Suffer In Silence

*Andys POV*

“Andy, it really is time we have another show, it’s been too long, there may be no contract, but we did have a gentleman’s agreement and we shook on it, all a man has is his word. And don’t forget, this band is your baby, we’ve all put our hearts and souls into it, and that new song of yours is amazing, it needs to be heard” Jake reasons in a firm but gentle tone. I sigh, knowing that he’s right. “I know, but could you schedule it with Mr. B?, I’ll go with you when he wants us to go in, but for now I don’t feel up to a stressful phone call, I get so nervous talking on the phone when I feel guilty.”

Some time later Jake leaves, for a while I just sit on my bed, leaning my back against the wall. I think about the band, the break-up, everything Jake and I had talked about. I know I need to move on, but I can’t push back this nagging feeling that something’s not right. Jinxx and Sandra know more than they’re letting on about Koda I can feel it in my gut. I find my phone and pull up Jinxx’ number. “Hey And-“
“Jinxx, we need to talk….”

*Dakotas POV*

“So let me get this straight, you own a wild horse, as in a real live wild horse, not just a bredincaptivity brumby?” Max says in disbelief. I sigh and smile fondly at him, “for the millionth time yes, I am the proud owner of a brumby stallion. He’s amazing. I’m going to show him that while humans took away his freedom, his family, and confined him to a small corral, not all of us are bad. Here, I’ve got a photo of him…” I pull out my phone and get up a picture I took of him the day he arrived at the farm that’s about an hour from my house. I had spent the day sitting against the fence reading a book on one side of the large paddock, while he stayed on the other side. My strategy was to start slowly getting him used to my presence. I lean over the drums and hand Max the phone.

“Shit that’s so awesome!, promise me though that you won’t rush into anything or do anything to get yourself hurt ok?. I know fuck-all about horses but even I know that they are dangerous and unpredictable enough, without being from the wild” he says, now looking at me with concern, bless his sweet little soul. I take the phone back and smile, “of course I’ll be careful Maxie, now show me how to do that combo again I’m still confused” I laugh sheepishly. “Damn Koda you’ll be the death of me” he dramatically sighs though I can see the laughter in his eyes. He comes around and positions himself behind me so he can show me the combo all over again.

*25 minutes later*

Laughing, I leave the little room we had been using to practice in. We use this room as an extra storage room which now doubles as a dressing room thanks to the deal Mr. B has with Andys band. A shiver goes down my spine just thinking about him. I pin my badge to my breast and clock in to start my shift. By now I’m used to starting my shifts alone while Max moves the drum set back where it belongs out of the way. The little bell above the front door jingles, signalling a customer, I smile and look up. Before I can greet the customer I freeze in shock, standing before me is Jake and… Andy. I haven’t seen Andy since the break-up and I’ve only seen glimpses of Jake at school.

“Uh-I-Um, I’ll go get Max” I turn to run off only to be caught by my wrist. I swing around to see Andys eyes piercing my own, fire blazing strong within them. “Uh, I’m gonna go find Max…” Jake murmurs an excuse and hurries off. I look to the side, unable to bear seeing the hurt and anger in Andys eyes, but he holds my chin between his thumb and forefinger and turns my face back to look at him. “What do you want from me?” I finally manage to whisper. “An answer, an explanation, no more lies” he hisses the last part. My body goes cold, I must not be as good an actress as I thought I was….

He drops his hand from my chin and lets go of my wrist, his face contorts in confusion. He holds the hand up that had held my chin and rubs his fingers together. “Since when do you cake on the-“ suddenly he grabs my face and wipes where he had been holding my chin to reveal a deep, angry bruise. Concern washes over his beautiful face. In my horror, I finally realise how thin his face has become, he’s lost weight.

“Who did this to you?” he growls angrily. “It’s not what you th-“
“No!, I said no more lies!”
“Fine, but I’m not telling you, it’s for me to deal with, I can handle this. I don’t want to lie to you, and I can’t stand hurting you, please just drop it, all of it-“ I stop, my throat closing as I struggle to hold back tears. “we can’t just be friends” Andy states matter-of-factly, his words slice through me like knives. Before anything more can be said, Andys phone rings. “It’s Jinxx, wait here a minute…” he heads to a more secluded corner to take the call.

*Andys POV*

“Jinxx? is this important? ‘cos I’m with Koda and-“
“This is about Koda, Andy there’s something you need to know…”
“What?” I ask, suddenly nervous, hearing the distress in Jinxx’ voice. “Sandra and I managed to corner her sister Carrie after school and interrogate her until she cracked.”
“And?”
“Koda is being abused at home, in more ways than one. She was forced to break up with you by some guy her dad works for but that’s all we could get out of her, she seemed too scared to say anything else. We-“
“Sorry Jinxx tell me the rest later, I gotta go…” I say apologetically and hang up.

I stride over to Koda before I can change my mind. When I reach her I kiss her hard, letting all my emotions out into the kiss. At first she resists but soon she mimics my actions and I feel her pour her soul into the kiss. I won’t let her go through this alone, never again will she stand alone, I’m here for you Koda, always….

Notes

I AM SO FUCKING SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT! please, please, please forgive me!

I really hope at least some of you are still reading this, I've had o much shit going on in real life that I haven't been handling it well. That mixed with writers block and not knowing how to move forward without skipping over all the important things in the story was so hard, I hope I didn't do too bad with it in this chapter. The hardest part is over I think, it should be easier now.

Please let me know what you think, You guys' opinions mean a lot to me.

Chapter title Credit: Amy Meredith - Lying