Rewrite the Stars (bxb)

Chapter 42 The Gang Splits Up

Happy birthday to Dream!!!

Happy birthday to Charlie Slimecicle!!!

The panic and tears swell up, and I bury my face in my pillow.

I don't know what to do.

I have led a very embarrassing life, but nothing can top what just happened. What mom said—everyone heard that—everyone was watching that. I want to go die in a hole.

Orion convinced mom to go get her things from the hotel before making me leave so I could have some more time to pack up all my things.

I don't know how he did that, but she left five minutes ago.

I hear a gentle knock on the door before it opens, and I hear multiple sets of footsteps enter the room.

The bed depresses, and I feel a hand on my back.

I don't move.

"Blythe?" Orion asks. He rubs my back, but I keep my mouth shut.

"Are you okay?" Sam asks hesitantly.

"I can go beat her up for you?" Dev asks.

"I'll hold her down," Jax adds.

That makes me smile. "It's not fair," I say into the pillow. "Why did she have to come so early?"

Someone lays down next to me, and I can tell by his smell that it's Peter. He always smells so good.

I shove my face into the space between his head and the bed and take a deep breath. I've calmed down from the crying, but now I just feel empty.

Peter wraps his arms around me. "It'll be okay, Blythe."

"How do you know that?"

"Because it's always okay in the end."

"You could always stay here?" Sam asks.

"I can't." I sigh, defeated, knowing that no matter what I do, mom still has a say over everything. What she says goes. Something else is bothering me though, and I need to hear their answers. "When I want to be alone in my room, do you guys think I wallow in my own self pity?" I ask them, genuinely curious about what they think.

"Of course not," Orion says with such force, I'm surprised. "What your mother said was unacceptable, and we do not think the same."

"Yeah. We all understand that you need your alone time," Lincoln says. "Just like I do. It's not because you're 'wallowing in your own self pity.' It's just because you need to decompress."

"Your mom's a bitch," Peter says straight up.

"She's so passive aggressive," Dev says.

"And did anyone else get the feeling she was insulting you whenever she said anything?" Sam asks.

I hear agreement from everyone, and for some reason, that makes me happy.

It quiets down, and Orion asks, "Blythe, how long has she been abusing you?"

"What?"

"How long has she been like this?"

I shrug, slightly constricted by Peter's arms. "Forever." I turn my head around to look him in the eyes to make sure he won't lie to me. "Is she abusive?"

He doesn't need to say anything, but I remember a couple years ago when abuse got brought up in school. They showed people with bruises and cuts and said that physical proof of abuse is the best evidence against the abuser. And I remember thinking that if only my mom hit me, I would then have physical evidence against her. But then I mentally hit myself for wishing it would get worse. I have it lucky. Those people don't.