Love's Broken Road

Chapter 5 - This Again

Dakota’s P.O.V.

My damn hand is still throbbing, but I’m sure it’s not broken because I can move it. I stopped shaking after drinking a few beers to calm myself. I felt awful for what I did to Shea before the fight. She tried to block me, but the anger took over during that moment. My pent-up rage boiled over finally. I guess locking up my emotions will cause that. My mood has improved since the fight. An immense weight had lifted from my chest. When I tried to get off the tailgate, everything started spinning. Melody grabbed my arm, seeing I was going to fall.

“Whoa there, big boy, sit before you fall,” she said.

I laughed as I plopped back on the tailgate, “I guess that lucky shot did more damage than I thought.”

I rubbed my eye where I got punched. It’s going to be a nice shiner tomorrow.

“I’m sure you dealt more damage than you received,” Melody chuckled.

I grabbed her hand.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” I said, looking over at her.

She gave me the sweetest smile.

“What else was I supposed to do? Let you bleed everywhere?” she said as she squeezed my hand.

I winced as it was the hand that was throbbing.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry,” she apologized when she realized which hand she squeezed.

“You are fine. It didn’t hurt that much,” I lied, giving Mel my best smile to hide the pain.

She lifted my hand to her lips and kissed it, “There, does that make it better?”

My heart rate picked up when she did that. I nodded, unable to speak.

“So, did you get your anger out?” she asked.

“I believe I did. I only needed to release the bullshit building up inside me. No better way than beating his face to a pulp,” I chuckled.

“I’m glad. Maybe now you can get back to living your own life,” she smiled.

She wrapped her arms around mine and rested her head on my shoulder.

“I hope so,” I sighed as I leaned my head in hers.

Melody had not left my side since the fight, which was fine with me. I enjoyed having her nearby. The sweet aroma of her perfume gave me such a calm feeling. Everyone had gone back to partying after the scene I made. A growing sensation that someone was watching me started entering my senses. I glanced around and saw Shea looking at us with a smile on her face. I knew what her little brain was thinking. Deep inside, I cared for Melody, but it didn’t settle right with me. She’s my best friend’s sister, and I didn’t want to cause issues between him and me if it didn’t work out. I didn’t consider her in that way, even though I still watch out for her.

It was time to get up again. I’ve been sitting for too long. I shifted to get myself off the tailgate.

“Where are you going?” Melody asked, lifting her head off my shoulder.

“I need to walk. I have been sitting still too long. I’ll be alright,” I said.

She gave me a concerned look, “Alright, but if you get dizzy again, you better take a seat.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I chuckled as I stood.

My eye throbbed, but I will live. My hand dove into the cooler and grabbed another beer. I twisted off the cap, then started walking off into the field, away from the party. I wasn’t going far. My legs needed a stretch, plus it gave me a moment to myself. I got lost in reflection when I heard someone walking up behind me. My body stiffened, not knowing who it was. I spun around, ready to throw down if needed. Shea jumped at my sudden move. I relaxed when I saw it was her.

“s**t, sorry. I didn’t know who was coming up behind me,” I apologized, a sense of shame coming over for acting that way.

“A little jumpy now?” she giggled.

“No, just cautious. I don’t want someone trying to catch me off guard,” I said, trying to act tough.

“I’m sure they left, so you are good,” she said. “What are you doing walking around by yourself?”

“Just needed to stretch my legs,” I said.

“So… that was your Ex,” She said.

“Yes, that was Nicole. The reason for my shitty mood. Again, I’m sorry for putting you in the middle of that,” I said, trying to remove the image of her from my head.

“It’s OK,” she said, then paused for a moment and smiled, “You can do better than her.”

I laughed, “I will have to agree with you now.”

She smiled back at me.

“I’m surprised I did that. I usually avoid confrontations of any fashion,” I said as I continued to walk.

Shea caught up to me, walking beside me as we moved farther from the party.

“You surprised me too. I didn’t expect to witness a fight tonight,” Shea chuckled.

“Yeah, I wasn’t looking for one, but I just snapped. It’s amazing what adrenaline can do. I’m sure I might have killed that asshole if the guys didn’t stop me,” I said, looking at my scraped knuckles.

“He’s not worth it. Again, you will find someone better than Nicole,” she said. “Maybe someone such as Melody,” giving me a sly smile.

“This again,” I said as I stopped and turned towards her, starting to get annoyed by her pushing.

“You can’t argue because I’m right,” she huffed back at me.

She wasn’t backing off now. We stopped there for a minute, glaring at each other. Once our eyes locked, I started noticing something in the pit of my stomach. Those damn lovely eyes of hers began melting my icy exterior. I experienced an emotion that I should not. I shook my head, trying to remove those thoughts, and remembered why we were talking.

“You are right. I have feelings for Mel. She does not deserve to get hurt by me because I am a broken person. You had a first-hand look tonight. It’s not her job to put up with my baggage,” I sighed.

“You are far from a broken person. You’re hurting, yes, but not broken,” she said.

“How do you know what I am? Did you realize I have not left my house or talked to anyone for two weeks? I don’t want to be a burden on anyone. When I get depressed, I’m not the most pleasant person to be around,” I hissed.

“I know that we’ve only just met, but anyone that has talked to you knows better than that. You may act as if your an ass, but you care too much for your friends to be a complete asshole,” she said.

“Whatever,” I said and started walking away.

“Do you enjoy building walls around yourself?” she said, sounding annoyed.

She was not taking any of my crap.

“That’s what you think I’m doing?” I asked as I kept walking.

“That’s what you are doing because I’ve done the same thing. It terrifies you knowing you might hurt again,” Shea stated as she followed me.

I stopped and turned around, “Yeah, I did such an outstanding job avoiding getting myself hurt. You saw me tonight. I am a f*****g mess. I spend so much time in my head that I’m going to go crazy. No one in their right f*****g mind should waste their time on me.”

“Dakota, don’t shut out the world because that b***h screwed you. Do not give up now because one person hurt you. Other people do care for you. You’d realize that if you did not focus on the awful crap that has happened,” she said.

“Why do you even care? You had never met me before tonight,” I asked.

She never answered at first. I saw her biting her lip. She was trying to stop herself from saying something. I was getting impatient and turned to walk away again.

As I started to walked away, she murmured, “Because you are a good guy Dakota, I sensed it when we first met. Great and decent guys are scarce. I’d kill to have someone care for me enough to fight for me.”

I c****d my head to the side with a confused expression when she said that last part.

“Any girl wants a man that will do that,” she added once she notices the confusion on my face.

I could tell she was blushing even though it was dark. I shrugged. Yeah, being the good guy has done me a world of wonder. Yep, the nice guy always finishes last. I have become a cliche. f**k this s**t. I spun around, then sat in the middle of the field. My gaze went to the stars as I knew I wanted to be alone. I caught myself starting to spiral into the dark place again. Tears welled in my eyes. Shea came up behind me and took a seat beside me.

“Why are you here with me? Shouldn’t you be with Jay?” I asked, trying to hide the tearing forming in my eyes.

“He is busy telling stories. And you looked as if you needed someone to keep you company,” Shea replied.

“I am sorry I snapped at you. You are only trying to help, but I am not ready,” I sighed, fighting to keep the tears from falling.

Shea shifted and put her arm over my shoulders, squeezing them.

She muttered, “I get it. I am sorry I kept pushing you. It’s OK to take your time. Do not miss your opportunity, though. She won’t make the first move. You need to.”

I chuckled as I wiped my eyes, “Yeah, that will not happen.”

“Why not?” she grinned.

“I have little confidence in myself. I’m a shy guy in case you missed that,” I said.

“Well, that was obvious from the moment we met,” she giggled.

I shrugged. It was the truth.

“You’ll figure it out when you are ready. Until then, whenever you want to talk, I’m here for you,” Shea said, giving my shoulder another squeeze.

“Thank you,” I muttered as I put my arm around her back and pulled her into a hug.

It felt perfect sitting there holding on to her. It was what I needed to keep me from my dark place. We let go of our embrace. Then Shea jumped to her feet.

“Alright big boy, let’s get back to this party,” She smiled at me, reaching her hand out to help me up off the ground.

I grabbed her hand and stood up, “Let’s finish this night off right.”

We laughed as we walked back to our friends.