The Road Trip

Chapter 18 - Taking Out the Trash

Chapter 18

Taking Out the Trash

Trent got his MRI and was given a clean bill of health. Well, other than the fact that it would take a little while for him to breath normally again, but they couldn't do anything about that. I swear I had been officially traumatized from the experience. Not only had Trent almost died - and was dead for a few minutes - my boyfriend had slapped me.

I'm not even sure why I let Holden in the van. Maybe it was because I wasn’t a cold-hearted person and couldn't leave him at the hospital without any of his stuff or money, or maybe it was because he crawled into the backseat of the car without a word. Either way, I crawled into the driver’s seat without a word, Trent sitting beside me.

The whole ride back to the campsite was quiet and tense. I swear if someone moved, we would've all shattered to pieces. Trent kept glancing at me in the driver’s seat as if to ask if I was alright, and each time I shot him a look that said 'drop it.' When we reached the campsite, I fled from the car and sat on the picnic table. I curled my knees up to my chest, hoping Holden wouldn't try to talk to me.

No such luck.

"Addison," He said, slowly approaching me. I was watching him with a wary eye, ready to jump out of the way if he decided to swing a punch at me. "Can I talk to you?"

"Talk," I said harshly, glaring daggers into his skull. He lowered his gaze, stirring up the dry dirt with his feet.

"Alone?" My gut twisted at the sound of the one word I didn’t want to hear. There was no way I wanted to be alone with him. But then again, there were things that needed to be said. I glanced at my two watchdogs, who were leaning on the hood of the car. Their backs were rigid. They could sense something was wrong and were ready to pounce.

"Guys," I whispered, motioning for them to go into the woods. Trent shook his head forcefully at me, and I knew he wasn't going anywhere. But I really did need to talk to Holden without listening ears. I glared at him, and he glared back. For us, it was just a matter of who could glare the longest. Finally, after minutes of waiting, Trent sighed and grabbed Luke's arm, yanking him into the surrounding forest.

"Be careful," Trent mouthed to me just before he disappeared.

"I will," I mouthed back, and I meant it. If I was going to do this, I would be treading on thin ice, but it had to be done. I had to know the truth.

"Look, Addie, I can explain. I-" I cut him off, standing up abruptly. When I stood, he was standing so close our chests were almost touching. My heart rate sped up; I was scared to be this close to him.

"No, I need to talk," I hissed, willing my voice not to show my fear. Thankfully, it didn't. Holden nodded slowly. "You hit me, has that registered in your brain yet?"

"Yes, Addie, and I really didn't mean too, I-" I held up my hand. I couldn't do this. Tears were already pooling up in my eyes, and I really didn't want to cry when I did this.

"Why?" I whispered, trying my best to glare at him. His eyes were so sad, but I could tell it wasn't really. "Why would you ever hit me?" He opened his mouth to answer, but I continued, "Why would you ever hit a girl?! Have you ever done anything like that before?"

"No!" He quickly said, grabbing my shoulders. I stiffened, waiting for him to do something painful, but he just rubbed my arms. I'm sure he meant it to be soothing, but it put made me even more scared. "You know you're the only girl I've ever been with, I love you."

"Do you?" I squeaked, ripping out of his grasp and walking a few feet away, "Am I really the only girl you've ever been with?" My mind immediately went to those pictures Alexandria had sent me. How could I have been so stupid to think they were fake?

"Of course-"

"Before you answer that," I spun on my heel so I could face, and glare, at him. "Know that you only have one chance to tell me the truth." I saw confusion pass through his eyes as he bit on his bottom lip, hesitating. That was the wrong answer.

"You know you're my first and only girlfriend," He whispered, but he wasn't looking at me. He was looking the other way, that's how I knew he was lying. Somewhere, deep inside, I think I had known. How? I don't know, but I had known.

`"You cheating bastard," I screamed, stomping my foot like three year old would. He flinched. "I hope you rot in hell! God, how had I been so stupid?!" I raked a hand through my hair, tugging on it. I can't even explain the fiery anger that rushed through my body.

"Addison, calm down, listen to me," Holden begged, taking a few steps towards me.

"No," I said, holding up my hand. My voice was shaking I was so angry, "Don't come any closer to me. I never want to see you again, Holden! God, I'm so glad I kissed Trent. You deserved it!" As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted it. Why was I so stupid sometimes? Holden's whole body stiffened, he stood stock still.

"You...What?" He growled through gritted teeth. I opened and closed my mouth like a fish out of water. I had nothing to say, I was a deer in the headlights. The only thing I could focus on was the way his fists opened and closed, his knuckles cracked, and his face turning red. "You kissed Trent?" He stood a threatening step forward; I took a step back. "Or he kissed you?"

"I...I..." He kept getting closer, I ran into a tree. God, why was I so stupid? Only I would back into a tree and not run into the woods. "I would say it was mutual...." I finally croaked out. "He won me a teddy bear...and..."

"That stupid little bear you've been obsessed with?!" He yelled so loud birds scattered. I flinched. Veins were popping out of his neck and forehead. I couldn't respond, so I merely nodded. "That..." He flew around, punching a nearby tree. Some of the bark cracked under the pressure, but Holden didn't seem affected by it.

Wouldn't that hurt?

He spun back around, nostrils flaring. I gulped, hoping he wouldn't hit me again. Please don't, I chanted in my head. He took a deep breath; his whole body shook in anger.

"You cheated on me?!" He screamed, making me press my eyes closed. I had always been scared of people who yelled at me. "Answer me!"

"Yes!" I finally screamed, my voice shaking. He cheated first, but that didn't make what I did okay. I waited for the blow I knew was coming. I could tell in his previous body language he wanted to punch me, but nothing came. I heard a grunt, and then a loud thud. My eyes flew open, I gasped in shock. Trent had tackled Holden to the ground and was straddling him, punching him multiple times in the face.

"Trent!" I gasped, jumping forward. Before I could pull them apart, Luke grabbed me, wrapping his arms around my body so I couldn't move. "Stop!" I screamed at them, struggling in Luke's arms. Since he had pinned my arms to my side, I couldn't communicate with Luke. "Boys, stop it!" Holden had managed to get Trent off of him and was on top of Trent.

I winced as Holden punched Trent in the face, making blood gush from his nose. That still wasn't as bad as Holden was, though. His nose was bleeding, his lip was gushing blood, and he had a cut on the side of his face. One of his eyes was already swelling up, too.

"Stop it!" I screamed will all my might, loud enough to make them stop. They froze, looking at me with wide eyes. I have to admit, I didn't know I could yell that loud, and I would've been impressed if I wasn't fuming with anger. "Trent, make your brother let go of me." He hesitated, pushing Holden off of him and standing up slowly. "Now."

'Let her go,' He finally signed, heaving a big sigh. Luke released me, and I quickly ran over to Trent. I wrapped my arms around him in a big hug, pressing my cheek into his heaving chest. He winced.

"Go now, Holden," I growled, glaring at him. He was still sitting on the ground, playing with his hands.

"What?" He asked, giving me the 'are you crazy' look.

"I said leave," I gritted my teeth, willing myself not to scream because I would've yelled in Trent's ear. "You're not my boyfriend anymore, we're through. I never want to see you again."

"You cheating little b***h, you think you can break up with me?!" He asked, standing up. Trent spun around, pushing me behind him. Holden was scaring me again, but I was more concerned with getting him out of here.

"I don't think, I know. Now leave before I call the cops." I wrapped my arms around Trent from behind, resting my head on his shoulder and glaring at Holden. He eyed us suspiciously, and I realized what it looked like. It looked like we were a couple, which would only set him off again. Much to my surprise, though, he grabbed his suitcase from the tent and, sending us one last glare, started down the dirt walkway.

None of us moved until he was out of sight, and even then, we were still tense. I had this lingering thought that he would just pop out of the woods at any second, maybe holding a knife, and kill all of us. Irrational, I know, especially since he had only slapped me, but I was scared none the less. Trent must've sensed that because he turned around and wrapped me in a comforting hug.

"You're bleeding," I said, pulling out of his embrace. Upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn't his nose that was bleeding, it was his bottom lip. 'Luke,' I turned to face him, 'Can you please get the first aid kit from the medical center?'

'Sure,' He replied and started jogging off in the opposite direction.

"It's not that bad," Trent sighed, making I rolled my eyes. He was trying to be all macho, but I could tell it hurt him to talk. I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the picnic table, pushing him down on the bench. I poured some water over his lips, making him hiss.

"See," I said in a knowing tone, "It is bad." He rolled his eyes and let me use some napkins to wipe away the blood. "s**t, Trent, this is really bad."

"You know, I find it attractive when women swear." He commented, smirking at me. I sighed, resisting the urge to facepalm myself.

"Only you..." I muttered, pouring more water onto his wound. Luke came back, so I was able to use some disinfectant wipes to clean it off. He didn't like that part and started swearing profusely, but I got him to calm down enough to put a butterfly band-aid on his lip.

"A band-aid on my lip, really?" He asked, giving me a strange look.

"Yes," I said. He should trust me; I had taken multiple first aid classes. "But if that bleeding doesn't stop soon, we're going to have to go back to the hospital. It's already borderline deep for needing stitches."

"Oh, I'm sure they'd be thrilled to see me twice in one day," He muttered, chugging a water bottle.

'Are you okay, Addie?' Luke asked, wrapping me in a quick hug. 'You're still a little pale.'

'I'm just in shock, I guess.' I shrugged, trying to brush it off. Actually, I was practically shaking. I was beyond not okay; I was freaked out. The only good thing that had come from this was I had gotten rid of Holden, but that wasn't really something I wanted to do in the first place.

Absentmindedly, my hand wandered up to my necklace. It was the one Holden had given me, the one that said I love you. I quickly took it off and chucked it into the bushes, tears pricking my eyes.

"Would you guys mind if we left now?" I asked, speaking and signing at the same time, "I know we were supposed to stay one more day, but I just don't want to stay longer."

"Of course," Trent said, resting a hand on my shoulder, "Let's pack and then we can go." We did just that, hurrying to get everything put back in the car and get out of there. An eerie sort of feeling had settled over the campsite that none of us liked, so it was better to move on with the road trip then feel uncomfortable there.

On our way out of town, we saw Holden walking along the side of a road. I assumed he was walking to a rental car place, but I couldn’t really care less. He noticed us though and quickly flipped us the bird. My stomach twisted at the site of his face. I felt sick. I forced myself to take deep breaths, and slowly the feeling went away. There was still something there, though, but I couldn't place my hand on it.

I wouldn't find out till later what the feeling was, and I most definitely would've preferred it to remain a mystery.