I sit in silence in the middle of the cul de sac, staring at my reflection in the rear view mirror. Dried blood is plastered on my chin and upper lip, black and blue covering the skin where it doesn't reach. Even brushing my fingers lightly over the blemishes makes me grind my teeth, but it's nothing compared to the aching in my sides.

Lifting up my shirt, I see disturbing colors all along my torso. I can feel the blood pulsing around my injuries. My fingers lightly press down on them and I suck in a sharp breath.

I definitely have a broken rib or two.

Groaning, I lean my head back. I knew things would go crazy when Dax found out what happened, and I should have known better than to piss him off even further.

Carefully, I reach for my seatbelt. It feels like I'm being punched with a brick as I lean over and click it loose. These next few days are going to be hell.

It's a struggle getting out of the car, and even worse while walking up the sloped driveway. I cradle my stomach with my back hunched over while making my way up the few stairs to the front door. Each step sends another sharp pang to my ribs.

I ring the doorbell, the cold nipping at my nose as I wait. When the door finally opens, I'm shocked to find a half dressed Bradley standing in front of me.

"Stuart?" Confusion laces my voice as I look over his shoulder to get a better look inside. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh..." Bradley can barely get the words out when he notices the state I'm in, concern bouncing in his eyes."What the hell happened to you?"

Harry appears next to Bradley in the doorway.

"Oh my god," he says, examining me from top to bottom.

Suddenly, I feel light headed. Harry immediately takes action, catching me before I collapse. He throws my arm around his shoulder, helping me out of the cold and into the living room. Bradley follows behind, and even through the pain, the thought of him being here is still running through my mind.

"Are you two-" I start to ask.

"Don't try to speak right now," he quickly interrupts.

Bradley helps Harry lay me down on the couch, and I let out a relieved breath. In the attempt to hold myself up, I feel completely drained.

"No. No. No," Harry panics, holding my face in his hands. "You have to stay awake, Austin. Stay awake."

I groan, wanting nothing more than to close my eyes for a few seconds.

Harry looks deep into my eyes. "Fuck, he has a concussion."

Bradley's hands find Harry's shoulders. "Babe, calm down. He's going to be okay. Do you have a first aid kit?"

"Yeah," Harry croaks, nodding stiffly. "I'll go get it."

Even after he stands, he seems reluctant to leave my side. When he disappears in the kitchen, Bradley crouches at my side.

"What the hell happened, man?" he asks.

I ignore the question and smirk at him. "Babe?"

Bradley can't help but bark out a laugh, then his expression hardens. "You're not going to say anything, are you? Harry and I don't want anyone at school finding out."

Nodding, I readjust myself into a sitting position. "I get that. You have nothing to fear from me. I have bigger things to worry about."

Looking down, he frowns - deep in thought. "Does this have anything to do with Dax showing up at that party awhile back?"

"Don't get pulled into my shit, okay? The less you know, the better."

A dark shadow falls over Bradley's features. "But you'd come here and drag Harry into it?"

I'm about to say that's not what I'm doing, but Harry is already back with some first aid.

"How bad is it?" Harry asks.

When I lift my shirt, Harry gasps.

"My god, Austin."

"I've had worse," I say, chuckling. "It only hurts when I breathe."

"We have to take you to the hospital."

"No!" I grunt with a wince. "No hospitals."

"Austin, you probably have broken ribs." Harry's voice is filled with urgency.

"I said no." The serious glare I send his way makes him back down.

Harry sighs. "At least tell me what happened."

I glance over at Bradley, who's sending me the stink eye. "Um, that's not important."

"The hell it isn't."

"Harry, please." I grab him by the arm. "I don't want to get you involved."

"Fine," he huffs, helping me into a sitting position. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Dabbing a small towel carefully on my punctured skin, Harry wipes away the dried blood that is caked on my face. It's incredibly tender around my nose, and I grit my teeth through the entire cleansing process.

"You're so lucky it's not broken," Harry says when he's finally done.

I smile. "I'm lucky to have a friend who puts up with my shit."

He laughs. "That, too."

The sound of the front door opening and closing makes me almost jump from my seat. I look around for the closest thing to defend myself with, or a quick exit, if necessary.

"Austin." Harry tries to reach me by putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. You're fine."

My distressed breathing doesn't calm until the visitor reveals themselves.

"Sabrina?" I scowl. "What are you doing here?"

She rushes to my side, holding my face in her hands while looking over my bruises. There's so much concern in her eyes that it's almost as if she feels my pain.

"Oh my gosh." She panics. "What happened?"

"You called her?" I turn my attention to Harry.

"She's your girlfriend. I thought she should know."

"If I wanted her here, I would have told you to call her!" My outburst makes me double over in pain.

Sabrina notices and squints at me, knowingly. When she goes for my shirt, I jerk back.

"Don't," I warn, not wanting her to see the damage.

"I'm trying to help you, Austin." Her eyes are pleading with me. "Please let me."

Rolling my eyes, I grab the hem of my shirt and Sabrina helps me by pulling it over my head. Every movement feels like I'm being jabbed in the side by tiny needles, but nothing is hurting me more than the agony that's reflecting in Sabrina's eyes while inspecting my torso. At first, I think she's going to yell at me, but when she just sits there at a loss for words, I get worried. Her hands cup her nose and mouth as she stares at me in silence, as if she's silently debating with herself on what to do.

Finally, she speaks. "Harry, get me some ice."

Her demand makes Harry spring into action, Bradley trailing right behind him.

"This needs to stop, Austin," she says, cupping my cheek with her palm. When she leans forward, I meet her the rest of the way, ignoring the pain in my ribs.

Leaning my head against hers, I close my eyes, taking in the comfort of her presence. "You have to go."

"I'm not leaving you."

I squeeze my eyes shut and let out a shaky breath. "You know why you have to. We had an agreement."

"Screw the agreement." Her eyes are filled with rage for a second, before her voice trembles. "You could have been killed tonight."

"Well, still here." I smile at her with a raised brow.

"Don't shrug this off." She sighs, looking at me as if she was a mother scolding their two year old. "It could have been way worse. If you would have died, I don't know what I would have-"

A dry laugh escapes my lips. "Don't. You had no right to come here. I'm not shrugging anything off, except for you. You are going to leave, go home, and forget about me."

"Austin, please," she whimpers, grabbing my hand. "Let me stay. Just for a little while. Even though we're not together right now, I still love you, and I can't just leave you knowing the condition you're in."

I pull away, my brows furrowing. "I'm fine. You want to help me? Go home."

We sit in silence, her eyes filled with resentment. No matter what, I can't get through to her.

"I told Dax that we aren't together anymore," I finally admit. "What do you think will happen to you if he finds out that I've seen you in secret?"

My jaw clenches when she still remains unmoving, and I let in a sharp breath through my teeth as I get to my feet. Ignoring the pain, I grab Sabrina by her upper arm. She tries to shake herself from my grip, but I only tighten it, causing a whimper to bubble up her throat.

When I toss her against the wall and see the hurt tormenting her face, multiple knives stab at my heart. Having perfected my poker face after years of hiding, I conceal every ounce of turmoil behind the mask.

"Are you really this fucking stupid?" I scream at her, heat rising to my face and my fists tightening. "You'd risk your own safety for me? You must be fucking crazy as hell."

Tears begin to stream down her face. "That's what people do when they love each other. They stick around, through the good and bad, no matter what!"

"Love." I spit out the word as if it is a joke. A dark chuckle follows and I run my hand through my thick hair. "Love doesn't exist, Sabrina! You think I love you? You think I love anyone? The first rule the world has ever taught me, is that you're on your own. Love is just a word people throw out to get something they want from someone who would otherwise not give it to them. It's not real!"

Sabrina pushes through the evident fear consuming her eyes as shaky hands reach up to cup my face. "No, no. Austin please, it is real."

Her gaze penetrates mine, her eyes searching for answers, but my mask doesn't fade, even though it's tearing me apart from the inside out.

"I love you." Her bottom lip trembles as she tries to get through to me. "Those words are more real than you will ever know. I love you, and I know that you love me. You can't fake it, or try to push me away. Just stop it! You can't-"

A tight grip on her wrists shuts her up right away, my anger building. I pin her arms to the wall behind her, breathing heavily as I glare down at her shaking frame. Time seems to slow, my aching chest rising and falling as my eyes pierce into hers, trying to break her down with a rage filled stare.

"Listen close, bitch! I don't love you." My heart tears in half when all other options have shriveled up, but yet, the mask pulls my lips in a smirk. "Never did. I just said that so maybe you'd finally let me fuck you."

The slap comes before I can even register what's happening. My cheek stings, but not as much as the pain I'm keeping inside, the burning sensation threatening the facade I've been able to keep up. I stand there in shock, a heated silence blazing between us.

She doesn't stop there, though. Anger radiates off of her just as much as her heartbreak from my words, and it shows through the way she starts hitting my chest. Tears flow down her cheeks as she continues to release her misery on me.

When I've had enough, I try to collect her hands. "That's enough. Stop." She doesn't listen. "Hey, I said that's enough."

My attempts don't help, and she keeps going. One wrong move sends excruciating torment into my ribs, my better judgement leaving me before I can gather my bearings.

"Austin, no!"

Harry's plea makes me stop, and I realize then what I was just about to do.

The breath in my lungs is stunted when I start to lower my shaking hand. It feels like I'm gasping for air with no hope of getting to the surface. I'm being torn apart in all directions when I look down at Sabrina, who's now cowering on the floor.

When I turn to look at Harry, a rage I've never seen before is staring back at me. It's like he's looking right through me, as he would do to a complete stranger.

"You need to go." His voice shakes as he glowers at me.

Bradley crouches at Sabrina's side, holding her in his arms as she bawls her eyes out.

"Oh my god." I run my hand through my hair, and take a step forward. "Sabrina-"

"No!" Harry's voice booms at me, sending a shiver down my spine. "You don't go near her."

A huff escaped my lips. "Harry-"

"You heard him," Bradley growls.

I look over to Sabrina, but she can't even glance up at me. She only grips Bradley tighter, her shoulders shaking as she continues to cry.

"Please-"

"Shut up!" Harry extends an accusing finger at me and takes a couple steps in my direction. "Amber warned me so many times about you, but I was too blinded by love to see what was happening right in front of me. Well now I see you, Austin. I see you, and so does Sabrina. I don't love you anymore. Sabrina doesn't love you anymore. You now have no one! Now, get out of my fucking house!"

I burst through the front doors, Harry's words eating away at every terrible part of me. There's no coming back from this. The two most important people in my life hate me, and I did it to myself.

My mask stays cold as stone until I get to my car, but once I'm inside, all of my walls fall and I break down and cry. 

***

Things are really starting to go downhill for our main protagonist, and fast. Hopefully you guys don't hate Austin too much, because you still have to see him through five more chapters. That's right, I said FIVE. We are soon reaching the end of BMR, and I can't tell you guys how happy I am for those of you who have stuck around this far. It really means the world to me.

Were you guys surprised about Bradley and Harry, or did you see it coming? I wasn't too subtle on the hints, especially if you've read 'Crooked' - Harry's POV. Do you like Bradley and Harry together, or is there another special someone you want Harry to end up with? Do you think that Harry made the right call in calling Sabrina, or should he have stayed out of it?

Do you still like Sabrina and Austin together, or do you think she should give up on him completely? Austin's actions this chapter were detestable at best, but he had good intentions up until it almost went to far.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked that chapter! If you'd like, you could leave a comment below, letting me know what you think, or maybe even a vote if the chapter is deserving of it.

Til next time,

TheWriterD