Chapter One-Hundred and Fifty-Two
Amelia giggled as John placed the headphones he'd been wearing on her ears, listening as the music to Jack and Diane started to play when John lifted her onto his hip. She bit her tongue as he began the lyrics, watching his lips move and his voice through the headphones.
He smiled at her, knowing that this would be on a special tape just for him and her. He showed her a paper that he'd written the lyrics on in his best penmanship, dropping his volume as Amelia's voice started to blend with his. He glanced at Claire able to imagine her riding on the back of his Harley with her arms wrapped around his waist. He chuckled at the end of the song, taking the headphones back and setting Amelia on the floor before he smoothed the flannel she'd stolen from him down over her hips so that her little pink panties didn't show. "You need to start wearing leggings with that, Squirt." He laughed, giving her a little whap on the hind end. "I don't need to see your underpants."
She wrinkled her nose at him, sticking her tongue out. "You let us all see your panties all the time."
He cocked a brow at her, kneeling down to look at her. "First of all: I don't wear panties, I wear boxers or underwear. Second of all: I stopped walking around in just my boxers two weeks ago. And third of all: You are too small to let guys see your panties yet."
She nodded, knowing that he'd had something happen that had stopped him from walking around in his underwear after he'd disappeared for all those days. She remembered him shouting at Claire about something called rape, but she still didn't know what that word meant. Her mom had told her that it was something only really sick people did… but she still wasn't sure what it was and why it had made John have such bad flashbacks. Those had always scared her, but these ones were even more terrifying than the usual ones. He got these ones a lot more often too, and he always screamed like he was in pain with these. "Okay." She smiled, pretending that she wasn't thinking of those times. She'd learned to mask her thoughts around John and the others, knowing that John always felt horrible when he thought he'd upset her. So, she'd started pretending she didn't know or care about what was happening. "Can you and Sweets sing something for my tape?" She asked, bouncing up at down when he nodded. "Can you sing a love song?"
"How about we sing Endless Love?" He smiled, opening the door for Claire to come into the recording booth.
"Yeah!" Amelia cheered, jumping into Cody's arms as he picked her up so she could watch John better.
Claire and John chuckled, giving each other a small kiss that was filled with comfort and love before they started singing. "One, two, three, four." John spoke into the mic, strumming the first chords on his guitar.
Dominic settled on the sofa in the Breakfast Club house, resting his arm over Jade's shoulders as she snuggled into his side. "So, what exactly happened to Clarissa?" He asked, looking around the group of teens for an answer.
Kaylie leaned her head back as Brian played with her hair, closing her eyes in bliss as his fingers massaged her scalp. "Thomas and her got in a big fight, and she was in a car wreck from a drunk driver."
Dominic growled, only relaxing slightly when Jade placed her hand over his heart. "Did they find the guy?" He asked, letting Jade kiss his jawline.
John nodded, patting Claire's hip as an attempt to calm himself. "They just gave him a fine." He growled, remembering how he and Clarissa had butted heads for days while he was trying to help her learn to walk again. "She can barely fucking walk by herself, and they just made him pay a Goddamn fine."
Dominic scoffed, already plotting a way to get even. "Fucking prick." He mumbled, and John could see the revenge in his eyes.
It was the same look he'd see in his father his entire life, the same look he remembered after he'd been forced to watch him rape his mother. "Dom." He shook his head when his cousin looked at him. "It's not worth it. If we fuck the guy up, we're just as good as Jacob and Rueben."
Dominic glared at his cousin, wondering what had happened that had made him so docile. "John, he almost killed her. She can hardly walk. You think we should just sit by and let him do this to another family?" He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "What if he'd killed her? What if Amelia or Claire had been in the car with her? Would you be sitting by like this if they'd been in that wreck?"
"Dom, we've fought our whole lives. It's time to lay down our guns and let things go." He stated, taking Claire's hand in his own as she offered it. "I'm done fighting. I don't want any more bloodshed or pain, it's time for me to step back." He kissed Claire's lips, his eyes softening as he looked into her eyes. "To be there for my Sweets."