All the Little Truths: A Standalone Enemies-to-Lovers High School Romance (English Prep Book 3)

by S. J. Sylvis

  She pulled away for a moment, a single tear rolling down her cheek and landing on the floor. “Me too.”

  He leaned in and kissed her forehead, and she closed her eyes.

  In all my eighteen years of life, I didn’t think I’d seen them express that much emotion in such few words. Something began to heal between them, and that was okay with me.

  “Now”—my mother pushed away and gave me a look—“you need to go get cleaned up.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  She came over and wiped my face free of something. “Do you really want Madeline to wake up and see you looking like that?” I glanced down to my blood-stained uniform and crusty hands. Her voice was hushed. “You look like a crime scene, Eric. Go shower. Then you can come right back. I’m not leaving her, okay?”

  “You’re staying?” I confirmed.

  She nodded. “I’m going to stay and check in with her. It’s not my shift, but I can pull some strings. I’m going to check on her mom too. I don’t even know if anyone has filled her in.”

  My brow furrowed as my father began pulling me by the arm.

  “Where is her dad?”

  She glanced at my dad, confused, then back to me. “He’s dead, Eric.”

  “Oh, shit,” Ollie muttered.

  “So…”

  My father spoke this time. “The second gunshot was him shooting himself. He shot himself after he shot Madeline.”

  Oh, damn.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Madeline

  I was freezing. So incredibly cold. My eyes stayed closed as I pulled the blanket up higher, but I was still cold. My eyes fluttered; the room was dark. Not pitch black, but it wasn’t the normal glow of my bedroom light that I was used to. When I adjusted my eyes a few more times, I scanned the room and started to sit up before I felt a pain in my side.

  A low whimper left me as I looked down and saw a white cotton blanket that I didn’t recognize. I had on a blue…shirt? Gown?

  I was in a hospital gown, and there was something hanging out of the side of my rib. My fingers found a tube that led to somewhere below.

  Panic started to surface, a nearby monitor beeping loudly. The door swung open, and when I saw Heather’s face, I was even more confused.

  Was I dreaming?

  “Madeline?” I swung my attention over to a chair tucked away in the corner of the room.

  “Mom? What’s wrong with your head?” My mom had a bandage wrapped around her forehead, sending her blonde locks in several different directions.

  Then it hit me.

  Eric fighting.

  My dad.

  Yelling.

  The gun.

  “Oh my God!” I gasped before I yelled out in pain.

  “Lie back, sweetie.” Heather was dressed in scrubs, looking her always-cheerful self. “Your lung collapsed, so you need to take it easy, okay?”

  I lay back slowly, trying to take in everything that was being thrown around in my head. I couldn’t remember what was real and what I’d dreamt. Too many nightmares had occurred in my head over the last few months that I wasn’t sure what was reality anymore.

  “What happened?” I whispered, bouncing my gaze back and forth from my mom to Heather who was looking at monitors and writing something down.

  “What do you remember?” my mom asked, coming to stand by the side of my bed. Her hand rested on mine, but it wasn’t comforting. She was shaking.

  “The gun,” I answered quickly. The faster I knew the truth, the quicker the panic would be gone.

  She nodded.

  My stomach felt empty, but not in the way that told me I was hungry. It felt empty because there was something eating away at it. “Did he…?” That couldn’t be possible. “Did he…?” I cleared my throat as I tried pulling my shoulders back to appear strong. “Did Dad shoot me?”

  “Yes.” Her head dropped. “Well, he was aiming for me, I was told, and you got in the way.”

  I shut my eyes before willing myself to ask the next question. My voice broke as I rushed the words out. “Did he kill himself?” I pushed away the visual, unable to truly come to terms with it.

  “Yes.”

  Silence encased the room. Heather had slipped out at some point, leaving me alone with my mom. I wanted her back in here as a buffer. As a sort of comfort.

  “Say something,” she whispered. “Talk to me.”

  I shook my head, annoyed that my eyes were watering and irritated that I didn’t know what exactly I was crying about. My father shooting me? Or himself? “I…I don’t know how I feel.”

  She nodded as I blinked away the blurriness. “Me either.”

  I squeezed her hand back, unable to say anything because I was at a loss for words. There was too much to sort through and too much to take in. I was good at shoving things away, and I would likely be shoving this away, along with the visual of my father’s face after he’d shot me, for quite a while.

  “Mom,” Eric’s voice sounded from behind the door, and I tried sitting up again. “Please let me go in.”

  “Eric. She’s talking with her mom; give her a second.”

  My mom caught my eye, and she gave me a sad smile. “That is one determined boy.”

  The door opened, and my mom backed away, giving my hand another squeeze. “We can talk later.”

  “Maddie.” It was like he was reaching out and putting my heart back into my chest with one little nudge.

  Eric ran in, bypassing my mom. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that was wrinkly. He was distraught, his dark eyes shadowed by whatever was going through his mind, which changed instantly when he got closer to me.

  My lip was wobbly, and everything suddenly hurt. The second I locked onto him, I really let myself feel it all. Everything came rushing back to me, especially the look of agony on his face when he kept me from bleeding out in his mother’s car. I remembered it all.

  “Hey, hey, hey,” he shushed, bending down and grabbing my face. His hands swiped my tears. “You’re okay. You’re fine.”

  I closed my eyes, holding back a cry.

  “I’m here,” he hushed, bending down and kissing the top of my head. “Tell me what you need.”

  “You,” I barely managed to say.

  He cupped my face and brought his forehead down to mine. “You’ve always had me, baby. Even when I pretended you didn’t.”

  I hiccupped, and it burned my chest, but I stayed still, not wanting to leave his embrace. “Eric?”

  “What?” he asked, still gazing down at me. I glanced away for a second before he brought my face back to his. “What is it? Do you need more pain medicine? Do you want me to get my mom?”

  I winced, resting my head back on the pillow. “No.” I let out a very shaky breath. “Do you know what I thought of right after…” I inhaled, ignoring the pain. “Right after I was…raped?”

  His brow furrowed as he stayed silent, his hand still wrapped around my chin.

  I answered quickly. “You.”

  “Me?”

  I nodded again. “All I could think was how badly I wanted you to break down my front door and come to my room and save me from…” I looked away, unable to look him in the eye. “Everything. My dad. The man who snuck into my room. Myself. All I wanted was you.” I began to ramble nervously. “Which is so stupid because we hadn’t talked in years, not really, and it sounds so obsessive and pathetic.”

  Eric's finger reached up, and he placed it over my lips to silence me. He traced his thumb around them before bending down and kissing me softly on the forehead again. “I will always be here to save you. I will always protect you, even though you are strong enough to protect yourself.” His gray eyes deepened. “Do you hear me?”

  I nodded, a single tear wetting my cheek. Eric swiped it before going over and grabbing the chair that my mom was sitting in and pulling it up to the edge of the bed. He sat down, grabbed a hold of my hand, and said, “Sleep, baby. I’ll even protect you from the nightmares, okay?” />
  “I know you will,” I whispered, squeezing his hand before drifting back asleep.

  “Okay, one more step,” Eric whispered into my ear. I smiled as I took one final step, and I felt him pushing me to my bedroom from behind.

  “I can open my eyes now,” I sighed. “I just didn’t want to see where...” I couldn’t finish my sentence, not wanting to bring up anything dealing with what had happened a week prior in my dining room.

  He nipped my ear, his hand still covering my eyes. “Nope. I have a surprise.”

  My palm touched his wrist. “A surprise?”

  “Mmhm.”

  I heard the opening of my bedroom door, and the carpet was soft underneath my feet.

  “Okay, you can open them.” Eric’s hands were gone, and my eyes flew open.

  “Oh my God.” I giggled as my jaw fell. “When did you do this? When did you have time?”

  Eric hasn’t left my side. Right after I was discharged from the hospital, I had my first therapy session. Eric sat in the waiting room the entire time as I awkwardly got to know my therapist and as we just barely touched base on everything that had occurred with my father and the rape.

  Eric walked farther into my room, smacking one of the balloons—that took up my entire bedroom—out of the way before he smirked. “I didn’t do this.”

  “Okay…” I said hesitantly. “Then who did? My mom?”

  “Read the note.” He angled his head over to my desk. I slowly padded over, still trying to take it easy.

  If Eric tries to take credit for this, he’s lying. This was all us. Welcome home, Madeline. We hope you feel better soon. We will save a seat at the lunch table for you.

  Xo. Hayley & Piper

  (Christian and Ollie helped too, but they won’t sign their names.)

  “Don’t move,” Eric whispered. “Stay just like that.”

  “What?” I half-laughed before I heard a snapping sound from his phone.

  Placing the note back on the desk, I placed my hand on my hip. “Did you just take my picture?”

  “I did.” He winked, his cheeks rising to show me a smile that I hadn’t seen in a while. “You looked pretty, all smiley. It’s very unlike you to smile.”

  I thought for a moment before he came up in front of me, tipping my head back with a single finger under my chin. “Don’t do that. Don’t go to that dark place. You’re allowed to be happy, Madeline. It wasn’t your fault.”

  I took the familiar feeling of guilt and shoved it in my pocket for later and looked out the window toward the driveway in between our houses. One thing my therapist said was that, in time, I would start to feel better. That I’d be able to come to terms with everything that happened, probably making my nightmares disappear too. But for now, I still felt…stuck. I just kept replaying my father taking the gun and shooting himself in the chest after he realized what he had done.

  “My therapist said it was normal for me to feel guilty, but eventually, I would have to learn that it wasn’t my fault.” I looked into Eric’s eyes, and I could tell he saw right through me. I did think it was my fault.

  “We will never know why he did it. Maybe he knew it was the only way he would keep you safe. Or maybe he just wasn’t in his right state of mind. Or maybe it was him who felt guilty.”

  I shrugged, putting my attention back to the window. “Maybe.” I hated that I kept bringing it up. That I couldn’t stop feeling so overwhelmed.

  “Hey,” he urged, gripping my shoulders lightly. “I love you.”

  The coldness was washed away by warmth. I smiled, just barely, but I did. My hands wrapped around the sides of Eric’s face, and I brought his mouth down to mine. “I know. I love you, too.”

  His tongue tangled with mine, and he gently pushed my body up to his. A slight moan left my lips, and his stormy eyes narrowed as he pulled back. “Don’t tempt me. We’re not allowed to have sex. Not with a fresh wound.”

  I grinned. “I know. I just like teasing you.” It was strange how easily I could go from feeling heavy to light in a matter of seconds.

  Eric grunted, gently pulling me over to his side and wrapping an arm around me. We both gazed down to the driveway where his parents were standing, ironically, exactly like us. His dad had an arm draped over Heather’s shoulder, and my mom was standing back with her arms crossed over her chest. They’d seemed to put the drama of the affair behind them. It was surprising, but Eric and I decided we weren’t going to let ourselves get in the middle of it any longer.

  I glanced over to the For Sale sign in my yard. “As happy as I am to be leaving this house and all the bad that’s associated with it, I’m not really okay that we’re not going to be neighbors anymore.”

  Eric glanced down at me, grinning. “Don’t worry. You can’t keep me away from you.”

  I smiled coyly. “What if I go to college in…” I thought for a moment. “Alaska?”

  He turned back to look out the window. “Then I’ll buy us matching parkas.”

  I laughed, picturing him in a parka, and he did too before walking us over to my bed and turning on the TV. “What are we watching?” I asked, trying to accept the fact that, although everything else in my life was crazy and unsettled, things with Eric were the opposite. He was my safe place. My normal.

  Eric sat down, leaning back onto the pillows as I tried to get comfortable. He pushed the rest of the floating balloons out of the way before smiling coyly. “Brink.”

  And with that, I snuggled up beside him as best as I could with stitches plastered on my side, and we lay in my bed for the rest of the night.

  Epilogue

  Madeline

  “This is weird, right?” I ran my fingers through my hair, smoothing the ends underneath my graduation cap. “I feel nervous.”

  Hayley and Piper were standing just up ahead underneath one of the evergreen trees that lined the entrance of English Prep, with Ollie and Christian close by. They were waiting for me, and I was stalling.

  “Baby.” Eric swatted my hands out of the way. “Relax. You’ve been sitting at our lunch table for the last few months. Why is this any different?”

  I glanced at the girls again. “Because now I’m about to be alone with them while you, Christian, and Ollie go to your side of the line.” I pouted. “I don’t have you as my anchor. My buffer.”

  Eric chuckled as he put his navy graduation cap on. His dark, unruly hair was sticking out from the sides. I reached up and pushed a dark lock away from his eye.

  I sighed as my hand fell. “I just wish things were different. I want to go in the past and take it all away. I don’t even know how they can stand me after being so…bitchy.”

  Eric grew serious, his brows crowding his forehead, his thick mass of eyelashes blinking. “No regrets, Maddie.” He cupped my waist, pulling me toward him by the scratchy material of my graduation gown. The sun was above our heads, the warm, near-summer glow shining down through the limbs of the trees surrounding us. “Our experiences mold us into who we’re meant to be, baby. Even the bad.”

  A small smile crept on my lips before I reached up and kissed him feverishly. He squeezed my hips, swiping his tongue into my mouth. Happiness bloomed within, and butterflies rubbed their wings and sparked me into a state of bliss.

  When he pulled away, breathless, and shook his head, he said, “Am I ever going to get tired of kissing you?”

  God, I hoped not.

  “Madeline! Get over here!” Piper called out, throwing her hands up. Her copper hair was sleek and straight as it laid over her shoulders. Hayley smiled from beside her, waving at us. The apples of her cheeks were bright with happiness.

  Eric grabbed onto my hand, and we walked over to his—my?—group of friends. Eric and Ollie fist bumped, and he and Christian nodded.

  “Group photo?” Piper beamed, pulling out her phone.

  Our classmates were scattered around, the seniors with caps and gowns, the juniors and the rest of the underclassmen in their school uniforms.
r />   Ollie whined. “I can’t fucking believe I’m going to be here alone next year. I hate that you are in a grade above me.”

  Christian chuckled. “Sucks to be the stupid brother, huh?”

  I smashed my lips as he glared. “That’s not why I’m a year below, and you know it.”

  “There, there, baby.” Piper patted his chest gently. “He’s just teasing. Just think, you’re gonna be the king of English Prep next year.”

  Ollie rolled his eyes. “Can’t wait. While you five are away at college, I’ll be twiddling my thumbs with these losers.”

  We all laughed before Christian grabbed Piper’s phone, and we huddled in for a picture. Eric kissed the side of my cheek before it was snapped, and I couldn’t help my cheese.

  “Okay, we gotta go get seated!” Hayley gave Christian a peck on his cheek, and she dragged Piper and me with her toward our section of the graduation ceremony.

  Once we were seated, we all leaned forward and looked down the aisle, smiling at the boys. Ollie somehow managed to sit with the graduating class. How? I had no idea. He stuck out with his school uniform on next to Eric and Christian who were sporting their navy gowns.

  Once I got settled into my seat, I crossed my legs and glanced to the stage. Headmaster Walton was at the podium, the sun high above his head with clouds dancing behind. My stomach twisted as I shifted my attention to the five chairs lined beside him. My hand came down onto Hayley’s leg as I gulped.

  The board members were here?

  “He’s not here,” she whispered as Headmaster Walton began to speak about the year.

  “He’s not?” I asked before letting out a held breath.

  She shook her head, her short brown hair grazing her shoulders. “Christian’s dad had a word with Headmaster Walton.”

  My mouth fell open.

  “And Eric’s dad was there too.” She paused as everyone applauded for something the headmaster had said. “And Ann.”

  “Who’s Ann?”

  Piper pulled herself forward so she could look past Hayley at me. “Hayley’s ex social worker slash adoptive—but not really—mom.”