Skylar
I tap my nails against the marble table as the café hums around , pretending like I don’t care that Katherine is late. The little bell above the door jingles, and when I look up, there she is. My stomach knots.
She hasn’t changed much. She has the sa neat bob, sa careful posture, sa air of self-assurance that makes feel like a ssy sketch beside her finished painting.
"Katherine," I say, pushing up from my chair. My voice cos out too bright, too eager. I hate that I sound like I’m begging before we even begin.
She stops a step short of the table. "Skylar." Her tone is neutral. It’s not hostile, but not warm either. She sits down across from , sets her purse neatly on the seat beside her, and folds her hands. Everything about her screams controlled. My palms sweat just watching her.
I smile because that’s what I do. Pretend I’m unbothered, pretend I’m the tough one. The waiter drops off coffee. I take mine in both hands like it’s a lifeline.
"Thanks for coming. I wasn’t sure you’d say yes."
Katherine stirs her coffee without looking at . The clinking of the spoon against porcelain is the loudest thing in this café, at least to my ears. My hands are clammy, my throat dry, though I tell myself to stay calm. I’ve been rehearsing this eting for days, turning over every possible way it could go. None of those versions feel anything like this suffocating silence.
"It’s been a while," I say, forcing a lightness into my voice I don’t feel. "You look good."
Her gaze lifts just enough to et mine, then slips away again, like she can’t stand to look at too long. That stings more than I expect. Katherine used to be one of the few people who saw and treated like a human. With her, I used to laugh until my stomach hurt. Now she looks at like I’m a stranger.
"You wanted to talk." Her voice is steady, controlled, but not warm. "So, talk."
I bite my lip. I tell myself not to sound defensive, not to start this by begging. I have to be honest and even vulnerable. That’s what people want, right? Honesty?
"I know I hurt you," I begin. "I hurt a lot of people. I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I made choices I thought—"
"You thought what?" Her voice cuts sharp like glass. "That framing Demi and siding with Liam would do what? Fix your life? Make you feel better?" She sucks in her teeth. "I hope you didn’t call here to waste my precious ti, Sky. Trust , I’ve got better places to be."
I flinch at her coldness. Yeah, I understand she’s hut that I lied to her about everything. I understand she’s disappointed in because I used her friend, Demi. Because I sched with Liam and tried to tear down an entire family whose sons had—stupidly—offered a second chance. She’s angry because she used to believe I couldn’t hurt a fly and I made her look stupid in front of her loved ones when I bared my claws.
I force a fake laugh. "Co on, Kat. It’s brunch. Neutral ground. Just two old roommates catching up..."
She arches an eyebrow. "Neutral ground doesn’t erase or justify what you did."
"I know. I know, okay? I ssed up. But you haven’t given a chance to explain. You just cut off."
"Alright. The floor is yours, Skylar. Go ahead and explain. What explanation could possibly justify what you did? You worked with Liam to destroy Demi. You lied to everyone. Including ."
Her words slam into , harder than I prepared for. "It wasn’t like that," I argue, though I can hear how weak it sounds. "I was—lost. I didn’t know who I was, Katherine. I had no one. And Liam... he—" She sighs softly like she’s already sick of my excuses. I swallow hard. "Look, I wasn’t lying about everything. I was... broken. Angry. My dad never cared about , not like he cared for my brothers who, mind you, were too busy being Brett Rollins’ golden boys, and I—"
Kat leans back, shaking her head. "You always have an excuse, Skylar. Always a reason for your terrible actions. Firstly, it’s your father, then your brothers, then your past. It’s also Liam. But when do you actually take responsibility?"
The words crawl under my skin. I feel them burning. I want to protest, but deep down, I know this is what people whisper about . Katherine just says it out loud. "That’s why I’m here." I insist, my tone a bit desperate. "I’m trying to change.
Katherine laughs, but there’s no humor in it. "That’s exactly what scares . You fooled once, rember? I thought you were so innocent, so harmless. You had convinced you couldn’t do any wrong. And then you turned on Demi, on all of us. Tell —why should I believe this isn’t just another act?"
"Frankly, you shouldn’t. There’s nothing I can do to sway your mind if you’re already hell bent on distrusting . I know I fucked up big ti but can you really bla ? My past..."
She cuts off. "Stop. Stop right there. You always do this, Sky. You turn every bad choice into soone else’s fault. Yes, your childhood was hard. Yes, you were neglected by your dad. But you still had it better than most, like Demi. She lost her parents, Sky, in a grueso and suspicious way. She had reasons to suspect they were murdered. She could have stayed bitter forever but she didn’t. She forgave and chose peace over hate. She changed even though it was hard. And you—" She shakes her head, disappointnt shimring in her eyes. "You’re still blaming the world because daddy didn’t obsess over you growing up."
Her words burn. Why is it my fate to always get compared to one person or the other. At first, it was my brothers. Now, it’s Demi.
I want to tell her I’ve been carrying wounds since I was a kid—shoplifting, drinking, spiraling just to be seen. I want to tell her about the nights I cried myself to sleep while my father barely noticed I existed. I want her to see , just once, as more than the screw-up.
I lean back, my chair creaking. "So, what? Demi’s the gold standard now? She’s the perfect saint and I’m just the villain in comparison?" My chest tightens. "I know I ssed up. I know Demi forgave when I didn’t. She chose to let go of the past, and I—I don’t know how to do that. I’m not her, Katherine. I can’t be her."
"No one is asking you to be like her but it wouldn’t hurt to borrow a leaf from her book. If you want people to trust you again," Katherine says evenly, "you have to stop making excuses and start taking responsibility. Own your flaws. Admit your choices. Until you do that, you’ll keep losing people who care about you."
Her words land like stones in my chest. I laugh, but it sounds brittle. "You make it sound so easy."
"It’s not easy," she says. "But it’s necessary."
"I just want my friend back," I whisper, the mask slipping. "I miss you, Kat. I miss having soone to talk to and God knows I have a lot to get off my chest."
Katherine studies for a long, unbearable mont. Then she sighs, shaking her head. "I don’t know if I can do that, Skylar. Not until you start owning up. Not until you stop playing the victim. Until then... I can’t trust you. I won’t."
The finality in her tone punches the air from my lungs. I open my mouth to argue or even plead, but she’s already standing. She leaves money on the table for her coffee.
"Panic pricks my skin. "Kat, wait—please—" My voice cos out shaky and desperate. I hate myself for how it sounds, but I can’t stop. "Can we at least share a al? It’s been so long!"
She grabs her purse, sliding it over her shoulder. "I can’t be friends with soone who refuses to face themselves, Skylar. Not again."
She turns and walks away. Her back is stiff and her steps precise. She doesn’t look back.
I sit frozen, my coffee untouched. Everyone else in the café goes on with their brunches, their soft laughter echoing as they chatted about their little lives.
And ? I’m a ss. I’ve always been a ss. I want to run after Kat and scream that she doesn’t understand , and that I’m trying. But I sit still because deep down, I know she’s right. They’re all right about .
By the ti I leave the café, my smile is gone. I drive ho with the windows down, hoping the wind will rip the ache from my chest.
I continue muttering under my breath about Katherine, about Demi, about this endless cycle of being asured and always found lacking. By the ti I get ho, anger simrs hot beneath my skin. All I want to do is just toss my bag down and collapse on my bed.
But when I unlock my apartnt door, the air inside feels wrong. It’s too still and too heavy. I step inside, kick my shoes off, and freeze. There’s a scent in the air reeking of cheap cologne and stale cigarettes. My throat closes. That sll. No, no, no.
Before I can reach the light switch, an arm snakes around from behind. A beefy hand clamps over my mouth trapping my guttural scream. I kick and thrash against it but he’s stronger. He always was.
"Miss , sweetheart?" His voice is low, dangerous and too familiar despite the years between.
My stomach drops to my knees. He spins and rams his fist into my face. When I co to, I’m tied up on my own sofa. My wrists burn from the ropes, and my heart slams against my chest. He’s here. He’s really here and he planned this. Of course he did.
When I finally manage to focus my stinging eyes, I see him. The man I thought I left behind. The man who once made feel alive and invincible, only to cage . He is my greatest and most foolish mistake as a lost, broken teenage girl.
He crouches, "Well, well." His voice is smooth, mocking, but beneath it, rage simrs. "You’ve been avoiding . Months without a word. And after everything I’ve done for you."
I shake my head, words tumbling out fast. "You—what are you doing here? I thought you were still locked up."
"Not anymore." He smirks, dragging his hand through my hair before yanking it hard. Pain shoots through my scalp. "I took the fall for you, rember? Prison bars, concrete floors, all because I was loyal. And what do I get when I co out? Silence. Not even a postcard from my favorite girl."
I shake my head frantically. "I didn’t ask you to—"
His hand flashes, cracking across my face. Pain explodes in my cheek. I bite back a cry, tears springing to my eyes.
"You don’t get to talk to like that, you ungrateful bitch." he growls. Then he grabs my chin, fingers digging in until it hurts. "Always ungrateful. I saved you, Sky. I protected you when your daddy didn’t give two scents about where you spent the night because he was too busy stalking your brothers. I’m the one who cleaned up your sses. Rember the shoplifting, bar fights, all that fun you got up to?"
He grits his teeth. "Who covered it up? Who made sure Daddy Rollins never found out? You owe . You owe everything. I made you. I protected you when no one else gave a damn."
I hate him. God, I hate him. He took advantage of my pain and naivety. He forced into that life and now he acts like my savior? I swallow the anger boiling within . My voice cos out soft, placating, the way it always does when fear curls in my stomach.
"I didn’t forget you. I could never. I appreciate everything you did for ."
"Good girl." He kisses roughly, possessively, and I feel bile rise in my throat. He pulls back with a smile that makes my skin crawl. "Keep talking. Tell why you ghosted then?"
I just... needed space."
He laughs, low and sharp. "Space? That’s not what it looked like when you were groveling to your ex-friend Katherine today? Begging for her friendship? Wow, Sky, you’ve gone soft. That’s not the girl I trained. The Sky I knew never begged."
My pulse races. "I’m not groveling. I’m—"
"Don’t lie to ." His fingers grip my chin, squeezing until my jaw aches. "You’ve beco weak, just like them."
Tears blur my vision. "I’m trying to do better," I whisper.
He laughs cruelly. "Better? Don’t make laugh. Have you learnt nothing? You’re wasting your ti. Those brothers of yours don’t want you. That little Katherine girl doesn’t want you. Nobody does. Except . I’m the only one who ever will."
You think your brothers who just learnt about you would instantly forgive the stunt you pulled and accept you? No way! They’re just tolerating you till they can figure out what the heck to do with you. And Demi—" His lip curls. "You don’t need to say it but it’s quite obvious she’s replaced you. Everyone compares you to her now, don’t they?"
The words cut because they’re true. He sees it. He always sees the cracks.
Tears prick my eyes, but I blink them back. "Why are you here?"
"Because you owe ." He leans close, his breath hot, reeking of smoke. "I need money. Ten thousand. However you get it—your rich brothers, your daddy, I don’t care. But you’ll get it. Or else." He yanks my hair, dragging my head back. Pain shoots down my scalp. I bite my lip so hard I taste blood.
"I don’t have that kind of money," I protest, panic flooding .
"Then you’ll make them give it to you." He pulls out my phone and dangles it in front of . "Call them. Right now. Let’s see how much they really care."
My hands tremble as I fumble for my phone with bound wrists.
"Daddy’s got deep pockets and so do your brothers. Unless you really believe they won’t lift a finger for you." He smirks. "Go on. Prove wrong. Call one of them."
Shuddering with fear, I dial Ashal first. He seems like the calm one and given that he was recently in a similar condition, he should be able to understand the urgency. The call goes to voicemail. My heart sinks. I try Asher. My breath quickens and tears spill down my cheeks when I hear..."The number you are calling is not reachable."
He laughs, cruel and loud. "See? Told you. No one cares like I do. I’m the only one who’ll always co back for you. That’s love, Sky and you’d better rember that."
He presses a rough kiss to my mouth. I squeeze my eyes shut. His kiss isn’t love. It’s possession. He pulls back, smiling like he’s proven sothing.
"You have one week to get my money. Don’t disappoint , Sky."
he ropes fall away, but I don’t move. I don’t breathe until the door slams shut behind him. And then I break. Silence crashes down. My wrists are raw from the rope. My cheek throbs. I curl into the couch, sobbing until my chest aches.
The truth Katherine threw in my face, the lies he shoved down my throat, they all blur together. And in the middle of it, one thought eats at : he’s right about one thing.
Maybe no one really cares.
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