Darkness Before Dawn (Darkness 2)

"What?" I seethe as my heart starts skipping beats and my ears start steaming.

She smirks. "Tell him I had a blast with him at the bar a couple of weeks ago. Wouldn't mind a repeat of us sneaking off alone together," she says with a wink as the elevator chimes and its doors open behind me. I feel my jaw working as I glare at her with her fake nose and her short blond perfect bob, and her low-cut blouse and too tight pencil gray skirt. I nod once sharply before turning around and stomping into the elevator. I don't have the energy or time to reply to her and I don't have to. Connor runs into the elevator and steps inside next to me, holding the door open as he too glares at Skipper. Her smile falters when she sees the angry look on his face.

"Nobody wants to fuck you, gold digging slut!" Connor states angrily before dropping his hand and letting the doors close in front of us, leaving her with a shocked expression on her face.

"I hate stupid bitches," he mutters under his breath.

In spite of everything, a soft giggle escapes me right before I start to ugly cry. Connor wraps his arm around me and pulls me into the side of his chest and lets me without saying a word.

When we make it back to my apartment, I text message Aubry asking him to come over. I'm still shocked and reeling over seeing my father, my long lost father for the first time that way. And as petty as fake Barbie's accusation is, my chest physically aches from the idea she insinuated. In spite of everything I experienced today, her words are the ones I keep on replaying. Unwanted flashbacks of Sasha, Cole's mistake in high school and then college, seep into my mind every time I picture fake Barbie's proud face. I close my eyes and am transported back to the college party and hear Sasha's moans of desire behind that door, making my stomach weaken. Aubry's responding text message snaps me out of the reverie.

Aubry: @ work. U OK?

Me: No. Need you.

Seconds after I hit reply, my phone rings and I see Aubry's curly blond hair and smiling blue eyes as his incoming call flashes my screen.

"Hello?"

"What's wrong, Cowboy?" he asks anxiously.

A broken sob escapes me before I can reply. "Can you leave work? I'm sorry."

"Oh my god. What happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. I just...I need someone..."

"Is Connor there?" he asks desperately.

"Yeah, but I need someone I know," I whisper brokenly.

He exhales into the line. "I'll be right there."

"I'm sorry," I repeat, hating that I'm having a weak moment.

Connor makes a few calls and announces that he doesn't have to work tonight, whatever work means to him. I excuse myself, letting him know he's welcome to stay as long as he wants, but that I need to lie down for a while. I contemplate calling Becky, but I don't want to get her worked up, and I don't want to call Aimee because she's too close to Cole in all of this and it'll just make me angrier at him. I start scrolling through my phone and hover over a familiar name before hitting send.

"Hello?" he answers in a confused tone.

"Hey."

"Hey back. What's up, chick?" he asks, and I can tell he's smiling.

"Not much, yet everything. How does that happen?"

He laughs. "I don't know, you tell me."

"I don't know either," I reply as a small smile touches my lips.

"You had a shit day, huh?"

"Yep, pretty much."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

He laughs again. "Nice conversation."

"It's perfect."

We continue our mindless banter back and forth for a while before he tells me he needs to go. By the time Aubry knocks on my door, I don't feel the urge to cry anymore. Instead, I sit up on the bed with my legs crossed and smile sadly at him. He eyes me curiously and walks over to me, unfastening his purple tie in the process. Once he sits down in front of me, I replay my entire day for him and am surprised to find that I don't shed a tear.

"Shit, Cowboy. What a fucking day," Aubry says, shaking his head slowly in disbelief. "Wanna get fucked up?"

"Hell yes."

Drinking with Aubry is always fun, and drinking with Aubry while we listen to hip hop is hilarious. He always gets in a zone and pulls out all the cards, singing everything that blares through the speakers. Connor and I watch on, doubling in laughter, as Aubry untucks his shirt and starts walking around like a G, his words. Around seven o'clock Aimee joins us, thankfully bringing us pizza as we continue to drink. We're in tears as Aubry does his best Nelly impersonation with Greg on speakerphone.

"You're the blackest white guy I know, dude, that's for damn sure," Greg says, laughing into the phone.

The five of us fall into a fit of laughter, theirs dying out before Aubry and mine. Greg hangs up the phone and Aimee announces that she has to get home soon.

"But you just got here," I whine annoyingly, immediately cringing at how needy my voice sounds.

"I know, Blakey, but I have to study," she replies softly.

"Ugh. The Bar," I groan. "I don't even know what I'm going to do anymore."

"You could always take it," she chimes.

"No, I don't even wanna be a lawyer anymore," I slur as I sway to get more whiskey.

"What!" she shrieks. "You went through three years of law school and now you don't know if you want to be a lawyer? Are you fucking crazy?"

"Babe, just leave her alone. Talk about this tomorrow," Aubry says before he kisses Aimee's lips shut. She shakes her head in disbelief as she tells us to be careful and says goodbye.

Connor heads out shortly after she leaves, and as I lock the door behind him I realize that Cole hasn't called me all day. I groan loudly as I flop back on the couch across from Aubry and sip on my drink. Maybe I should go out tonight. I mull over reasons why going out wouldn't be a good idea and come up short. Then again, I am justifying everything with "Cole screwed that Barbie bitch while I was kidnapped." My stomach turns at the thought. What an asshole. I was kidnapped, living in a fucking basement and he was screwing around with other women. The more I think about him being away so much in the past weeks, the angrier I get at everything. The rational person in me knows that he wouldn't cheat on me, but I wasn't gone long enough for him to have to...whatever.

"Aubry, we're going out!" I announce as I walk to my room, tipping my cup a little too much and spilling some whiskey on my feet. "Fuck," I grumble as I wipe the top of my barefoot clean with the bottom of the other. Aubry says something behind me and when I walk out of my room I find him on the verge of falling asleep on the couch. I wake him up with a couple of light slaps on the face and lead him out of the apartment.

"Where are we going anyway?" he asks sleepily.

"Out. Anywhere that has a bar."

He shrugs his answer and we ask Spencer to drive us to a small place nearby. Cole is supposed to get in later tonight and I do not plan on being home at that time, I'm afraid of what I'll do when I see him.

We sit around the bar, and to my dismay, there's a Cubs game on TV, which means my drinking partner is solely focused on that. I roll my eyes and take my phone out of my purse. I find two missed calls from Cole and a text message that says he'll be home at nine o'clock. I ignore him and call the last person on my call log instead.

"Two calls in one day? I feel honored," Dean says in an amused tone.

"Shut up. I had no one else to call," I reply. "Besides, we haven't really gotten to talk."

"Not my fault," he quips.

"I forgot how annoying you were." He laughs loudly into the receiver, making me back it away from my ear. "I met my dad today."

He lets out a low whistle on the other side of the line. "So you know."

My eyebrow lifts and I remember he can't see me. "Know what?"

"About your dad and Alex."

My heart drops. "What about them?"

He exhales sharply. "Where are you? I'm assuming lover boy isn't with you since you're calling."

"No. I hate hi

m. I'm at a bar."

"Hate him, huh?" Dean says in a playful tone.