Page 76 of The Other Side of Together

I drop to my knees in the shower, water pelting me, streaming over my head, down my neck. “I’m not leaving.” I blink water and tears out of my eyes as I wrap my arms around her and hold her against me, resting my chin on her head.

Her breaths are shallow, her body shaking even in the scalding water. I reach to yank it off, then squeeze her tighteragainst me, my fingers flexing against her bare back, slick with water. I wanna punch a hole in the wall, but Guo Mama’s soft voice deflates my rage.

“Marcus.” She stands in the doorway, holding out a thick purple robe. If I reach for it, I let go of Mei huddled against me. If I pull away, I see everything—all of her. Everything I’ve fantasized about. But not like this—with signs of Nick all over her.

I clench my jaw and snatch the robe with one hand. Keep my eyes on Mei’s face, while I slip the robe around her, then gently pull her arms from around her legs and slide them through the sleeves, swallowing as I fight to keep my eyes from sliding south of her face.

Once it’s mostly around her, I gather her to my chest and lift her, carry her out of the shower, out of the bathroom, across the hall. The robe falls open and her bare chest burns a hole through my soaked t-shirt. I clench my jaw and lay her on the bed, pulling the robe across her body. But every time I blink, I see what’s been done to her and anger boils inside me.

Instead of punching the wall or throwing something, I crawl onto the bed, lay in front of her, my lips pressed to her forehead while my head yells at me to throw something. Find Face Eater. Break him.

Mei stays curled in a ball, her eyes closed, hands covering her face to keep me out. I sweep her hair away and uncover a welt on her cheek like the one she had the night she came to The Clubhouse the first time. Blood has dried on her eyebrow and along her hairline. Her earlobe is torn, swollen and red.

My stomach crawls up my throat and I’m gonna puke, but instead, I run my hand across her forehead and down her face, avoiding the bruise. “Mei,” I whisper. “Look at me. Please.”

She turns her head away, exposing purple, finger-shaped bruises circling her throat. Like he tried to strangle her.

Shooting off the bed, I barely make it to the toilet before Ilose it. Every emotion from tonight heaves out of me—the excitement and adrenaline from prom and Tavah, curiosity, hope, Dad’s betrayal. Finding Mei like this. I vomit again, clutching the toilet for dear life. What did Nick do to her?

But I think I know, and the thought drops me to my knees. I lower my forehead to the fuzzy bathmat, wrap my hands behind my head and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to separate my anger from sadness. Nick will never get close to her again. I’ll keep her with me. I don’t care about Dad or Stanford or Kenna or anyone. I care about Mei, and if I have my way, Nick will be locked up, no matter what Guo says.

I haul myself to my feet. Talk myself into calm before washing my hands and searching Guo’s cabinet for mouthwash. I swish it around, use a hand towel to wash my face, then toss it on the ground along with my wet t-shirt before going back to Mei and whatever happens next.

CHAPTER 29

Igrip the edge of the mattress where I sit while Marcus stands in the open door, silent, shirtless, pale. I talk to my toes as they dig into the carpet. Loss, disgust, and shame bubble to my surface like oil on water, and I look to the ceiling, blinking to force it down. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Marcus hesitates in the doorway, then steps to the bed and kneels in front of me, taking my face gently between his hands.

“I’m not going anywhere, Mei. I just needed a minute. But I’m here—talk to me. Tell me what happened.”

I’ve kept everything hidden, afraid of what my reality would do to him or me or us. But he’s seen all of me now, and my will to keep him at a distance collapses under the weight of so many secrets. I exhale and words edge out of me in a whisper. “Nick happened.”

Marcus’s jaw tightens, and when I dare to look into his eyes, I watch a spark burst into a red-hot flame before he says, “Who is he to you?” His voice shakes and his hands press into the mattress on either side of me as his eyes hold mine.

“We’ve known each other since I was eight,” I say to my hands in my lap, the words trembling out of me. “He wasfifteen. I didn’t realize until recently that he wanted more than friendship.” The truth drops on Marcus, but I speak to drown the heaviness with more words. “I didn’t know that everything he did for me and my family had strings attached.” I shake my head, my face burning and throbbing from the pressure of so many admissions. “I thought he was just part of the family. But this past year, he started treating me differently. Buying me things. Taking me out. Using his connections to get me everything I wanted.” Words ball in my throat, but I want them out of me. “Kissing me. Touching me. Demanding things I didn’t want to give him. I didn’t know how to say no.” I close my eyes. “I just thought…”

What? What had I thought? Wasn’t it obvious what he wanted? I circle my swollen throat with my hand, my voice a strangled whisper. “I should have run away months ago. Lin begged me not to go to L.A., but I had no choice.” I shake my head, and Marcus is silent as I tell him everything that happened the night I left his house. How Nick threatened to hurt him. How he didn’t take his eyes off me. Had me followed. How I wanted to contact Marcus but didn’t dare. Seeing Su Ling at the party and how she saved my life.

Tears sting my eyes and I swipe at them, shaking my head, but Marcus leans his forehead against mine. “I’m here.” His voice is low and tight but steady. “I’m never leaving you.” He swallows hard but wraps his arms around me, holding me gently without saying a word. “Never, Mei. Nick’s over. For good. He’ll never hurt you again. He’ll never get close enough.”

“Marcus,” I say into his neck, tightening my hold on him. “When I told you I wasn’t safe, I wasn’t lying. I don’t belong in your world.”

He pulls away, holding my face between his hands. “Youdon’t belong in your world,” he says, his voice gravel. “I want you in my world, Mei. Nothing else, nowhere else, no one else.”

His words fill me, and I hold my breath to keep them inside, let them settle into the cracks and gaping wounds. “You don’t know how much I wish that could be.”

His hand cups the back of my head. “It can. All we gotta do is tell the police. Nick will be in custody. He won’t—”

“I already called the police,” I whisper. “I told them where to find Su Ling, and I hope they find Nick, too.”

His eyes skitter over mine, collecting answers. “Then they’re gonna lock him up. You’re safe now. It’s over.”

His thumb runs across my cheek, but I shake my head and swallow. “And so are we.”

He stills, his eyes searching mine. “What do you mean?”

I turn my head away from him, scanning Guo Mama’s shelves of Chinese paperbacks before closing my eyes and letting the words that have traveled so far through me finally emerge. “I’m undocumented, Marcus. I’m not supposed to be here. In America.”

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