Page 54 of Moonstruck at Midnight
“Mr. Hill. Let’s go,” Aaron said in a commanding voice as Nicholas and Thomas kept pushing at each other’s chests.
“That’s it. We’re leaving.” Caleb grabbed my arm and started toward the front door. I looked over my shoulder and saw Thomas landing a blow on Nicholas’s jaw.Shit!
Nicholas struck back at Thomas, but Aaron and David split them in two seconds. I walked out of there with tears running down my face. Caleb followed close behind.
“Damn it. Aaron’s got the keys,” Caleb said when we stepped outside of the apartment building. “Hey, are you okay?” I wasn’t. Not even close. I couldn’t stop the stupid tears coming out of my eyes. “Come here.”
Caleb hugged me, and I rested my cheek on his chest. He knew how to make me feel safe.
“We’re downstairs. She’s with me,” Caleb said, pressing on his earpiece, his arms still tightly placed around me. “They’re coming back. It’s best if we—”
“Oh, of course,” I replied, breaking away from his embrace. He brushed the tears off my face. “Ow.” My cheek was still a bit bruised where the camera struck me.
“I feel like I’m failing you,” he said, pressing his lips and shaking his head. “I hate to see you hurting.”
“I’m okay,” I said—my voice trembling. I reached out for his warm hand, and he held it, taking a quick look behind his shoulder. I could tell he was uneasy about Thomas coming back with Aaron and David. But Thomas didn’t seem to care about me tonight. All he cared about was getting drunk. “And you’re doing the opposite of failing me. You’re always here for me. Thank you.”
Caleb nodded. And I had to bite my lips to keep myself from crying again. We stood there in silence, just staring into each other’s eyes. All I saw was kindness. My heart ached a bit. I loved Thomas, but did he love me? All those things Nicholas said, I couldn’t stop thinking about them and what they meant.
Aaron and David appeared behind Caleb, escorting Thomas, who ambled in our direction with a bleeding lip. I quickly dropped Caleb’s hand.I don’t think anyone saw us. And Thomas could barely open his eyes, anyway.
Aaron opened the door for me. I got in, and Thomas hopped in behind me. Caleb walked around the car and sat next to me.
“I’m so sorry,” Thomas whispered, cupping my cheek. I recoiled from his touch and said nothing. It was becoming a pattern—a repetitive, never-ending Möbius loop kind of pattern. And I was trapped there with him.
Tiny crimson drops trickled on his bright white dress shirt.
He looked away and threw a punch at the car’s window. He looked pissed. I instinctively flinched away from him and grabbed Caleb’s arm, but I quickly let go of him. It’d been an automatic reaction.
Luckily, the SUV was armored, and it took more than Thomas’s drunken fist to do any damage, but it was enough to get on everyone’s nerves.
“Mr. Hill, sir, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down.” Aaron roared from the driver’s seat, making Thomas’s mouth twist to the side. He held his hands up, trying to placate the situation. I was so disappointed in his behavior.
Caleb placed his hand on top of mine and squeezed it as if trying to let me know that everything was going to be okay, that he was right there for me. He always was.
Thankfully, nobody said a word for the rest of the drive back to my apartment because I was saving all my words for later. And Caleb’s hand gave me all the comfort I needed.
CALEB ESCORTED USall the way to my door, which he only did when I was alone. “I’ll be here if you need anything, Miss Murphy,” he said, looking at Thomas. His voice sounded more like a warning. He seemed rattled and planned to wait outside until Thomas left.
We were all upset, but Thomas’s lip didn’t look great. I wanted to help him get it cleaned up and attempt to have a conversation, if possible, hoping the adrenaline rush from the fight might’ve toned down his level of intoxication.
I walked back to the living room with a small first aid kit I kept in the foyer closet and saw Thomas sprawled across the sofa. He objected as soon as he noticed my intentions. “Your lip is still bleeding. Look at your shirt.” It was blood-stained here and there. “Let’s hope you don’t need any stitches.”
I knelt beside him to check on his lip, and he winced as I slowly tapped it with a small disinfectant cloth, but he allowed me to finish cleaning the wound. I gave him a clean napkin and told him to apply pressure on the cut, hoping it would start clotting as I fetched a couple of glasses of water from the kitchen.
I wanted to know everything about Nicholas. His relationship with him, for how long he knew him, how close they were. The nicknameTommymade me guess they went way back, probably childhood friends.
Everything Nicholas said at the party shocked and affected me. It made me feel like there was another Thomas I didn’t know—one that was already starting to do a terrible job at keeping his true self in hiding.
Thomas sat up straight to answer my questions. “We have a complicated friendship, but yeah, he is my childhood friend from D.C.” Complicated—you don’t say! Besides, he didn’t seemfriendlyat all. Nicholas’s suggestive remarks had hurt me, and my eyes welled up as I became unable to discourage myself from crying.
“What did he say to you when I was away? Did he touch you?” Thomas wiped my tears away with his thumb.
“He said enough.”
“Please, just tell me.” His voice sounded lethargic.
He said, please, right? Okay. I just hoped he could keep up.
