It took me less than a heartbeat to figure out what had happened.
He’d gone to my show, realized I’d been replaced, and then came to my apartment to confront me about it. He opened his mouth to issue a million questions, but when he saw my foot in a cast, the crutches supporting me, he shut his mouth and sighed.
Anna gasped. “Girl, oh no…”
“What happened?” Damien entered my apartment with Anna, his eyes on the white cast that encompassed my foot and ankle.
“I broke my ankle, so I’ll be like this for six weeks.”
He released another sigh, sadness filling his eyes. “Cat, I’m so sorry.” He leaned into me and hugged me with one arm, careful not to topple me over. He was my brother again, loving, affectionate, and with a heart of gold. He pulled away and looked down at my injury, even though he couldn’t distinguish anything underneath.
“Yeah…” I used the crutches to balance on one foot, but I struggled because I had no experience with them. Heath carried me everywhere. “It’s been hard.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shrugged. “I just…didn’t want to talk about it.”
He continued to pity me, like he wished he could fix it for me. But no one could. “When did this happen?”
“Last week.”
He looked around my apartment, seeing the dirty pans on the stove and the perfectly clean apartment. “Then how have you…” He turned around and noticed that my bedroom door was closed.
Shit.
Anna connected the dots quickly, shooting me an alarmed expression.
Damien slowly turned back to me, his eyes livid, no longer sympathetic whatsoever. “I thought you weren’t seeing him anymore.” He clenched his jaw tightly, his green eyes hostile. There was nothing that made him angrier than Heath’s existence. He turned into a psychopath anytime he was mentioned.
“I wasn’t, but—”
“Then why the fuck is he here?” he immediately yelled, going from zero to sixty in a second. “You don’t need him to take care of you. You’ve got me. You’ve got Annabella. Dad.” He marched to the bedroom door.
“Damien!” I couldn’t chase after him, not in my state.
Anna covered her eyes. “Oh god…”
Damien pushed the door open.
Heath must have anticipated it because he’d put on jeans and a shirt. He stood there with his arms by his sides, giving Damien an impassive expression, like he didn’t feel anything as he looked at him.
“Get the fuck out.” Damien shoved him in the chest.
“Damien!” I couldn’t believe my brother was acting this way. I moved my crutches as fast as I could to get to him.
“It’s fine.” Heath held up his hand to me, not wanting me to slip and fall. “I’ll go.” He moved around Damien and walked past me to the door.
I couldn’t let him walk out of there, being treated like shit by Damien, when he was the one who was there for me. “Wait.”
Heath kept walking.
“Heath.” I raised my voice so he would be forced to listen.
He stared at the door for a few seconds before he turned to me, unable to hide his annoyance.
I turned back to Damien, who was seething. “He’s the one who’s been taking care of me, Damien. He was there when I broke my ankle. He was in the audience, and I had no idea. He took me to the hospital, and he’s been busting his ass around here to take care of me—”
“I don’t give a shit—”
“Shut your fucking mouth right now!”
Damien’s eyebrow shot up in astonishment.
“You’re going to listen to every goddamn word I have to say.” I felt weak on the crutches, but my voice was stronger than ever. “I ended things with him after our last conversation, but I’ve been so fucking miserable, Damien.” Tears came to my eyes, bubbled like boiling water, and then streaked down my cheeks. “I can’t do this. I can’t live without this man. It’s not because he’s taken care of me, not because he’s been submissive to you even though you treat him like shit. It’s because I love him.”
He shook his head. “I’m not going to change my mind—”
“I don’t need you to change your mind, Damien.”
His expression hardened.
“Because I’m going to be with him anyway. He’s my fucking soul mate, and if you don’t love me enough to even try, then that’s just sad. I know you love me enough to look past this, but you just choose not to because you’re selfish. If you want to ostracize me because you don’t accept who I love, that’s fine. But I hope you change your mind someday—for your sake.”
Damien didn’t move or react, as if he couldn’t believe I’d just said all of that.
“Don’t tell him to leave because he has every right to be here. You’re the one who’s unwelcome, Damien. So, get the fuck out of my apartment.” I breathed hard because of the exertion my speech had caused. It was a catharsis of emotions, both freeing and damning.