Who Breaks First (Clearwater University)

“Proven liars? You haven’t proved anything, you stubborn, blind moron! I’m telling you what I know. I was just as surprised and upset as you were when your dad found out. I thought maybe you told him.”

“Why the hell would I tell him? And you were just as upset as I was?” Trent says, his voice rising to a shout. “Emma, my fucking parents broke up! You didn’t have married parents. You had no mother. You don’t know what it felt like on my end, so don’t you dare say that you were just as upset as me when you found out. That’s utter horse shit.”

“God, Trent! What do I have to do to convince you I’m telling the truth? I introduced our parents. And. That. Was. It. I had no other hand in all of this.”

“You introduced our parents, and that’s no big deal?” He surges to his feet, glaring down at her, practically chest-to-chest. “You were the catalyst for some of the most fucked up shit I’ve experienced in my life, and you say ‘that was it.’”

He dips his head, practically snarling.

“Emma, all these years I’ve been wanting to do something to you to break you. To break you the way you broke me. You got in my head for a little while, you made me think we could move past all this. But all the time, you were lying to me. I don’t need another liar in my life. Clearwater doesn’t need another liar. So it’s time for you to get the fuck out. This town doesn’t need trash like you.”

I watch as Emma goes silent and looks even more dejected. Trent turns away, like even he thinks what he said is too much.

“Guys, come on.” I rise to my feet, holding out my hands.

West is staring at the two of them with narrowed eyes, but I feel like I have to intervene. I get that Trent’s pissed, but with all this new information coming to light, I think we all need to step back and calm down. We need to talk this out rationally, something we’ve never, ever done when it comes to Emma.

I shoot a look at Trent. “Come on, man. This has gone too far.”

“It hasn’t gone too far. I could go much further. Like for starters,”

he says, “let’s discuss how all of this bullshit came about because Emma just wants another mommy.”

Oh, fuck.

He doesn’t know.

He doesn’t know what an open, raw wound that is. I never told him her secret, and I did it to protect her, but maybe if he knew he wouldn’t have plunged a knife into her heart like this.

But we’ll never know now.

Within an instant, Emma’s expression morphs into one of inhuman fury. She throws herself at Trent, tackling him—and the move takes him by surprise enough that he loses his balance, toppling to the floor. She lands on top of him and rises up to straddle him, raining blows down with her small fists. Trent grabs hold of her wrists and tries to restrain her.

“Shit!”

West and I dive for them. He grabs Emma by the waist, trying to pull her off Trent, while I try to drag Trent away from her. West is stronger than me, and I’m no fucking weakling, but despite our strength, the two of them are going at each other so hard it’s difficult to separate them.

“Fucking hell. Cut it out, you guys!” I grunt, reaching for Emma to help West.

“Don’t touch me!” she screams, flailing wildly.

“Stop it,” West grunts as she catches him with an elbow.

“Don’t let her get too close. She probably has poison-tipped claws,” Trent bites out, breathing hard.

Finally, West manages to pull Emma off of Trent. He drags her backward and stands, holding onto her tightly while she kicks and screams, lashing out with her fists. Trent has a little line of blood trailing from his mouth, so she must have gotten at least one good hit in.

“You okay, dude?” I ask him.

“Yeah, but she fucking cut my lip,” he replies, bringing his fingers up to touch the blood.

“You cruel, stubborn, stupid pig!” Emma screams while still flailing. “I absolutely hate you!”

“Oh, boo hoo,” he says in a sarcastic voice. “Go cry about it to your lecherous daddy.”

“Let go of me, West,” Emma hisses, but West only tightens his grip with a low grunt. She pushes against his arms uselessly, glaring at Trent. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to fucking kill you!”

Holy shit.