Never an Ever After

Ugly

SONG FOR THIS CHAPTER:

HEAVEN-JULIA MICHAELS

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

ELLORA

I knew I shouldn’t be affected by the rumors that spread at school. I thought everything would be fine when the day passed. But it has been three days since the photo of mine surfaced. At first, I was receiving catcalls from the boys on campus. But that disappeared immediately and the only ones left were the women who were telling me everything they had in mind. It's funny to think that women are the ones pulling down their fellow women. But I can't control the way they think, so every day I just swallow their hurtful words to me. There are the words surfacing that I am Flirty, attention-seeker and the worst of it is, I am throwing myself at the Deacons of Pennsylvania. Yes, James, Cloud and Ronan are being called the Deacons. Not just in Nashville and the Hamptons but throughout the Pennsylvania district. And off course if there are Deacons, there are higher ones among them who until now have not been recognized. The Bishop. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ronan’s dad is the Bishop in our area.

I'm just thankful and the news about me inside the school hasn't reached the School committee yet. And Papa is pretty busy right now with church activities because Papa is also going to be the Reverend all over Pennsylvania, because people love him over the years.

I don't know how he will react when he finds out what happened, he might lose his trust in Demi, who is my only friend at school. Aside from my churchmates and choirmates, Demi is the only one I have outside of the church.

I know this will also pass, so I won't let it affect my studies, I'm used to Papa leaving in the morning and sometimes he even spends the night in the other town. He trusts me enough to decide like that because he knows I won't break rules.

It's in the middle of the night as I am making my homework when I heard a loud thump in my window, the rain is heavy outside, so I thought it's just the wind and rain, so I just shrugged.

That is when I saw hand, not just any other hand but bloodied hand tapped my window and opened it swiftly.

I stood up at my study table and shouted, I went to the far end door of the room ready to run away. Because who is this? Who will enter my room in the middle of the night with a bloody hand using my window.

He entered the room; my room is dark and the only light visible is the lamp on my table. I can see his tall silhouette, and I know him.

I got more scared because the man inside my room who entered using my window and bloodied from his hands and his torso is none other than; Ronan Hawthorne.

I gasped as I am bout to flick the open on, he talks.

“Don’t.” He growls so low, and I don’t want to test his patient right now.

I just stood there watching as his blood is kept on dripping onto my room carpet.

I clutch my chest so hard. I am unable to breathe properly.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him courageously.

He sat down on my couch holding something on his side of his torso, he’s breathing fast and hard.

“A little help here.” He said, that is when I saw how bloody he is.

I immediately went to the bathroom to get some first aid kit, I knew I should let him, because this man sitting on my couch inside my room is the man torturing me now. But the cry of my feeling that this man needs my help prevailed.

Once I get what I need, I Kneel down in front of him hesitantly. I saw how pale he is as his eyes sets on me kneeling in front of him. I swallowed hard as I saw the fire in his eyes despite of his condition.

"Why did you come here? Shouldn't you be in the hospital, or at least with your private doctor." I said to him as I started cleaning his wound, I saw that it needed stitches that I flinched as if I was the one hurting for him. While he is just sitting emotionless. If I just didn't see his blood all over, I wouldn't think he was hurt at all.

"I can't go to the hospital. I know you're smart to know why. I can't call a private doctor and have my Mom get hysterical over nothing." He answered me coldly. I know why he can't be in the hospital. Questions are going to be asked around him, and I know he has nothing to answer to the questions of why he sustained such a wound. But I know that he can still get through it if ever.

"Your Mom should just be hysterical, given how deep your wound is." I replied to him that I knew there were traces of my annoyance with him.

He didn’t answer him, instead he just held gaze that I am the one who have to back down and continued to clean and examined his wounds. “Saint Mary’s?”

“What?”

“Did this happen in Saint Mary’s?” My voice become softer as I am starting to closed up his wounds.

“Worried now, are we Snow white?” His voice is full of confidence as I looked at him tilting his head and smirking at me. I was disgusted with his face so I deliberately tightened my stitches on his wound to hurt him, But I just earned another dark smile from him. This man is surely something. And that something is, something evil. I sighed and continued what I was doing so that he could leave. "What if I tell this to your Mom?" I tried to threaten him.

“You won’t.” he smiled.

“How confident are you that I won’t tell this to her?” I looked at him as he places his bloody hands on my chin and make me looked at him even more.

"Because I know you, you f*****g love my mother as your own. And no matter how much you hate me for telling her what happened to me today just to get revenge to me, you won't do it because you don't want to hurt my Mom, Right, Snow white?" He smiles as I swallowed hard. His hands on my face, his face so close to mine, and his voice growling inside me.

I hate it when he seems to read my mind, I hate it when he acts like he knows me. because in fact, he is right. I love Reena as my own because in years she made me feel how Mother should love their child, it even got to the point that I was jealous of Ronan because he had a mother like Reena Hawthorne. And he's here, he did nothing but give fear and trepidation to his mother who did nothing but love him and his father. I am sure, Reena deserves much better than this. And I won’t let myself that I am the one who breaks her by bringing the news that his son almost fights for his life tonight while she sleeps soundly at night. I know her trauma when Ronan went missing.

“Jerk.” I muttered as he chuckled. A real laughed this time, and I let myself to look at him closely, for a moment I saw the Ronan I have eight years ago.

He still as he looks at me too “Going on memory lane?”

I clear my throat and continue to his wound. I hate it when I feel like he can always read me, just like now. I know he see that I remembered him.

“Why are you doing the fights?” I asked him curiously.

“Just to feel.” He answered.

“To feel what?” I crinkle my nose at him. Because I don’t know what else to feel when you fight for your life inside the Saint Mary’s but Pain.

Our conversation was interrupted when my phone rings, I stand up and looked at the caller ID. It's Aldric. Aldric is Demi's friend from Hamptons and has been pestering me for another date, I gave Demi a chance for a blind date then to keep her quiet that I should date. But I’m not really interested in Aldric.

“Who’s that?”

“It’s Aldric from Hamptons.”

“Aldric?”

“Aldric Manovich, Demi’s friend. I used to go on a blind date with him, but I’m not interested.” I kneel down in front of him again as I am close to finishing his wound.

“Then why he’s calling you?”

“I don’t know, been pestering me for another date.”

I don’t know that I kept on answering his questions and after I realized what I am doing being comfortable with him, I stopped “Honestly, it’s none of your business.”

“Oh, dear. Trust me, it is my f*****g business.” He muttered so low that if I don’t listen carefully, I won’t heard him. But I do. Surprisingly, I keep my focus on what he has to say. And I don’t know why.

I stood up and take a deep breath. “Done.”

He stood up too in front of me “I owe you one, Snow white.”

He turns to my window, ready to leave “Please, be careful not to..” I was about to tell him that be careful not to open up the wound again, but he swiftly parkour his way out of my window. I have to watch him jog inside their massive mansion until he’s nowhere to be seen.

For a moment, I’m scared to myself. How comfortable I am with him tonight. How smooth our talk tonight went? Just like so many years ago, only thing that changed is him. He’s dark and mysterious for me to befriend him again.

I shouldn’t trust him.

I should trust my instinct.

How many secrets does Ronan Hawthorne have?

I guess it will only leave me in the dark, forever. I don’t want to be curious. I don’t want to have a care anymore. The more deep I have with him, the more I am doomed.

I just wished he just leave me in the dark, even if it takes forever. I don’t know what world he’s in right now. But I know, it can be ugly.