◤ chapter ten ▸ make me forget ◢

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          "YOUR FATHER'S TRIAL IS next week," his mother warned him, "You'll have to testify...we all will."

Flash felt himself still at the words, at the weight of what they meant. How they crashed a nice family dinner together, just the three of them now since he was awaiting his sentence, and how they had been talking about school and work and acting like everything was normal. Like everything was completely fine and he didn't still flinch any time there was a clatter of a fork against a plate.

It almost felt good again, just like it was before when he was still in jail. Before, when they had three sweet years without him. And then he came and it went crashing down, the only upside when his father bought him a car...only for Spider-Man to take it (which was totally cool, don't get him wrong) and crash it, leading to...not so good memories.

But then the neighbors heard them again and the abuse was seen and he was taken in again. Now the trial was next week and he was going to have to testify, he was going to tell the truth and watch as that truth put his father back in jail. This time on different charges (the court didn't know of the abuse last time.)

And he felt like his world was crashing around him. There was a deafening silence in his ears, a ringing that wasn't going away, and he couldn't concentrate anymore. Any appetite disappeared at the news, any happiness draining at the sight of his mother's face. How she was sorrowful, guilty, how she felt bad for him. How could she feel bad for that bastard after everything he had done?

It was like the nights when he would be hit and his mother would do nothing but come into his room later and clean the wounds, tell him that his father just had problems communicating – that his father did love him. Always the excuses. You know you should've cleaned the dishes, your sister should've listened to him, he's only trying to look out for us...

Jesse wasn't eating anything either, just staring at her plate. It was a crashing reality to her too, but he couldn't think about that. He wasn't – he couldn't think. He didn't want to think.

"But you don't have to," his mother said after a pause, "None of us do."

"We're victims, mom, we have to testify if he's gonna be sent back," Flash brought up, looking at her. Looking at how desperate she was not to let him go, how she wanted her husband back even after everything.

He couldn't keep looking, he had to turn away from her. He didn't even want to see her, not when she was like this. Not when she still felt sympathy for that devil, not when she still wanted him back in her bed and in her house with their children. Even after everything he had done to them...

He felt disconnected from the world, not even realizing that he was standing up and his feet were touching the floor and moving to the door. His mind wasn't clear, he couldn't focus on anything.

"Flash, where are you going?" his mother was standing up as well and looking at him, alarm in her eyes.

Flash...he didn't know what to say. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew that he had to leave. "Out," he gave her a short answer, not saying anything else before he opened the door and walked out, leaving his family behind.

Betty was only fifteen minutes away, he knew that. He knew that she was the obvious choice, she was his best friend, but she didn't have a spare bedroom for him to stay in and her parents would surely know that he was there in an instant. And they definitely did not approve of him. Rylie was further, it would take a while to get there and she would welcome him. He had stayed there a lot of nights this year since his dad had been home.

But he just...he couldn't. He knew what he looked like and he knew it was a sore sight. They were his friends and they didn't know anything, they didn't know this was happening and he didn't want them to, he just...he needed to forget this night ever even happened. He needed to forget that his father was going to have his trial next week and he was going to testify. He needed to forget all the bad memories, needed to forget his mother's eyes.

He didn't even realize that he was getting on the subway and going over to Tessa's until he was knocking on the door. Nothing was connecting in his brain, it was all a haze. It was only a moment of standing in the hallway before the door opened and she was on the other side, frowning at him. "Flash? What are you doing here?" she asked.

And, shit. Right. He didn't call or text; he didn't even have his phone. "Can I come in?" he asked, "We don't have to do anything, I just...I need a place to stay."

"Yeah," Tessa replied quickly, opening the door for him, "What's going on?"

He immediately went to the couch and sat down, not answering at first as his brain tried to process everything. "I don't wanna talk about it," he finally decided on, the obvious answer. If he wasn't going to tell his own friends, he wasn't going to tell her. It wasn't fair to them, at least not right now. "I just – I wanna forget."

Tessa nodded. "Well, I am amazing at getting blackout drunk," she smirked, "I'll go get my finest liquor – and by that I mean the cheapest beer I could steal."

His lips curved upwards but that's the only thing he could manage right then. She gave him a can and he opened it, they cheered and he brought it to his lips. All he had to do was drink and then he would forget...it was magical.

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Oddly, Tessa felt guilty about not telling Rylie about Flash's breakdown. The living room was warm and she had a blanket covering her and glass in her hand (without any alcohol because Rylie's sisters were there and Marian didn't approve of drinking), the TV had The Vampire Diaries playing on it which the two were somewhat paying attention to, but her mind still drifted to last night when Flash expectantly showed up at her door.

Of course she wasn't going to tell Rylie about what happened, that was rude and a total invasion of privacy on Flash's behalf because if he didn't come over there he obviously didn't want Rylie to know. But still. Rylie was her new best friend (well, second best friend, Finn would always be her number one) and Rylie was also his friend, it was how the officially met, and Rylie was accommodating her nicely and being the best she could ever be, and here Tessa was soaking it up and not telling her about Flash's breakdown.

Well, it wasn't officially a breakdown, she would say, but it was close. And, duh, she kept her promise and got him blackout drunk because he wanted to forget whatever happened to him – which he didn't even spill to her when he was wasted, which was a little sad but also not her business, so whatever – and then left him sleeping in her bed when Rylie texted her to come over and he was still asleep.

And, because she was such a great hostess, she left him a glass of water and pills to help with his hangover. He was going to regret telling her to get him drunk majorly when he woke up, but that wasn't her problem. It wasn't like he put 'don't make me have the worst hangover in the entire history of hangovers' on his wish list last night, so whatever.

"What?" Rylie said, pausing the TV and looking at Tessa.

The blonde girl looked right back at her and gave her the most innocent look she could manage, "What do you mean?"

Rylie rolled her eyes, "Cut the bullshit, Tess. You've been fidgeting this whole time so tell me what's going on with you?"

"Nothing's going on with me," Tessa lied, playing with the blanket and not meeting her eyes.

The other girl scoffed, "Oh, come on. Don't like to me, just tell me what's going on!"

Tessa stared at her, not wanting to let anything slip, but Rylie just stared back harder, going deep into her soul with such intensity that she could not beat. So, she sighed and admitted defeat, "Okay, fine. Flash and I are sleeping together."

Okay, it's a truth. She's sleeping with him and she hadn't told Rylie yet either, but that's because she had no room in the arrangement and neither of them had a breakdown because of it. But it's not the truth. Not the one that's bugging her and the one that she wants to blurt out more than anything else in the whole wide world.

"What?" Rylie practically screeched, her eyes wide as she stared at Tessa.

"Surprise?" Tessa gave her a smile, only to get hit with a pillow instead, knocking her down into the couch, "Okay, okay. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but it's not a big deal."

"It's not a big deal – of course it's a big deal!" Rylie repeated her, continuing to hit her with a pillow, "You're sleeping with one of my best friends!"

"Will you stop hitting me already?" Tessa screeched back, yanking the pillow from her grasp. "Look, I know he's your friend and everything, but you're the one who always tell him that he needs to get laid!"

"It's Betty who always says that," Rylie corrected her, "Oh my God, you've – you're sleeping with him, and he's still sleeping with you even though he knows about Caden."

Tessa bit her lip, "Well, he doesn't know everything about Caden, but some things need to stay private. But he's nice, he really is, and it's so much better than the sex I had with Caden."

"Gross. Ew, ew, ew!" Rylie scrunched her nose up in disgust, "I do not need to know anything about your sex life with him."

"Okay, cool. Great," Tessa agreed.

Rylie sighed and leaned back into the couch, "How did this even start?"

"It was like right after we met again. I was horny because I hadn't slept with anyone since Caden and Betty said that he was too uptight and needed someone, so I offered a proposition," Tessa explained lightly.

"A proposition?" Rylie questioned with a raised eyebrow, "You make it sound like you're a hooker."

"I could be," Tessa shrugged, "I am amazing at working my hips. Plus, I'm young, hot and blonde."

"Please don't become a stripper or a hooker," Rylie told her.

Tessa pursed her lips, "I won't agree to anything." At the look Rylie gave her, she defended herself, "What? Shit is expensive and I need to pay for things somehow. Being a stripper wouldn't be the worst thing."

"Yeah, I kinda think it would," Rylie countered before closing her eyes for a moment and thinking, "Whatever. So what, it's just something casual? No feelings or anything."

"None," Tessa nodded, "I don't need a relationship right now, not with everything with Caden so fresh..."

"Understandable. And you guys would still like cool hanging out and chilling even if this...agreement ends?" Rylie asked.

"I don't see why not. I mean, we're just friends who sometimes have sex with each other and we can still be friends without the sex," Tessa said.

"Okay," Rylie nodded, relaxing more, "Okay. Cool, cool, cool. I can work with this."

Tessa snorted, "Work with this?"

"Hey, you don't get to say shit. I just learned that my new friend and one of my best friends are sleeping together, it's hard. I've never had this happen to me before," Rylie defended herself.

"Alright, I guess you're off the hook," Tessa sighed dramatically, laughing and smiling when she saw how Rylie rolled her eyes.

The girl took her hand and hit Tessa's leg with it lightly, only making the blonde girl laugh even more. Maybe it wasn't the exact truth she wanted to tell Rylie, but it definitely got her to stop fidgeting, so it worked.