Fall To Pieces: Broken #2 (The Broken Series)

by Walsh, Chloe

  *****

  Kyle

  It nearly choked me to say those words to her, but Derek was right.

  I needed to give Lee time. If I kept pressurizing her, she would crack, and most likely run.

  What other choice had I?

  It was either; back off and watch her from a distance, or lose her from my life? One choice would kill me; the other would be elongated torture.

  I could live with the torture, so long as she stayed.

  I took the stairs two steps at a time, and didn’t stop until I rounded the kitchen door. Stepping inside, I closed the door and glared at the two idiots in front of me.

  Cam was swaying as she held onto the countertop, obviously smashed. Derek was pacing the floor. They both turned and froze when they noticed me.

  “Listen to me, dipshits,” I hissed. “There are other people in this house, besides you two. Some of us actually like to sleep at night.”

  Derek’s face reddened as he tried to pull Cam towards the door. “Come on, Cam, let’s get you to bed.”

  Cam shook her head and pushed Derek back.

  “Nope, not going…anywhere with you.” Her words were almost inaudible; they were so slurred.

  She took two steps towards the door, before falling flat on her ass.

  “Don’t touch me,” she screamed when Derek tried to pick her up.

  “What the fuck has gotten into you?” he demanded in a shaky voice, clearly upset at her rejection. “I can’t touch you, now?”

  “You’ll hate me…and won’t want to touch me,” she screamed, then burst into tears. “I’m making it easier for you.”

  Derek ran his hand over his head. “I can’t deal with this, Camryn, I can’t.”

  He pushed past me and stormed out of the room. Seconds later, I heard the front door slam.

  “Whoops,” Cam giggled, still crying. “You’ll hate me too,” she slurred at me.

  “Who says I already don’t?” I grumbled, as I bent down and picked her up.

  She folded into my arms, her long blonde hair spilling over her thin body.

  “Touché,” she mumbled, snuggling into my chest as I carried her down the hall.

  When I sat her down on her bed, she automatically fell sideways.

  Pulling back the covers, I picked her up and placed her back down on the bed, before covering her up.

  “Jesus, Cam, how much did you drink tonight?”

  “Not enough to forget,” she whispered, covering her face with her hands. “Never enough to forget.”

  *****

  Lee

  The tension at the breakfast table was palpable. I felt like I was about to walk into a war zone.

  I hovered near the door, uncertain as to whether I should go in there. I needed to get my purse, but dammit, I was tempted to go without it.

  Cam and Derek were sitting on opposite sides of the table, shooting daggers and throwing insults at one another.

  Kyle was in sitting quietly in the middle, looking extremely interested in his corn flakes.

  Bruno strolled past me, brushing against my leg, before trotting off to find solitude in the living room.

  “I said I was sorry,” Cam snapped. “Let it go.”

  “You mean, you’re sorry until the next time?” Derek shot back.

  “Will you both shut the hell up for two damn minutes,” Kyle growled.

  Shoving her chair back, Cam stood up and stalked past me without a word.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, leaning across the table to reach my purse.

  “Its fine, Lee,” Derek said in an apologetic tone.

  “Are you going somewhere?” That was Kyle.

  His was staring at me, his gaze intense and unwavering.

  I blushed, and nodded. “Yeah, I’m meeting a friend for lunch.”

  The doorbell sounded, causing me to jump.

  “That’s for me,” I muttered. “I better go.”

  “What are you doing here?” Cam’s voice boomed from the hallway, followed by low whispers.

  I craned my neck around the door and groaned.

  Mike and Cam were talking quietly at the door. Cam’s face was flushed, her features angry. Mike looked untroubled.

  “I’m collecting Lee,” Mike said calmly. “Can you call her, for me?”

  I rushed into the hall, but Kyle moved quicker. Pulling my arm, he turned me to face him.

  “Mike?” he seethed. “That’s who your lunch date is with?”

  I pulled my arm free. “It’s not a date, and you said you’d back off.”

  Kyle hissed and ran his hands through his hair. “I’m not okay with this, Lee.”

  I turned around and walked towards the door, stepping past a furious looking Cam.

  “Well, Kyle, luckily for me, it doesn’t matter whether you’re okay with it, or not.”

  Mike smiled when I joined him on the porch. “Hungry?”

  I returned his smile. “Starving.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Lee

  My alarm clock sounded. I got up and put on the only thing that seemed to fit me; a black, full length, maxi-dress.

  The weather was too cold for wearing dresses, but I wasn’t going to go to the hospital wearing jeans I couldn’t button up.

  I had an antenatal check-up this morning, and wanted to look somewhat respectable.

  Slipping out of my room, I went downstairs, and waited on the porch for Mike to collect me, not daring to risk another pissing contest between the two brothers, by having Mike knock the door.

  I didn’t want Rachel in our house, and even though it was a totally different circumstance, I had to accept the fact that Kyle didn’t want Mike in the house either.

  Thankfully, I hadn’t seen Rachel since last week, and if I had any luck, I’d never see her again. Forever wouldn’t be long enough, as far as I was concerned.

  I’d been home a week, and the tension in the house was mounting. I didn’t know if it was because of me and Kyle, or me and Cam, or Cam and Derek, but no one seemed to be getting along.

  It was horrible.

  Every argument seemed to have my name in it, and it didn’t take a mathematician to figure out, that I was the root of the problem. The only person inside that house that was in any way approachable was Derek.

  Good old Derek…

  “What are doing outside, Lee? It’s seven-thirty in the morning.” Cam asked, as she stepped outside with a cup of coffee in her hand, shutting out the front door behind her.

  “Waiting for my spin, I have an appointment at the hospital in thirty minutes,” I replied, groaning internally, knowing that she was going to go off on me again.

  Cam nodded, as she wrapped her purple dressing gown around herself tightly. “You want some company? I can be ready in ten.”

  “No that’s okay,” I said quietly, hating the rift that was widening between us, but unsure as how to fix it. “It’s just a routine checkup, nothing serious.”

  “Lee,” Cam sighed, stepping towards me. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve been treating lately…”

  Her words trailed off as her eyes slipped from my face. “Wait, is that Mike?” she demanded, her eyes locked on the silver saber pulling up at the end of our driveway. “I can’t believe you, Lee.”

  “He’s just a friend, Cam,” I muttered, picking up my bag. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

  “No, Lee, you’re being deliberately cruel,” she shot back. “Stringing them both along like this, not caring about anyone else’s feelings in the process, especially Kyle’s. You’ve changed, Lee.”

  “We are just friends,” I growled, thoroughly offended by her harsh accusation. “And how in the hell have I done anything, to hurt Kyle’s feelings?”

  “Well, this is a pretty big example,” she shouted, pointing at Mike’s car emphatically. “How do you feel about him? It’s a pretty simple question. You either love Kyle or you don’t. You either want him or you don’t. He’s trying his best and you’re punishi
ng him, prancing around town with his brother, taking Mike with you to appointments, when it should be Kyle.”

  “My feelings for Kyle, are nothing to do with you, Cam,” I snapped, blinking back my tears. “You need to stay of out my business.”

  “And you, need the get your act together, Lee, and stop moping and pining. Your grief is blinding you. Decide whether you can forgive Kyle, or not, because leading him down a dead end road is fucking cruel. Set him straight, or set him free.”

  Cam slammed the front door, and I slowly made my way over to the car, willing myself not to cry.

  Cam’s opinion hurt me deeply, cut through me. This was my life, not hers. It wasn’t as easy as just forgiving Kyle, even though I wished it was.

  But the betrayal, the lies…so much had happened, pushed us apart. There was no quick solution to this mess. Why couldn’t she understand that?

  Kyle and Rachel had destroyed me.

  It wasn’t a question of whether or not I loved Kyle; I did, deeply. It was a matter of trust.

  “Morning sunshine…Hey, what’s the matter? Lee, why are you crying?”

  I tied my seatbelt, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my sweater. “Nothing, Mike, we better go, or I’ll be late.”

  *****

  Kyle

  I watched from my bedroom window as Lee climbed into Mike’s car, and had to hold onto the window sill to keep myself from rushing outside and causing a scene.

  Looking at her through the glass; that’s all I ever seemed to be doing…

  Pain, like I’d never known, enveloped me in that moment. I knew where she was going, of course I fucking knew, and a piece of me died inside, as I watched her drive away with my brother.

  “What time is it?” Derek mumbled from his make shift bed, on my bedroom floor.

  “Seven-forty,” I replied, not in the least bit surprised to find him in my room. This was the third morning this week. “You guys have another fight?”

  Derek stretched his arms out, yawning. “Yeah, she went nuclear, last night. It was safer to come upstairs, than risk a pillow to my face,” he muttered miserably. “I don’t know what to do anymore, Kyle. She’s been a different fucking person since Christmas.”

  I nodded.

  We were all different people since Christmas, but I knew what Derek meant. Cam had changed.

  “What are you gonna do?”

  “Hell if I know man,” Derek grumbled, as he slid on his jeans and stood up. “At the rate we’re going, I doubt I’ll have to worry about it for much longer. We haven’t had sex in two weeks, Kyle, two fucking weeks. That’s like a year for us.”

  “Yeah, that must suck,” I muttered, finding it hard to muster any real sympathy for Derek’s two week drought.

  That fact that it was late February, and Lee and I hadn’t been together since before Christmas, being the main contributing factor to my lack of sympathy.

  Jesus.

  My bedroom door swung open, and Cam glowered at both of us from the doorway.

  “Where’s my phone?” she asked Derek in a cold voice.

  He pulled her cell out of his pocket and tossed it to her. “Sorry, I forgot to put it back…How are you feeling this morning, babe?”

  “And why haven’t you put a stop to this Mike and Lee, fiasco?” she demanded, ignoring Derek’s question, glaring at me. “I know you were watching her from the window. Your curtains were moving.”

  I felt myself stiffen defensively. “Why don’t you walk your ass out of my room, Camryn, and keep your fucking nose out of my love life.”

  “You are a joke, Kyle,” she hissed. “Letting your brother take Lee everywhere. Grow some balls and man up, will you? Mike shouldn’t be taking Lee to her doctor’s appointments.”

  “Did you get a lobotomy while visiting Lee, in the damn hospital?” I spat, tugging on a shirt, and zipping up my pants. “Because you should go and get yourself a refund. This new version of you, you’ve got going on, doesn’t suit you. New Cam is a ratty bitch.”

  I didn’t wait to hear her snide comeback-which, of course, she’d have.

  Instead, I picked up my shoes and brushed past her, into the bathroom. Brushing my teeth, I tossed some water on my face before slipping my shoes on.

  “Derek, do you want a lift to school?” I asked as I buckled my belt and headed for the stairs.

  I didn’t have any classes today, but I wasn’t about to throw Derek to the wolves.

  And right about now, that’s exactly what Cam reminded me of. A blonde, snarling, cranky-assed, she-wolf.

  “Yeah,” Derek muttered, joining me in the hall and tugging on his hoodie and sneakers.

  “What about me?” she demanded, as we walked down the stairs.

  “I’m sorry,” I called out, as I opened the front door and stared up at her. “New Cam can walk her own ass to school. But let me know when old Cam resurfaces, old Cam can have a ride.”

  *****

  Lee

  I sent Mike away after he dropped me at the hospital. He’d argued with me about walking home, so I’d told him I’d catch a cab. I’d needed space, to think, to be alone with my thoughts.

  I walked for hours, recapping the fight I’d had with Cam.

  Maybe I had changed? Maybe Cam was right in what she’d said this morning. I was moping and pining...

  But was there supposed to be time limit on grieving?

  Like; ‘It’s been months since you lost your baby, Lee, it’s time to get over it.’

  I felt so frustrated. So misunderstood.

  I wasn’t sure where I was going, until I found myself standing outside the hotel.

  Even then, I wasn’t sure who I was looking for, until I was standing outside his office door.

  Taking a deep breath, I knocked, and waited.

  Kyle’s door opened and I gaped at the person in front of me.

  “Mike? What are you doing here?”

  If I sounded suspicious, it was because I was.

  Mike stepped past me, moving into the corridor, smiling at me.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “Lover boy is still in one piece. We had our big boy pants on today.”

  Huh?

  What the hell was he talking about?

  I was about to ask him when Kyle stepped into my vision, standing in the doorway, silent and brooding, blowing my previous train of thought out the window.

  I looked at one brother, and then the other, before shaking my head. I was momentarily stupefied.

  “Did you want me, or him?” Mike asked casually.

  “Him,” I croaked out. I shook my head. “I want Kyle; uh…I want to talk to Kyle.”

  Mike smirked, and saluted me with a hand to his forehead.

  I heard Kyle sigh loudly, and turned to face him.

  He opened the door out further, still silent, eyes wary, lips pressed tightly together.

  I stepped into his office and Kyle closed the door behind us. I turned to look at him. He had his back to the door, his eyes gave my body a slow appraisal. The silence grew thick, and muggy. I muttered his name at the same time he said mine.

  “You first,” he encouraged, waving a hand towards me.

  I sighed, walked over to his desk and leant against it.

  “I don’t know why I’m here.” I said honestly. I watched his face; it gave nothing away. “I had a fight with Cam.”

  Kyle shifted, moving from the door, stepping closer to me. “Are you alright? What did you fight about?”

  I decided to go with the truth. “You.”

  Kyle seemed surprised by that. His brow rose, his eyes widened slightly.

  “Am I allowed to ask why?” he asked in a quiet, unsure tone of voice.

  Moving away from his desk, I paced the floor aimlessly.

  “Cam seems to think that I’m being a bitch to you,” I said, sounding agitated. “That I need to get over myself, and my grief. She feels I am leading you down a dead end road, and thinks that I am being deliberately cruel to you.”


  Kyle didn’t move a muscle, but his nostrils flared and his jaw ticked as he swallowed loudly. “I can understand why that must have upset you.”

  “Can you?”

  I stopped pacing and stared at Kyle. “Can you really understand what I’m feeling, or are you filling me up with more of your lies.”

  I wasn’t sure why I was challenging his answer. I didn’t understand why I suddenly felt furious with Kyle, or why I was overreacting like this.

  I didn’t know what I had come here for. I only knew that, right now, I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to hurt him.

  Two months of anguish was brimming to the surface. I had so much pain inside of me, so many unsaid words inside my brain, my heart, bursting to come out.

  Kyle walked straight up to me, his blue eyes piercing me, his body crowding me.

  “Yes, I can,” he said in a hoarse voice. “I know how much I hurt you. The decisions I made, good or bad, they affected you, in ways I can’t fix, or redeem. I know how deep your wounds are, Lee. I’m not that much of an obnoxious bastard that I can’t see the scars I’ve embedded in you. I fucking broke you, Lee. I want to be the one to fix you.”

  I could feel my body trembling. I tried to catch my breath, but it got stuck in my throat. My eyes burned.

  “Don’t,” I whispered, silently begging him to stop. “Please, I don’t want to talk about this.”

  I couldn’t hear this. I needed to get away from him. I loved him, and hated him all at once. I wanted to hurt him, and I wanted to hold him. I wasn’t thinking straight. I needed to think clearly and it was an impossible to thing to do, with Kyle’s piercing, blue eyes, boring into mine, and his words drumming in my ears.

  “I miss the baby, too, Lee,” he continued, ignoring my plea, stroking my cheek. “It ruined me when you lost it. A part of me died that night, as well. The grief; I know how it feels, I’m feeling it too, living with it, every day.”