Gram out back watering some of her hanging flowers. She smiled and waved, so I did too, then I went in to find Gage. The house was silent expect for the TV noise from downstairs, so I headed down, hoping to find him there. He was there and completely passed out on the couch, snoring louder than I had ever heard him snore.

  "Gage," I said, kicking his foot that was hanging off of the couch. He grumbled something and rolled over, pressing his face into the couch cushion. "Gage!" I said louder, pushing his back. Nothing. I heard his phone go off in his pocket a few times and pulled it out to see who was blowing up his phone.

  SARA: Hey babe. FUN nite last nite ;) MISS U-XOXO

  SARA: GAGE PORTER did u steal my underwear! LOL! Don't let ur prude G/F find them. Actually. Do let her find them!

  SARA: U cumming over again 2night?

  I saw spots in my vision as I read the texts over and over. Fury came over me as I put the puzzle pieces together. I threw the phone as hard as I could at Gage's head and screamed at him.

  "GET THE FUCK UP GAGE PORTER!"

  He howled and grabbed his head, turning to look at me with hung-over, guilty eyes.

  "Sara?! Really?!" I yelled at him as he was still slowly waking up.

  "What?" he growled. I used to think that voice was sexy, too. Not anymore.

  "You. Fucked. Sara." I spit at him. His eyes got wide like a deer caught in headlights.

  "How do you think that?" he asked as he rubbed the sleep from his face, then his head where the phone bounced off.

  "Read the texts, asshole. You lied to me about when you came home last night because you were with Sara all night. I'm done, Gage. That's the last straw," I growled out and stormed back up the stairs.

  Tears were freely flowing down my face before I made it out of the house. Running into Gram on the front porch, she asked me something, but I couldn't hear over my sobs. I ran inside, past my parents and up to my room to cry myself to sleep.

  Done. I was done with him and very possibly done with the Porter boys all together.

  CHAPTER 5

  LIAM

  "Liam!" I could hear Gram's screams from down the road as I walked home from the pond. "Oh, Lord! Liam!" Frantically looking around, she was in her robe, standing in the front lawn.

  "Gram!" I screamed, bursting into a sprint to get to her.

  "Liam!" She cried. "Gage! Gage!" she panted and then I heard it. Animalistic screams coming from the house.

  I hate admitting this and I don't like to think about it, but I didn't know if I was going to run into that house to Gage beating the hell out of Ryley. That thought should have never been in my head about my brother. I'd never seen him get physical with a woman before, but I was frantic to get into the house. Practically rolling down the stairs where the screams and thunderous crashing noises were coming from, I found Gage alone, trashing the entire basement. The TV was shattered, the couch was on its side and across the room, and the coffee table was snapped in half. It looked like he even picked up the washing machine and threw it at the wall.

  "Gage!" I screamed over his rage, but he didn't stop.

  I'd never seen my brother so crazy before and I was scared he wouldn't see me and he'd treat me like one of the inanimate objects he had no regard for, which was bullshit. That was all Gram's stuff he was breaking. There was no stopping him without force, so I ran at his back and tackled him. I locked my arms around him, trying to keep him pinned to the ground, but he was so much bigger. He bucked me off, but I saw his hands were bloody so I wasn't giving up and I tackled him again.

  "Gage, stop, calm down, man, stop!" I screamed, holding tightly.

  He was getting weaker and soon his weakness turned into tears. I jumped away from him like he was melting. I'd never seen Gage cry, not once. Not even when he found out about Macy, not even when he took the beating of a lifetime by Rod's belt. Gage didn't cry, he was strong, he was aloof to all else in the world. Curled in a ball on the cluttered basement floor, he bawled his eyes out.

  "Gage." The fear in my tone made me feel like a pussy, but I was scared shitless. When I reached for him, he screamed something and kicked me away.

  I ran, as fast as I could. I ran to Ryley's and pounded on the door.

  "Liam!" Mrs. Reynolds barked, startled by my frantic knocking.

  "I'm sorry, Mrs. Reynolds," I panted. "I need Ry! Please, I need Ry."

  She could make him feel better. I knew she could.

  "Go on up, Liam, and calm down before you fall down those steps!" She lectured me as I bolted up the stairs.

  "Ry!" I knocked and burst into her room, finding her bawling her eyes out while curled up on her bed.

  It was a bad deja vu and I was frozen for a minute. Thoughts of Gage slipped from my head when I saw Ryley crying like that, and all that mattered was her.

  "Ry," I spoke softly while pulling her into my arms.

  Latching on like a leach, she cried on my shoulder f
or a few minutes and I held her tightly, stroking her hair in pure confusion. I wondered if they got into a nasty fight about my stupid CD I made her and I hoped it wasn't all my fault.

  "Ry—" Before I could get anything else out, she shoved me away from her, and hard. I fell off her bed and stared up at her like she was insane.

  "Get out," she cried at me, pointing to the door. "I hate you boys. Get out!" she shrieked, yanking open the door.

  "Ry." I sprang to my feet, going for her.

  "Get out!" Her scream halted me.

  "Ryley?" her mom called up the stairs with worry.

  "I'm sorry," I blurted, not sure what I was sorry for, but I left.

  "Liam?" Mrs. Reynolds questioned.

  "I—" I paused and stared at her confused. "I don't know, I'm sorry." And I walked out.

  I could hear Gram crying, not in pain, but she was still crying so I rushed through the front door. It looked like Tornado Gage had gone through the living room too.

  "Sit down," I snapped at her as she tried to lift the entertainment center by herself.

  "Oh, Liam," she cried and I carefully wrapped my arms around her. "He's hurting so, so much, Pickle."

  I wanted to know why and I wanted to know why Ryley was crying too.

  "Grandma, go lay down," I told her, able to hear her heaving, raspy breathing. "I'm gonna get this cleaned up."

  When she actually listened to me, I knew she was exhausted. She slowly wandered to her room. I started bringing broken furniture to the curb for the garbage man that was thankfully coming in the morning. In the mess I spotted Ryley's hoodie and I brought it to Gage's room, but the door was locked. After I finished cleaning the basement and living room, I hesitantly made my way to Ry's. I knew if I used the window, she wouldn't cause a scene because she wouldn't want her parents to know how she snuck out of the house.

  "Ry," I whispered through her cracked window and tapped on the glass.

  Pulling herself from the bed where she was curled up and watching TV, she pushed the window open.

  "This is yours." I held the hoodie out to her and when she reached for it, I almost fell off the windmill when I saw the marks on her arm. "What the fuck is that!" I shouted.