Chapter 27- Taunting Sharings

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"I can't go see him Leo. I can't. I won't. He has no right to ask me to go see him. Not after what he did."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Who are you talking about Amelia?" I asked.

Her lip trmebled as she said the next words, making my heart ache more than it already was.

"Levi, Leo. Levi wants to see me."

It was in that moment I knew. I knew why she was terrified all this time.

All this time, Amelia built a wall around herself. To protect herself from things she couldn't face. From people she couldn't see again.

She refused to face her past.

And it was then I heard the voice in the back of my head, nagging at me to say something to her, anything to let her know she wasn't alone. That she didn't ever, ever, have to go through something alone again. Not this time. Not when I'm here and understand her.

For once, I listened to the voice.

Without thinking twice, I clasped her hand even tighter in mine, and leaned closer towards her. Her frenzied state came to a halt for a moment then, as she turned to me with her bottom lip trembling. My eyes never wavered from hers as I spoke next.

"Amelia, you don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with, but just know that you deserve answers. I know better than anyone that not getting closure is the worst form of living torture," I said calmly.

And again, Amelia Harrison did something completely out of the ordinary.

Her eyes finally softened, the storm in them simmering down. She turned her hand over, making our palms touch. And then she tightened her fingers around mine in a reassuring squeeze.

I froze under her stare. Her eyes that shone with so much sadness before, were now mixed with an empathetic look, making me forget how to breathe.

Jamal was right.

I think I do need a ventilator.

I finally remembered how to get my lungs to function again and broke her gaze, taking in a deep breath as I did so. I looked down to our joined hands, feeling more calm than I did moments ago and spoke.

"Moonie, I'm supposed to be consoling you right now. Not the other way around-"

"Leo, I know you have something you want to share. Just know that whenever you do, I'll be here listening, okay?" she whispered.

My eyes snapped up to hers in an instant. All the feelings I felt just a few seconds ago, came rushing back in waves, as I stared at Amelia in wonder.

I watched her for the longest time, trying to memorize this moment. She had tears running down her cheeks, her hair was falling around her, some strands sticking to her face, and she was just hit with the newfound information that her brother wanted to meet her. Yet here she was, holding my hand and telling me that it was okay to share my demons with her.

I wonder if she could see in me right now just how much I adored her.

There was no way to explain this burst of feeling I had with her. It was unexplainable, and it was unstoppable.

Before I could blurt out something stupid to her, Amelia cleared her throat and finally broke away from my stare. Her gaze landed on our joined hands and it was then that the storm in her eyes returned.

However, I couldn't look away from her. I stared at her eyes, then nose, then lips, and her rosy cheeks. I couldn't stop. I didn't want to.

Her next words finally brought me out of the trance I was in.

"What do I even say to him Leo? It's been four years. Why now?" she whispered.

I finally looked away from her and down at our hands too.

"That's what you have to go find out Moonie. And if you don't, that's okay too. It's your decision Amelia. Whatever you want to do, it'll be your choice. For now, just rest okay? It's been a long day," I said.

She nodded at my words, and relaxed after a few moments. Using her free hand, she wiped away the remaining tears on her face. I only watched, mesmerized by her every move. She licked her dry lips, and my gaze landed there for a moment longer than it should have. And then we stayed there for the longest time, both staring at our joined hands.

Her hands were soft, exactly as I thought they would be. Yet, they held a roughness to them I couldn't quite figure out the reason for.

I couldn't help but wonder if this is how every girl's hand felt like. For some reason, I didn't think so. Because this was Amelia. And there was none other being like her in this world.

After what felt like ages, she pulled her hand out of my grasp. Ever so slowly, she made a move to get up, and my brows furrowed in confusion. Since my hand was still on the other side of her waist, caging her completely, she didn't get far.

"What are you doing Amelia?" I asked.

She looked down at me nervously.

"I'm heading back to my dorm."

I let out a scoff.

"Like hell you are. Stay here. I'm taking the other room."

Her eyes widened and she made a move to shake her head. Before she could protest, I held out a hand to shush her.

"Absolutely not. I think we're close enough now that you can sleep in my bed Moonie," I said with a wink.

She let out a loud gasp, and I got up, chuckling as I did so.

"Kidding, kidding," I said, holding my hands up in surrender.

Her eyes narrowed playfullly at me for a moment, and then she yawned. I let out a sigh and told her to get into bed. She slowly crawled under the covers and wrapped them tightly around her. When I saw that she was comfortable, I finally closed the lights and headed out.

Once out into the living room, I noticed that Andre and Jamal were nowhere to be seen. The only one left was Gemma, and she was seated comfortably on the couch. She got up when she saw me coming and looked at me expectantly.

"Is she okay?" she asked.

I raked a hand through my hair and sat heavily onto the couch. I didn't answer the question, knowing that she wasn't okay.

She hadn't been for a while now.

"Gemma... what happened to her brother after Amelia blacked out?" I suddenly asked, wanting to know the answer.

Gemma was stunned at my question and she stared at me for the longest time before letting out a defeated sigh. She took the seat beside me and faced me.

"He was arrested the same night. Police found him in the same room, lying over Brittany's body," Gemma explained.

She broke her gaze, and turned her attention to the table instead. Her eyes glazed over, making me think she was also thinking about that time.

"She had been suffocated to death. Apparently he had taken pills to kill himself too after realizing he killed her, but the drugs never kicked in. He's in the federal jail now, sentenced for 17 years."

I rubbed my forehead profusely, all the while only thinking of Amelia and how she had to witness it all.

After a few moments of silence, Gemma sighed. I turned to her, surprised to see her eyes hardening with a mixture of anger amd sadness.

"I knew him too, Leo. Levi was a year older than us and was quite popular. He was on the football team and had many friends... No one expected it from him," she said with a sigh.

I listened quietly, not wanting to interrupt her.

"The city blew up with the news afterwards. Her father lost his job, her mother was left out of the community. But the worst part was how people shunned out Amelia."

At this, Gemma let out a frustrated breath and sat up straighter on the couch.

"She was quite popular too. It was hard not to be with a personality like hers. She was beautiful, confident, and more importantly, she was a good person. She was friends with everyone. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the nobodies, the nerds- just everyone. But after the incident, everyone shut her out. Her own friends that she grew up with, completely left her alone. As if all this was her fault! As if she told her brother to kill her best friend!" Gemma was breathing heavily by the end of her rant, her eyes wide with anger.

My own hands fisted by my sides, anger seeping into me as I thought of all Amelia had to go through.

How could people treat someone who was completely uninvolved, so brutally?

I was about to say something back to her, but before I could, another voice spoke up.

"Wait... did I just hear that correctly?" I heard someone else say.

I immediately stood up from my spot and turned around to see Jamal and Andre standing by the kitchen archway with shocked looks on their faces. I turned to Gemma, both of us mirroring the same nervous look.

Andre suddenly took an frenzied step toward us.

"What the fuck is going on Leo?" he blurted out.

Before Gemma or I could say anything to turn this around, another voice intervened.

"My brother killed my best friend."

I whipped around at the sound of her voice and my heart fell to my stomach when I saw her standing by my bedroom door. She had tears trailing down her cheeks and her hand was holding onto the wall for support. She was barely holding herself together, and I had to hold myself back from running over to her.

"My brother... he- he... raped my best friend. Then he killed her and then he tried to take his own life."

And as it was the first time when she told me, this time wasn't any easier.

For her, and for me.

She crumpled to the floor, her sobs now raking through the silence of my apartment. Before I could take a step toward her, Gemma was at her side in an instant.

I stood my ground, and looked over to Andre and Jamal who both had shock written over their faces. I waited for them to say something, anything, to let me know what they were thinking. But they stayed silent for a long time.

And then, the question I had been dreading the moment she spilled her secret to me, came tumbling out of Jamal's mouth.

"Did you know?"

And with that, I had Jamal pushed up against the nearest wall. My hands were gripping his collar tightly and he held his hands up in surrender, his eyes wide with terror.

"What kind of a fucking question is that Jamal?" I seethed. "You can't just ask her-"

"I knew."

I froze. My eyes widened and my hold on Jamal loosened. Jamal let out the small breath he had been holding and I finally took a step away from him. Then, I turned to face a helpless Amelia on the ground.

"I knew... I just knew. I knew he loved her. Not only that, but he was possessive about her. But I knew she didn't like him back. She rejected him so many times but he didn't listen."

A low whimper escaped her, and instinctively, my jaw ticked and my knuckles tightened.

"All his life, he tried to become someone Brittany would love. In fourth grade, he joined the cheer team with her. In sixth, he started becoming the cool kid. By high school, he was the best football player our school had ever seen. But it was never what Brittany wanted. She wasn't in love with him. And in eleventh grade, she fell in love with John. Levi was just someone who she treated like family. He didn't like that. But I didn't..."

Her hand came up to her hair and she ruthlessly tugged at it.

"The day he found out Brittany loved John, Levi was missing the rest of the day. We just couldn't get a hold of him. I swear, believe me. No one knew where he was. Then Brittany and I went to a party. She was going to tell John she loved him, but Levi got to her first. And he- he just-"

For the next few minutes, the only sound that was heard was the sound of Amelia's sobs. She slowed down after a moment and looked up to Jamal and Andre with a desperate look.

"I knew everything. I just didn't know he was capable of what he did," she finally said, her sobs not allowing her to speak anymore.

At some point Gemma pulled her in for a hug and she stayed there, hiding her away from the rest of us.

My heart shattered at the sight of her. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak.

The sound of her sobs was echoing through my ears and I simply couldn't take it.

I was frozen.

The first one to make a move was Andre. Slowly, he approached her and fell to his knees in front of her. Hesitantly, he reached out to touch her shoulder, causing her to look at him.

I gauged his reaction, knowing I wouldn't have a problem kicking his ass into the next century if he dared to say anything that hurt her. But since it was Andre, he didn't do anything like that.

"You are so strong Amelia."

And with those simple words, he pulled Amelia into his chest. Gemma joined in on the hug, and soon enough, Jamal was on his way over to join the hug as well.

All of us were crying. Gemma, was trying hard to control her sobs, Andre kept wiping away his tears, and Jamal occasionally sniffled.

And me?

My heart broke at the sight of her. My Amelia, my Moonie, was going through so much and I couldn't do anything.

I watched the scene from afar, not feeling worthy enough to be there. Suddenly, Andre pulled back, revealing a dishevelled Amelia to me. Her hair was sticking to her face in a random mess, her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were swollen red.

She looked absolutely surreal.

"Come join the hug man," Andre said to me, sniffling a little.

I scoffed and threw my hands in my pockets casually.

"I don't do hugs," I said lazily.

Truth was, I don't know what I would do if I was in such close proximity to Amelia right now.

Just then, I accidentally caught Amelia's eye. She gave me a small frown and pulled away from Andre. Suddenly, she got up, her steps staggering a little, and started walking towards me.

My eyes widened, and my heart rate accelerated. A sudden ringing formed in my ear as I watched Amelia make her way towards me.

Before I knew it, she was just a breath away from me. I looked down at her, waiting to see what she was about to do. Suddenly, she leaned forward, her arms reaching up and encircling around my waist. Then, she dug her face in my chest.

Amelia Harrison was hugging me.

The boys were rooted in their spot on the floor, mouths flying open. Gemma was staring at us with small smile on her face.

And me?

Well I nearly went into cardiac arrest.

"Thank you, Leo," she mumbled into my chest. "Thank you for not running away."

And with that, I finally wrapped my arms around her too.