Chapter 4: Sudden Freefall
"It's easier to run, replacing this pain with something numb"
He'd expected her to walk away, curiousity satisfied and leave him alone. But as she absorbed his last words, her eyes finally lifted and met his and he guessed he'd underestimated her. He had a habit of that, couldn't help seeing worst of people. He was just a tad more jaded than even he admitted.
"Don't you have work to get to?"
"Don't you?"
She shot back instantly. He still wasn't sure whether her presence was a comfort or an irritation and currently sat it somewhere between the two.
"Fair point,"
He conceded absentmindedly.
"They'll cope,"
She added.
"How are the others? The family he hit?"
His brother had always bee good at that, hurting families. He hoped these innocents caught up in his brothers life would escape unharmed.
"Minor injuries mostly,"
She answered, and he was relieved. Andy hadn't managed to smash another family to pieces.
"What happened?"
Though he wasn't sure he wanted to know, something in him needed to know what twist of fate had brought his brother back into his life.
"Why not ask him yourself?"
She probably thought the suggestion a helpful one, but the idea repulsed him. He wasn't ready, not yet.
"Trust me, that is not a good idea,"
Abby sighed wearily, and he thought maybe at last she was tapped. But he was wrong.
"It looks like a run of the mill MVA, someone wasn't looking where they were going properly…why are you scared of him?"
The question came out of left field and knocked any response from his lips. Her gaze bore into him, her scrutiny close enough to hurt.
"I'm not,"
He tried to swallow the stammer in his voice as he replied, and cursed himself silently when he couldn't.The denial came easily, too easily. Lying was one thing in life he'd gotten very good at.
"Well, if it was my brother…"
Abby did have a brother. Eric, who was as screwed up as she was if not more. But this was way out of her depth, way beyond her understanding of family ties.
"I gave up considering that man family years ago,"
When he signed up for college, to be precise. The viciousness struck home with more force than he had expected or intended. He couldn't expect her to understand. For all her family was screwed up, she still had it at least.
"Oh,"
What else could she say? There was no excuse that didn't sound utterly lame, pathetic beside the passion, the chilling anger in his tone.
"I shouldn't have said that,"
He conceded, trying to salve some of the sting from his words and only partially succeeding. She had pulled back as if someone had slapped her.
"Why? Why don't you want…?"
She struggled to decide which question sounded least tactless. He saved her effort by cutting in.
"You never need to know my sordid story, Abby, even I try to avoid it,"
Every day of his life, he ran from it, and he was making it until today. The bitterness in his tone wasn't for show, it ran more than skin deep.
"But…"
She began to protest. He cut her off. She didn't need to know, and he didn't need her to know.
"You're better off without this, really,"
He repeated to press his point home, allow her to keep some distance and run while she still could. Adter a loaded moment of silence, Abby got up and walked away. He continued to listen for her footsteps long after they'd gone, lest she come back and get involved again. It could only bring her down, and he didn't need that on his conscience. His own downfall, however, he'd learned to handle a long time ago.
"It's easier to run, replacing this pain with something numb"
He'd expected her to walk away, curiousity satisfied and leave him alone. But as she absorbed his last words, her eyes finally lifted and met his and he guessed he'd underestimated her. He had a habit of that, couldn't help seeing worst of people. He was just a tad more jaded than even he admitted.
"Don't you have work to get to?"
"Don't you?"
She shot back instantly. He still wasn't sure whether her presence was a comfort or an irritation and currently sat it somewhere between the two.
"Fair point,"
He conceded absentmindedly.
"They'll cope,"
She added.
"How are the others? The family he hit?"
His brother had always bee good at that, hurting families. He hoped these innocents caught up in his brothers life would escape unharmed.
"Minor injuries mostly,"
She answered, and he was relieved. Andy hadn't managed to smash another family to pieces.
"What happened?"
Though he wasn't sure he wanted to know, something in him needed to know what twist of fate had brought his brother back into his life.
"Why not ask him yourself?"
She probably thought the suggestion a helpful one, but the idea repulsed him. He wasn't ready, not yet.
"Trust me, that is not a good idea,"
Abby sighed wearily, and he thought maybe at last she was tapped. But he was wrong.
"It looks like a run of the mill MVA, someone wasn't looking where they were going properly…why are you scared of him?"
The question came out of left field and knocked any response from his lips. Her gaze bore into him, her scrutiny close enough to hurt.
"I'm not,"
He tried to swallow the stammer in his voice as he replied, and cursed himself silently when he couldn't.The denial came easily, too easily. Lying was one thing in life he'd gotten very good at.
"Well, if it was my brother…"
Abby did have a brother. Eric, who was as screwed up as she was if not more. But this was way out of her depth, way beyond her understanding of family ties.
"I gave up considering that man family years ago,"
When he signed up for college, to be precise. The viciousness struck home with more force than he had expected or intended. He couldn't expect her to understand. For all her family was screwed up, she still had it at least.
"Oh,"
What else could she say? There was no excuse that didn't sound utterly lame, pathetic beside the passion, the chilling anger in his tone.
"I shouldn't have said that,"
He conceded, trying to salve some of the sting from his words and only partially succeeding. She had pulled back as if someone had slapped her.
"Why? Why don't you want…?"
She struggled to decide which question sounded least tactless. He saved her effort by cutting in.
"You never need to know my sordid story, Abby, even I try to avoid it,"
Every day of his life, he ran from it, and he was making it until today. The bitterness in his tone wasn't for show, it ran more than skin deep.
"But…"
She began to protest. He cut her off. She didn't need to know, and he didn't need her to know.
"You're better off without this, really,"
He repeated to press his point home, allow her to keep some distance and run while she still could. Adter a loaded moment of silence, Abby got up and walked away. He continued to listen for her footsteps long after they'd gone, lest she come back and get involved again. It could only bring her down, and he didn't need that on his conscience. His own downfall, however, he'd learned to handle a long time ago.