Chapter 35: Matt

Renee was out cold, so I scooped her up in my arms and carried her out of the bathroom towards the front door to get her out of there. Nobody notices what just happened; the house is too drunk to care, but I find Jake and Aaron with Jason once we're safely outside. Or, more specifically, I see Jason on the ground with Aaron and Jake standing over him, snarling in the rain.

“Let’s go,” I told them, and Jake took one last hardcore punt at Jason’s ribs before backing away.

“He fucking drugged her,” said Aaron. “We found the pills in his jacket.”

I look down at Renee’s still face, taking a deep breath, so I didn’t fucking kill Jason with my bare hands. I wanted more than anything to rip him apart, to make him hurt the way he’s hurt her.

“Matt,” Jake said, pulling me out of my focused rage. “Let’s go, man. He’s not worth it.”

With a curt nod, I carry Renee to Jake’s car. Aaron opened the back door, and I slid into the back seat, holding her in my lap. Aaron and Jake take up the two front seats.

“Fuck you guys!” Jason screams at us through the pounding of the rain. “Fuck all three of you.”

“Let’s go,” Aaron said to Jake with a nod, and he gunned it, peeling out of the driveaway, kicking gravel up at Jason, who was scrambling to get to his feet.

None of us speak as Jake pulls onto the highway and races for home. Renee is still unconscious, and I wonder aloud if we should take her to the emergency room.

“No,” Aaron said. “She’ll hate us if we do.”

“Home it is,” I said, and Jake drove to our house, his knuckles white against the steering wheel. Once home, I carry Renee inside and lay her on the couch. Aaron grabbed a blanket from the recliner and draped it over her, and Aaron went to the kitchen for some water and aspirin. Then, three sets of eyes still on Renee, we sit down.

And we wait.