Nearly Broken Read Online Free PDF Page A

pathetic attempt to wash away
the sourness overtaking my senses. I still felt sick to my stomach,
but the real threat had passed. Pain burned behind my eyes and I
wanted nothing more than to go home and collapse on my bed.
    A light knock rapped
on the door. “Megan?” Nick asked softly. “Are you
alright?”
    “I’m okay
now,” I answered, pulling on the edge of my sleeves, which had
managed to creep up a bit, exposing the permanently damaged skin
beneath.
    The door must have
shut behind me at some point. Its knob slowly turned, then it opened
at a glacial pace – perhaps to give me time to object, which I
didn’t. A better version of Nick peeked inside, this one the
calm, caring guy I came to adore, the coldness in his demeanor long
gone.
    “Here.” He
passed me a clean wash towel and a glass half filled with red liquid.
Gatorade. I couldn’t believe how delicious it tasted, despite
how it felt like I was swallowing needles. I drank it all down in ten
seconds.
    “I’m sorry
about what happened back there. I was so focused on those shitheads
that I didn’t realize I was upsetting you.”
    I set the glass down
on the tile and wiped my mouth down, the sourness still burning my
throat and chest. “It’s not your fault. Those guys were
assholes. I just…” Bad memories , I wanted to say.
“…sensitive stomach,” I lied.
    “Yeah,” he
muttered. “Can I take you home?”
    “We still have
two more hours.”
    “No,” he
said sternly, “We don’t. Come on. If Paul has a problem
with it, he can take it up with me tomorrow.”
    I allowed Nick to pull
me up, and with my feet planted on the floor in front of his, we were
almost close enough to touch. He had like a foot on me, but the way
he dipped his head gave me a perfect view of his pale pink lips, soft
and supple and demanding attention as he took that moment to hydrate
them. We were slow to pull apart, my gaze locking heavily with his.
His hand still held mine, and it was warm and comforting, and I
didn’t contest when he continued to hold it as he guided me out
of the bathroom and into the diner again. But he abandoned the grasp
there, and I hated how disappointed I felt.
    I grabbed my bag as he
moved through the kitchen turning off equipment and lights before
locking up. And then it was just like every other night, with him
driving me home. Only this time I didn’t thank him for the ride
and get out. I just sat there, staring at my front door, seemingly
darker than its normal shade of hunter green, as my porch light had
finally burned out. Luckily, my neighbor’s light kept my
doorstep from being completely absorbed by darkness.
    I no longer liked
the night. The darkness was where he lied in wait, waiting for it to
swallow me whole each night, suffocating my senses with fear.
    I’m not sure how
long I sat there, but it was Nick’s voice that broke me from my
trance. “I can stay and keep you company for a bit.” I
turned his way, and he fidgeted before adding, “If you want me
to.”
    I liked the way the
mixture of street light and shadow painted his face. It brought about
a sense of calm in me, and I nodded. I didn’t want to be alone
right now. After directing him to the parking spot that came assigned
with my apartment, he followed me inside #E3.
    My apartment was
actually a decent size for a one bedroom, but the sleeping and living
areas were only separated by sliding doors, hidden and stuck in the
two walls that almost joined in the middle of the room. I had an old
TV in front of the cream floral sofa, which incidentally, lined up
with the full-sized bed, but was really too far away to see the
screen from. I hardly watched it anyways since I only got the free
channels. Everything in my place was used and disposable. All except
for the bag I kept packed at the back of my closet, ready to go at a
moment’s notice, just like the money tucked beneath the carpet
underneath it.
    “You’ve
got a nice place.”
    Lightheartedly, I
replied,