Page 48 of Like Fathers, Like Son
“You’re an amazing young man, and I’m so proud of you. I’m proud of the way you think, and feel, and the way you look out for your brothers and sister the way you do. We all make mistakes when we’re young. You get that, right? I did, your other dad did. Hell, your mum probably did, but she never tells us that stuff.”
Dad squeezed my shoulder and I felt that usual calm settle deep inside me, that calm that came from our connection. In many ways, he’d always been my best friend, and now I was just messing this shit up, and still he wasn’t disappointed in me. I swallowed hard as my throat felt a bit tight.
“Dad… what am I doing here? This isn’t going right at all.”
He followed my gaze as I turned to look at Anneka again. She was sleeping peacefully now, almost smiling in her sleep, and the blanket had slipped a little, revealing redness and bruising around her delicate throat. I did that, didn’t I? I choked her when I fucked her, and look, I’d left marks on that beautiful pale skin of hers.
“I’m sick, dad. This isn’t right, what I’m doing to her. It’s not, is it?” I suddenly wanted to wrap her in those covers and carry her out of here, but I was the thing she should be rescued from. I was the monster hurting her.
“Look, kid, I can’t say if it’s right or wrong, but I can say this; you kids were always meant for each other, and maybe the way we got together with your mum wasn’t the sanest or most acceptable way, but look how it turned out. There’s so much fucking love in our household, and that started like this. I’m not saying this is the only way, but it can work.” He cupped my cheek, patting it lightly.
“Don’t doubt the process, Blaze, but you know something? Show her a little kindness now and then, and gain her trust. Relationships don’t work without trust. You might want to start by telling her why this all happened, about the others. Help her understand.”
Help her understand. Could anyone understand what I’d done to her? Could anyone go through that and not want me dead? Why was I suddenly feeling guilty, when I knew my actions were justified?
Anneka
I FELT WEIRD, GROGGY, and kind of confused. Something had happened but I couldn’t really remember what it was. It took me a few moments to realise that I was still in that bed, but something had changed.
As I lifted shaking hands and rubbed at my eyes, I realised that my wrists were no longer cuffed to the bed, and there was something else; I wasn’t naked anymore. I looked under the covers and realised I was wearing a t-shirt, and even more importantly, a pair of sweatpants.
Why was I wearing clothes? Had I been rescued? Was this even the same room? The last thing I could remember was Blaze hurting me… no wait, someone was in here.
“Hey, you’re awake.” Blaze was standing in the doorway, fully dressed and holding two steaming mugs in his hands. The smile on his face was gentle, nothing like the cruel grins and smirks he’d offered before.
“Uh…”
“Coffee?”
I sat up, holding the covers against me, even though I wasn’t naked anymore.
“I guess.”
Blaze set the mugs down by the other side of the bed, and walked around to my side, reaching towards me. I flinched and he paused, his hands still in the air.
“I just wanted to pile the pillows up so you can sit back.” What? Why? I felt completely out of my depth, like everything had changed while I slept. Or had they not changed at all? Had any of it really happened?
“I don’t understand,” I whispered, clutching the blankets tight against me, as I stared fearfully up at Blaze. He offered me another of those gentle smiles and when he did that, he looked so handsome, and it seemed so hard to believe that he’d be capable of the horrible things I was pretty sure he’d done to me. Hadn’t he?
“Let’s make you comfy, Anneka. It’s okay.” He leaned behind me and propped up the pillows against the headboard, finally standing back with a satisfied grin. “There you go.”
I tentatively sat back, relaxing a little when I realised the hard wrought iron headboard was sufficiently padded for me.
“Thanks.” I was thanking him now? My god, I was so confused. Had all of that awful stuff really happened?
Blaze was already back around the other side of the bed, sitting down cross-legged facing me, and passing one of the steaming mugs to me. I took a deep breath, inhaling the delicious coffee aroma.
“Smells good,” I muttered, and he grinned widely.
“Only the best, yeah?”
Only the best what, and for who? For me? For him? I really felt like I’d been trapped in a nightmare, and I’d finally woken up. Was this my reality? Was he not the cruel monster I’d imagined him to be?
“I’m uh… my brain’s a bit fuzzy,” I admitted finally, watching Blaze as he watched me, both of us tentatively sipping at the too-hot coffee. He nodded, shifting those blue eyes of his downward, his long lashes momentarily making me jealous, because why did men get the best lashes? And why was I even thinking of that right now?
“You were hysterical, so we uh… we gave you something to calm you down.”
Hysterical? Gave me something to calm me down? I didn’t remember any of that.
