“Umm, sorry to bother you guys, but well, I won’t be able to keep them out much longer,” Keeley said through the heavy door.
“We’ll be down in a few minutes,” he told her. “C’mon, Sunshine, time to face the family.”
Peaking out from under the covers, she had a haunted look in her eyes asking, “What if they hate me?”
“Oh baby, no way. You’re not giving them nearly as much credit as they deserve. They’re your brothers. I’m pretty sure there’s not much you could do that they wouldn’t forgive.” He tried to reassure her before pulling gently on her hand, guiding her to her suitcase.
“You’re right. I know you are. It’s just hard to let go, you know?”
“We know,” Creed said hugging her from behind. “Want us to wait for you?”
Shaking her head no she told them, “I need a minute to wrap my head around being home, and you two don’t help that very much.” If it weren’t for the gleam in her eyes he might have been insulted, but it was her way of trying to lighten up her mood. Nodding, they each gave her a kiss before leaving her alone.
·?•? ?•?·
“You can do this, Kennedy,” she whispered to herself while she dug through one of her suitcases for something to wear. “They love you; they’ve always understood your crazy ass.” Looking up to make sure no one was watching her she shook her head laughing at the fact she was giving herself a pep talk to face her brothers.
Taking her clothes into the bathroom, she washed up quickly. Getting dressed she took a deep cleansing breath to get herself ready for the emotional roller coaster she was sure she was about to jump on.
Cracking the door open she peeked out to find the hallway empty. Fortifying herself, she made her way quietly downstairs careful not to make a sound. As a child, she always found the best way to find out what her brothers were really thinking was to eavesdrop.
Following the sound of voices to the kitchen, she stopped short when she heard hushed voices. “Ma should be here, dammit,” Nate growled.
“No, she shouldn’t. Kennedy came here because she knew you two big galoots wouldn’t overwhelm her. Don’t make her doubt that choice, Nathaniel,” Keeley argued.
“She left for nearly five fucking months, Butterfly, without a word to anyone. That ain’t no joke,” Nate bit back.
“Don’t you swear at me, Nathaniel,” she scolded him. Go, Keeley, she thought. “I know how long she was gone for. What you two seem to forget is what she went through. I’ve been there, sort of. I understand how she had been feeling and being that low is not pretty. Nor is it easy to accept.”
“You didn’t have a choice in being alone, though,” Ty said softly. “Kennedy chose to leave everyone who loves her behind.” He sounded sad when he said that and it broke her heart.
Leaning against the wall, she fought to keep the tears at bay. She’d broken her family as much she was and it was never her intent to do that. It was just so hard to be around people that just wanted her better and they wouldn’t understand. Her brothers were so strong and foreboding and she was small and weak. Being broken didn’t help how she was feeling.
She listened to the back and forth bickering for a few more minutes wanting to flee as fast and far as she could, but she forced her feet to stay rooted to the spot. She refused to run again; she didn’t want to be alone anymore. At the heel of that thought was Linc’s voice. “Knock it the fuck off you assholes. Don’t think for one fucking second that we won’t hesitate to take her out of here if you make her feel guiltier than she already does.” Linc growled sounding more pissed off than she had ever heard him.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Black. She’s our fucking sister!” Ty yelled.
Slamming her hands over her ears to block out their fighting, she slid down the wall with tears streaming down her cheeks as they fought over her and her choices.
“Enough!” Creed boomed, his voiced laced with menace. “Are you people fucking stupid or what? That girl went through hell. Alone. For four fucking months until she found the courage to finally write home, which was hard as hell for her. Do you have any idea what she did? She nearly fucking died. And that eats away at me every damn day, knowing we could have lost her before we truly had her. I, no we won’t allow you to make her feel one more fucking second of pain! Not while there’s breath in our bodies.” In that moment, listening to Creed tell them how strong she was, how scared he was when she left made all the horrible pain trying to drag her down disappear. They might not live in a fairy tale but they sure made her feel like a princess with not one but two dark knights.
“Sunshine,” she heard Creed call her softly. “Come
on in here now.” She froze. She didn’t make any noise while listening, did she? “Come on, Kennedy,” he called again.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she peeked around the corner to find all eyes on her. Keeley with tears in hers, regret from her brothers because now they knew she’d heard a good chunk of their anger, but best of all pride and love from her men. That got her moving. Jumping to her feet she ran right into Creed’s arms, kissing him deeply as he picked her up. Wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, she put every emotion she was feeling into the kiss.
Her love, her fear, immense relief that they loved her flaws and all. Pulling back she mouthed against his lips, ‘I love you’, knowing he would know exactly what she said.
Sliding down his body she immediately felt Linc’s heat on her back while he held her hips tightly. Burying her head in Creed’s chest she closed her eyes, absorbing the love she could feel emanating from them for her.
Without looking at her brothers, she told them, “I’m not who I used to be. That girl is as lost as I still feel most days. I’m sorry I left the way I did, Nate, but I felt smothered. I couldn’t stand being touched and that’s all any of you wanted to do. And you asked questions all the time. What happened? What did they do? Are you ok? More than anything I hated being asked that because no, I was not ok.” Opening her eyes she met their tortured ones. “I will never be ok again. I will never trust the way I used to. I will never be as fearless as I was. But one day, Nate? One day, I’ll find peace.”
Not letting them say anything more she looked at Linc asking, “Can we go to my parents now?”
“Anything you want, Sunshine,” he told her with a proud smile gracing his lips.
“Shit, Kennedy, wait,” Ty called as they were about to walk out the door. “I’m sorry, Ken. God, this is just… It’s hard, you know? We worried for so long. We didn’t know what happened to you. Honestly? We were selfish not thinking about how you really felt. Why you left. No one thought to look any deeper than the fact that you ran. I’m so fucking sorry we didn’t protect you, Kenny. You’re our baby sister and seeing you so fucking broken left us all scrambling.”