Silently Falling (ORIGINAL): Chapter Twenty Two

The car ride was fairly silent. The only time West spoke was to ask me if I was cold. I nodded off and fell into a light sleep for the last hour, but when West hit the familiar bump that tells me we've turned onto my street, I yawn and sit up slightly, ready to check for Toby's red truck.

However, I see much more than just his truck when my house comes in sight.

Police cars fill my driveway, lights blaring and sirens sounding, and cops litter the yard. A familiar feeling rattles within me and my heart drops. This is almost the exact scene I witnessed 12 years ago.

My eyes frantically scan my yard as West confusedly pulls into my driveway. I let out a small breath of relief when I see Toby alive and well talking animatedly to the cops and my heartbeat slows to normal. His hair is all screwed up, as if he's been running his hands through it for hours, and his face is contorted into worry.

I suddenly remember I never brought my phone with me. I left it plugged in so it would charge.

And I never told Toby where I was going.

I quickly get out of West's Jeep, and the sound of the door closing gets everyone's attention. Toby's eyes land on me and his entire posture relaxes with audible sob of relief. He practically runs to me and envelopes me in a tight hug, his hands shaking on my back.

"Jesus Christ Raine, I just about had a heart attack looking for you." He breathes, holding me tighter. "Don't you dare scare me like that again."

I frown deeply and rub his back, providing as much comfort and reassurance as I can without the ability to voice it. He takes a deep breath and I feel him shaking. "I thought I lost you too." He mutters, and the amount of pain in his voice makes my heart shatter into a million pieces.

I hug him tighter and shake my head, letting him know I'm right here. He takes in a shaky breath and pulls away, but before he says anything else, he sees West standing awkwardly off to the side talking to the cops. His eyes light up in rage and he storms towards West, shoving him back as the cops disperse.

"What the hell?!" He yells, shoving West again. "You fucking kidnap my sister?" He rears back and his fist flies forward, but West catches his hand before it can connect with his face.

He narrows his eyes. "I didn't kidnap anyone, Toby. Don't be ridiculous. She asked me to drive her somewhere and I did."

I quickly run up and place a hand on my brothers shoulder, making him lower his arm.

"It's true, I asked him to drive me to mom's grave." I sign, gaging his reaction carefully.

From the surprise that shows on his face, I put together that he forgot her anniversary was today. He looks down at the ground and conveniently avoids my gaze.

"Oh." He says gruffly. "I'll be waiting inside." He says, keeping his gaze low as he treads inside.

I watch him go and let out a small sigh, turning back to West.

"Sorry..." I sign, giving him an awkward grimace.

He waves it off. "Don't be. For anything."

"Thanks for being there for me today."

"Of course. Just don't get used to it, Sunshine." He winks.

I chuckle softly at him and tuck my hair behind my ear. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I gotta go get out of these wet clothes." He says. "I'll see you, Sunshine." He turns and walks to his Jeep, his hands deep in his pockets.

I watch him drive off and then walk inside, welcoming the warm air. I see Toby sitting hunched over on the couch, his hands deep in his hair as he stares at the coffee table.

"I..." He begins, swallowing. "I didn't even remember it was her anniversary." He says almost to himself.

I look down and then back at him as he shakes his head in disbelief.

"I've never missed an anniversary." He says. "I drive you every year."

I slowly walk into the living room and stand in front of him. He doesn't look up, just squints at the carpet for a few silent moments.

"I'm sorry," he whispers, finally looking up at me. He shakes his head and opens his mouth, but pauses and his eyes trail around the room. "I'm sorry."

I frown deeply and sit down next to him, placing my hand comfortingly on his back. He looks over at me and I see the regret that clouds his eyes. I offer a small nod and the ghost of a forgiving smile, and pull him towards me. He rests his head on my shoulder and I rest my chin atop his head as I rub his back.

"I miss her." He says quietly.

I miss her too.

"I miss her and dad."

I know.

"He didn't even call."

He hasn't called in months.

"Why did this have to happen to us?"

I'm sorry.

OoO

Monday

I get out of the car when Toby pulls up to Alyse's house, but before I get to her door she bolts out with an angry huff. As she pulls me towards the truck, I glance in her driveway and see her mom's old car sitting there; which explains her behavior.

"So, what's got you in such a good mood?" Toby asks.

She rolls her eyes and disregards his sarcasm. "My mom woke me up at fucking five thirty and made me clean the kitchen." She grinds out, rubbing her temples. "I'm so tired, I had work until ten last night and then I had to write that damn English essay."

"That was due last week." I sign.

She glares at me. "That doesn't help."

I give her a sheepish smile. "Sorry..."

"What was the essay about?" Toby asks, turning off of her street.

Oh this oughta be good.

Alyse looks at him and blushes. "Uh, sign language..." She says, trailing off to make her lie seem even more unbelievable.

I remember it being about hot male models.

He glances at her in the rear view mirror. "Didn't West write about sign language?"

She avoids his gaze and shrugs, "I think?"

I roll my eyes at her and lightly shove her with a laugh.

She looks at me and shrugs with a slightly panicked look in her eye. "I couldn't think of anything else to say."

"Dog breeds, the history of The City Of Atlantis, Europe, sharks, the evolution of the iPhone." I begin listing, stopping when Alyse pinches me hard on the shoulder. I flinch and rub the spot, sending her a glare.

Toby pulls into the school parking lot. "You have a study hall third block, right?"

She nods as he parks in his designated spot.

"What do you say I take you home so you can take a nap before work?" He offers, shutting off the car.

Her eyes light up and the beginnings of a smile form on her lips. "Really?"

He smiles at her and nods, "Sure."

I smirk silently and unbuckle as they continue to talk. I give it another few weeks until the truth comes out.

As I step from the truck, I hear my name being called from down the parking lot. I turn my head in the direction I heard it from and see Tyler and Gray jogging over to me.

"Hey Raine." Tyler says, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

I smile at him and Gray. "Hey guys."

"Did you do the calculus homework?" Gray asks, walking on my other side as we catch up to Toby and Alyse who are laughing together up ahead.

I nod, "But I wasn't able to get a few."

He sighs, "Same."

Tyler looks down at me. "I kinda didn't get any of them," he chuckles. "Wanna hit me up?"

I sigh at him, "We do this every week."

"How about to make it up to you, I'll buy you the Mockingjay DVD? It just came out today, or so I heard." He offers.

I stay quiet to see how much more I can get out of him.

"Okay...How about I buy you that DVD and I take you out to dinner?" He offers.

I chuckle lightly, but I feel an awkward weight placed on my shoulders. Alyse's words about Tyler liking me suddenly ring through my mind and I look down. Before I have a chance to respond, not that I know exactly what I would have said, someone else does.

"Sounds lovely, where are we going?" West answers.

I perk up when I see him walk to us, sending me a discreet wink.

Tyler coughs awkwardly. "Well, I was actually talking about just me and-"

"Hey, sis, come here for a second." Toby calls, cutting Tyler off.

I nod at him and Tyler's arm falls from my shoulders. I pick up my pace to catch up to him and Alyse, but West stops me before I do.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asks quietly, referring to yesterday.

I smile slightly and nod. "Yeah, I'm good."

He smiles and nods before he starts to walk with Tyler and Gray. I jog over to my brother and Alyse and fall into step beside them.

"What's up?" I ask.

They share a small look and I raise a brow at Alyse.

"We were talking and..." Toby begins. "Let me start over. Alyse and I were talking about her mom and her living conditions and how much Alyse has to work to keep the house since her mom does shit." He says, frowning slightly. "And I got to thinking how we have two rooms open at the house. Mom and dad's, and then the guest room that no one ever occupies."

My eyes widen as I follow what he's about to say.

He smiles at Alyse before continuing. "So I offered for her to move in with us. I don't know why we haven't asked her before. Is that okay with you?" He ends.

I whip around to her with a wide, surprised smile. "What did you say? Did you accept!?"

She laughs, "Obviously I said yes!" She says, and I instantly rocket into her arms and hug her tight.

I pull back only to hug her again, unable to take the smile off of my face.

"So I assume that's a yes?" Toby asks, chuckling at me.

I nod vigorously. "Hell yeah! This is literally going to be so much fun." I sign as we walk to music class.

"I know! When Toby brought it up I could barely contain myself." She says.

I smirk and nudge her, "I'm sure."

She rolls her eyes and shoves me. "Shut up."

OoO

Tuesday

I zip up my backpack and shut my locker, but I prevent myself from jumping out of my skin as I see West standing just next to me.

"You didn't jump. Impressive." He comments.

I roll my eyes at him as we walk down the hall together, meeting the others at Tyler's locker. I love having ten minutes in between classes.

"I'm used to your face by now. It doesn't scare me anymore."

"Oh I know, it just makes you ache with want." He winks, quickly walking to the group, leaving me standing behind him with my jaw dropped.

This boy...

He glances over at me and chuckles lightly.

"You're going to catch flies." He signs.

I shut my mouth and stomp in place next to Alyse. Tyler sees me first and smiles widely.

"Hey Raine, irritating day?" He asks.

I narrow my eyes at West. "No, just an aggravating asshole."

West starts laughing and places a hand over his heart. "Ouch."

I smile sweetly and wink at him. His laughter fades to a light chuckle and he shakes his head at me, a small smile playing on his lips with a look I can't quite decipher.

"So this party coming up on Friday." Gray begins.

I stare at him, "How is it this town has so many parties? There is literally one every weekend."

Tyler chuckles and shrugs. "Small town equals more parties I guess."

"That makes no sense."

"Who cares?" He says, nudging me.

"I assume you're going, West?" Gray asks.

He nods, "Yeah, y'all have to get home somehow."

They chuckle, "Who would have thought West Love to be the designated driver at parties?"

"Who would have thought West Love to do a lot of the things he does." I sign.

He looks down at me and tilts his head. "Like what?"

I blush all of the sudden and shrug. "Like stuff."

He stares at me for a few seconds. "Like care about you?" He suggests.

I avoid his gaze and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear, giving a small nod. I can feel Tyler's eyes burning holes into me, but I conveniently avoid his gaze and just focus on the feeling of West's eyes on me. I can practically feel the small smile that plays on his lips as he stares at me.

We all turn our heads once giggling enters our personal space. Tina saunters into our group and places her hand seductively on Tyler's arm.

"Hey Ty," she drawls. "Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if we could...erm... talk?" She asks, batting her eyelashes.

He smirks at her and his hand instantly comes to land on her waist. He glances between West and myself, a flash of pain going across his eyes, and then he looks back down at Tina.

"I'll catch y'all later." He says huskily, walking down the hall with her attached to his hip.

"Where's the party at?" Alyse asks as I watch Tyler walk away.

Maybe Alyse was wrong and he truly doesn't like me.

"Ian's house." Toby answers, staring at West through slightly narrowed eyes.

"Ian who?" Alyse asks, scrunching up her face.

"The one on the football team." Gray says.

"There's an Ian on the football team?"

West looks over at me. "Are you gonna go, Sunshine?" He asks.

My eyes widen slightly and I look at him, taken aback from the question. He's staring at me, his eyes examining me closely.

He's testing me.

Because he knows that the reason I avoid parties is bigger than just some embarrassing story.

So I meet the challenge he's brought to the table and stand up straighter. "Yeah, why not?"

I think it's about time I face that particular fear of mine.

OoO

"I just can't wrap my head around why you said yes!" Toby exclaims as he walks with me to lunch.

I shrug, "I decided I can't hide from it anymore. Staying away from parties just means Warren won, because he knows he has placed that fear in me!"

Toby stops walking and stares at me. "But why now? Why not a month after it happened?"

"I don't know." I sign, frowning.

"Is it because of West? Is it because he asked you?" Toby offers up.

I look down and sigh. "I don't know." I repeat.

"You don't have to go just because you worry he might find out about your dilemma on parties, Raine. Don't let that worry push you to do something you aren't ready to do. He would understand." He says, placing his hand on my shoulder so that I look at him.

I nod, "I know. But what I said was true. I need to finally face that fear."

He sighs, "Are you going to tell West?" He asks solemnly.

I gulp. "Tell him what?" I ask innocently, looking away.

He gives me a look. "Raine. There's obviously some sort of feelings between you two, and if they escalate or one of you acts on them, then he deserves to know what Warren did to you."

I sigh and nod. "I know. I'm just not ready. I mean, I just told him about mom. I don't want to dump this on him too."

"He wouldn't consider it 'dumping.' He cares, Raine. He even said that." He says as we approach the table, and he leaves it at that.

I know he cares, Toby. That's why I'm afraid to tell him.