The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

and drive my bike home, back to that fucking house where I belong because I can’t survive anywhere else.
    As I push through the last of the people, I spot Callie and Seth on the dance floor. There’s a slow song playing and she’s holding onto him, saying something with her forehead creased. Her eyes look watery under the spotlight. I think about how breakable she is and I glance down at my wrist, thinking about how easy I break myself.

Chapter 12
    #88 Don’t hold back. Let it all out.
Callie
    “Okay, I think I might have messed up” is the first thing Seth says to me as the bathroom door swings shut. There are a few women in there, but they’re all holding beers and don’t seem to mind that Seth’s in there. Either that or they’re so drunk they’re mistaking him for a woman.
    “What happened?” I lean against the bathroom sink. “Something with Greyson I’m guessing.”
    He nods his head up and down. “I panicked.”
    “I’m familiar with the term,” I tell him. “But what did you panic about?”
    “About—” He lowers his voice and moves aside as the door opens and a cluster of women enter. One shoots him a glare and he returns it with equal animosity. “About our relationship.”
    “Yours and Greyson’s?”
    “Yeah, I think I’m having flashbacks.”
    The women filling up the restroom are listening intently, so he grabs my arm and leads me into the handicapped stall. Locking the door, he lets go of me and runs his fingers through his hair. He looks uneasy, which is weird because he rarely does.
    “Seth, whatever it is, please just tell me,” I say, leaning against the wall. “You know you can tell me anything.”
    He pulls a wary face. “It’s about intimacy.”
    I squirm uncomfortably at the word, like it’s a reflex instilled inside my body. “I can handle it.”
    He shakes his head. “Are you sure?”
    I step forward, straightening my shoulders. “Yes, I’m your best friend and you can tell me anything.”
    He sighs and starts to try to pace in the small amount of space. “I can’t go through with it… and not because I’m worried about finally going that far. It’s because I keep having flashbacks.”
    “About what?” I keep my voice calm.
    He stops pacing and his arm falls to the side. “Of Braiden.”
    Braiden was Seth’s very first boyfriend and the guy who was solely responsible for letting Seth’s ass get kicked by the football team to avoid facing the rumors swarming about their relationship.
    “Do you have feelings for him?” I ask, flicking the latch of the door with my pinkie nail.
    “No, it’s not that…” He wavers. “It’s… it’s about getting my heart broken.”
    All this time Seth has seemed so strong, but just like everyone else he has his own fears and I need to be there for him like he’s always there for me. I step into his shoes for a minute and become the comforting best friend who tries to help ease the pain.
    “It’s going to be okay.” I take a step forward and place my hand on his arm. “Greyson’s not Braiden.”
    “I know that.” He sighs and places his hand over mine. “But sometimes I find myself going back to that place where I’m lying in the dirt and they’re kicking the shit out of me.”
    I wrap my arms around him and hug him, noting how safe I feel in the closeness. “I know, but sometimes moving forward is the only way we can escape our pasts, right? At least that’s what you’re always telling me.”
    “I know,” he whispers and his arms circle around me. He pulls me closer. “And I know nothing will happen. Greyson’s not Braiden and he loves me, but I just keep thinking about that God damn day. I was so fucking happy, thinking life was perfect, and then they showed up all piled into the back of that fucking truck like a bunch of robots all following what the other one does. And…” He drifts off and I can tell he’s about to cry. “And I can’t stop picturing his face—the hate in his eyes, like he was blaming me that he was part of it.”
    I hold very still and give him all the time he needs to collect himself. Seth being himself, it doesn’t take him too long before he’s pulling away. He wipes the corners of his eyes with his fingertips and he puffs out a breath. “Anyway, what I was going to say before I started bawling like a baby was that I was feeling a little scared about moving forward and I might have said some things to Greyson that weren’t very nice.”
    I reach for a