Chapter 162
Summer's POV
Kieran went rigid, every muscle in his body tensing under my touch. I felt his breath catch, felt the sudden stillness that came over him like he'd been turned to stone.
Behind me, I heard Mia take a sharp breath, heard her shift her weight from one foot to the other, the sound of her shoes scraping against asphalt abnormally loud in the quiet street. The distant wail of sirens was fading now, growing fainter as they moved away from us, and something about that sound made my chest tighten with a new kind of anxiety.
I turned my head just enough to look at her over my shoulder, my arms still locked around Kieran, refusing to let go. "Mia," I said, my voice coming out shakier than I wanted. "Did the police—are they coming here?"
She glanced down the street, then back at me, and I saw something shift in her expression—a mixture of guilt and determination that I recognized from every time she'd covered for me in class or lied to my mother about where we'd been. "I called the cops, but gave them an address one block over. Close enough for the sirens to spook him, far enough that they wouldn't pull up right here."
For a moment, I just stared at her, my brain trying to process what she'd just said, trying to understand the quick thinking and protective instinct that had made her lie to the police to keep us safe. "Mia," I breathed out, something warm and grateful spreading through my chest despite everything else. "You're so smart. God, you're brilliant."
"I'm also terrified," she admitted, her voice dropping lower. "Summer, if Drake comes back—"
"He won't," Kieran said, his first words since Mia had arrived cutting through the air with quiet certainty. "Not tonight. He's a coward when there are witnesses."
Mia's eyes moved to him, taking in the blood on his face with visible concern, then back to me. I could see the war playing out in her expression—the desire to stay and make sure we were okay battling against the understanding that maybe, right now, Kieran and I needed to be alone, needed to have whatever conversation was building between us without an audience.
"I'm sorry, Mia," I said, and I knew my voice sounded desperate, knew I was asking too much, knew this wasn't fair to her. "Can you... I need to talk to him. Alone. I promise I'll explain everything later. I swear I will."
Her mouth opened, closed, opened again. "But—" she started, glancing between me and Kieran, taking in the blood on his face, the way I was clinging to him, the wreckage of the night scattered around us. "Summer, I can't just leave you here. What if—"
"Please." The word came out raw, stripped of everything except pure need. "He needs me right now. He really needs me."
She looked at Kieran, at me, at the blood still dripping from his chin onto the pavement in slow, steady drops. I saw the moment she made her decision, saw her shoulders drop as she let out a long breath, resignation and understanding mixing in her expression. She was a good friend—the best friend—and she knew when to push and when to step back.
"Okay," she said quietly, her voice gentle, then glanced back down the street where Drake had disappeared. "I saw him run toward Andrew Square—opposite direction. And I'm not leaving you alone in Southie at night. I'll drive to the corner and wait there. From my car, I can see this whole block. Anything moves, I'm coming right back."
I nodded, relief and gratitude washing over me in equal measure. "Thank you, Mia."
She nodded once, her eyes holding mine for a long moment like she was trying to communicate something without words—be careful, don't do anything stupid, I'm here if you need me. Then she walked back to her car, her footsteps echoing off the buildings, each one sounding reluctant, like she was fighting the urge to turn around and drag me back with her. The engine started with a low rumble, the headlights cutting through the darkness and illuminating the empty street, and then she was pulling away from the curb, but instead of disappearing around the distant corner, I watched her taillights stop at the intersection just fifty yards away, the red glow steady and reassuring in the darkness.
And then, in this small pocket of space she'd given us, we were alone.
I held onto Kieran, my face pressed against his back, and suddenly the calm I'd forced myself to maintain in front of Mia shattered like glass hitting concrete. The tears came hot and fast, soaking into his jacket, my whole body shaking with sobs I couldn't control anymore, couldn't hold back, couldn't pretend weren't there. All the fear I'd been suppressing, all the terror of watching Drake attack him, all the helplessness of not being able to stop it—it all came pouring out in a flood I couldn't dam.
Five minutes. Maybe longer. I lost track of time, lost track of everything except the feeling of his warmth under my hands, the rise and fall of his breathing, the proof that he was here, that he was alive, that Drake hadn't—
I couldn't finish that thought either. Couldn't let myself imagine what might have happened if we hadn't shown up, if Catherine had been alone, if Kieran had tried to intervene without anyone there to call the police.
Kieran turned around slowly, carefully, like he was afraid of startling me. He reached down and set the cake box gently on the concrete step beside us, the white cardboard catching a sliver of streetlight, and then his arms were around me, pulling me close, one hand cradling the back of my head with a gentleness that made me cry harder. "Don't cry, Summer," he murmured, his voice rough and low, vibrating through his chest into mine. "I'm here. I'm okay. See? I'm right here."
"Drake is an asshole," I choked out against his chest, my words muffled by fabric and tears and rage. "He doesn't deserve to be your father. You're so good, you're so—" I couldn't finish, couldn't find words big enough to express what I meant, how much I admired him, how much I—
"Idiot." The word was soft, almost tender, completely devoid of any real criticism. "I've been trying so hard to keep him away from you, to make sure he never knew you existed. But you just had to show up tonight, didn't you? You just had to let him see you."
"I'm scared, Kieran." I pulled back just enough to look up at him, at the split lip and the swelling eye and the blood still crusted on his chin, at the damage Drake had done with his fists and his rage. "But I'll protect you. I swear I will. I'll do whatever it takes."