Page 20 of Girl Like Me

“Why do they need to talk alone?” They all look at me and I stare back. Levi is the one to answer me.

“Because they haven’t had a chance to talk since he was arrested for kidnapping her and since she doesn’t have her memories back yet, have you considered that he may think she believes he did it.”

“Why would she think that and be here?” I ask leaning against the wall.

“Maybe she wants answers. She hasn’t even tried to contact any of us this whole time she has been back with her family.” Mercer adds.

“What are we going to do, because I can’t spend much more time without her.” Maximus says, banging his head down on the bench.

“We can all talk to her after Rory.” Levi murmurs as then microwave bings. He places a reheated pizza in front of us and we all eat in silence and wait.

Rory is still standing near the door, a look of apprehension on his face. I want to yell and scream at him and understand why he didn’t tell me. If I had seen him in the first few weeks after being back in my old life I would have but since then the pain has faded and I have missed him like crazy. I know him well enough to know everything Rory does is to protect the people he loves.

He looks like he hasn’t been taking care of himself. I want to reach out and run my hands through his long thick hair and tell him everything will be okay. But because of me he is facing pretty serious charges, if he gets caught with me, I’m sure they would lock him up until his trial. I should have done the smart thing and stayed away, but after seeing Mercer I knew I couldn’t any longer.

I need to get to the bottom of what happened to me; what sort of life did I lead being a serious bitch with an asshole boyfriend, somewhat cheating on him with some small time drug dealer from the wrong side of the tracks, who also works for my uncle, a brother who was killed and my family, who have seemed to not breathe a word of it. I was put into a psych ward, but I have a feeling I wasn’t there because I needed to be. I somehow met Rory during my time there. But when I was found, why didn’t he tell me he knew me?

“I’m sorry.” He mumbles, looking at the floor.

“For what exactly, because I’m a little confused.” He moves closer, still avoiding eye contact.

“For lying to you, I wanted to tell you so many times, but it was safer for you to not remember.”

He sits down at the end of the bed, still not close enough for me to reach him.

“Can you answer some questions?” He nods and I start from the beginning.

“How did we meet?” He looks up at me and smiles.

“My mum was at the same hospital, she refused to be seen in a public hospital, checking yourself into one that costs more than a middle class family’s yearly wage is more acceptable. I hated visiting her and one day I saw this girl being dragged in, kicking and screaming. At first I thought you were crazy just like my mum but the closer I moved towards where they were taking you I could hear you screaming something about someone being shot and lying on the floor, that they needed to help him before it was too late. You were extremely upset and maybe in shock. The second time I saw you, you looked hollow, lifeless. I would say hello and you would just stare at me. I started visiting for longer, always finding you sitting on a garden bench. You never spoke, but you always listened.”

“How did we get out?” He fiddles with his hair, tying it up into a bun.

“One day I sat down on the bench, and you didn’t seem so out of it. You wouldn’t look at me but you said two words, help me. I didn’t honestly think too much of it, we were in a psych hospital after all. The following weekend you looked better and you started talking to me more. Long story short you stopped taking your meds they were feeding you, slowly only taking certain ones when you had to. It was three months after you first spoke to me I knew I had feelings for you. We spoke about everything. You eventually told me you were afraid for your life. I wish that I never left you alone that night, I’m so sorry they found you.”

“Do you know who was after me?” He shakes his head no adamantly.

“You said it was too dangerous to tell me, the less I knew about your life the better. Only being in the hospital, you feared they were slowly killing you.”

“Echo told me he doesn’t think my father would do something like that.” He looks at me strangely.

“Who is Echo?” He asks with a raised brow.

“A guy I kind of dated from what I’ve been told. He works for my uncle and I had another brother too and that he was killed.”

He shifts his weight looking uncomfortable. “We will figure this out, I was worried you might have thought I did kidnap you.”

I move forward and crawl into his lap, straddling him. He wraps his arms around me and rests his chin on my head. “I never thought that you would hurt me.” I murmur, taking a deep breath of his calming scent.

“When we found you on the beach, I was so scared. I didn’t want to tell anyone for fear of what they might think. I figured you would recover then we could take off just like we had planned and stay away until you were legal. It wasn’t a solid plan, but it was all I could think of at the time. When you didn’t have your memories at first I thought it was an act, but when I realised it wasn’t I thought it was perfect. You were safe enough and if I knew the cops were close, I would have run and taken you with me. Your parents should have been away for another month but for some reason they came home early. I seriously think someone tipped them off.”

“Did any of the others know about us?” I feel him take a deep breath.

“No, I had to tell them once I was released.” I feel tears spring to my eyes.

“I’m sorry you were arrested, and the restraining order. I had no choice.” He gently kisses the top of my head as he slowly rocks us back and forth. It’s such a comforting gesture I didn’t know I needed right now.

“Don’t be. My solicitor says they have no case, with you having no memory and being the only witness, makes it easier.

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