Chapter 351 - Here

Chapter 351: Chapter 351 - Here

Roxie glanced toward Angela on the bed.

She had finally fallen asleep after crying until there seemed to be nothing left in her. Her face was turned toward the wall, one hand tucked beneath her cheek while the other still rested near her phone. Even asleep, her eyes looked swollen, and Roxie stood there for another minute before quietly getting up.

Karen was gone from the room.

Roxie found her outside on the balcony, sitting sideways on one of the chairs with her feet tucked beneath her and a glass in one hand. A bottle sat on the small table beside her, and Roxie frowned as she stepped outside and slid the door almost closed behind her.

"What are you drinking?"

Karen looked over. "Sorry. I just need to calm down."

"Where did you get that?"

"The kitchen." Karen grinned faintly. "Your rich best friend has a very impressive house."

Roxie walked closer and reached for the glass. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but if it actually made Karen feel a little calmer after everything that happened tonight, maybe one sip wouldn’t hurt.

Karen lifted an eyebrow but handed it over.

The smell alone made Roxie wrinkle her nose, but she took a swallow anyway. The alcohol burned all the way down, and her entire face twisted.

"Jesus Christ."

Karen laughed and took the glass back. "Weak."

"That tastes like gasoline."

"It does not."

"It absolutely does."

Karen took another drink like she was proving a point.

Roxie leaned against the balcony railing beside her and glanced through the glass door toward Angela. From where she stood, she could still see part of the bed and the shape of Angela beneath the blanket.

For a while, neither of them said anything.

Karen stared out into the dark yard, slowly turning the glass between her fingers before muttering, "I feel helpless."

Roxie looked at her.

Karen kept her eyes ahead. "I hate it when I can’t just fight the people hurting you both."

Roxie reached over and took her free hand. "It’s more than enough. You’re always here."

Karen squeezed her fingers, then brought the glass back to her mouth. "In the gym..." she muttered, her expression changing as she looked somewhere beyond the yard. "It was so hard watching you fall apart like that."

Roxie knew exactly what she meant. The pictures. The entire gym looking at her while everything she had worked so hard to hide was thrown in front of the whole school.

Karen swallowed another mouthful before glancing through the glass door toward Angela. "And now her." Her voice dropped. "I don’t know."

Roxie stepped closer and pulled her into a hug.

Karen leaned into her immediately, one arm wrapping around Roxie’s waist while the other still held the glass.

"You being here is enough," Roxie murmured, rubbing her back.

Karen gave a small laugh against her shoulder. "Doesn’t feel like it."

"It is."

When Roxie pulled back, her eyes went to the glass again. She took it from Karen’s hand before Karen could drink more.

Karen frowned. "Hey."

"This isn’t a reason to drink."

"I said I wanted to calm down."

"You can calm down without burning your throat off."

Karen rolled her eyes and reached for the glass, but Roxie held it farther away. That was when she noticed the bottle on the table properly.

It was almost empty.

Roxie stared at it, then at Karen. "Did you drink all this?"

Karen shook her head immediately.

Roxie narrowed her eyes.

Karen smiled like Roxie had accused her of stealing candy. "I wanted something hard."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

Karen laughed and tried to reach around her for the glass. "Give it back."

Roxie moved it out of reach. "Absolutely not."

"You drank from it too."

"One sip."

"Still counts."

"You’re ridiculous."

Karen grinned, and for a moment she looked completely normal again. Same Karen. Same confident smile. Same expression she always wore when Roxie was being dramatic.

Roxie set the glass beside the bottle.

Karen sighed. "Buzzkill."

"You’ll survive."

"Debatable."

Roxie smiled and leaned against the railing beside her. Somewhere downstairs, she could hear movement from the Harts. Kurt and his mother had come back after Mrs. Hart managed to calm him down, and Mr. Hart had joined them sometime after. Roxie hadn’t bothered asking what happened outside. Kurt was back, nobody had been arrested and that was enough for tonight.

The street in front of the house was mostly dark, the neighboring homes quiet except for a few porch lights.

Then headlights turned onto the street.

Roxie watched the car slow.

Something about it looked familiar.

Karen straightened beside her.

The car stopped directly in front of the Hart house.

Roxie’s stomach dropped.

Karen whispered, "Oh, fuck."

Roxie stared through the darkness.

She knew that car.

Caleb.

Before she could say anything, the front door opened downstairs.

Karen shot to her feet so quickly the chair scraped across the balcony floor. Roxie grabbed the nearly empty bottle before it tipped over, then Kurt’s voice exploded through the house.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Another voice answered.

Caleb.

Karen looked at Roxie. "Fuck."

Roxie was already sliding the balcony door open.

Angela was still asleep on the bed, completely unaware of the voices getting louder downstairs. Roxie crossed the room and touched her shoulder.

"Angela."

She barely moved.

Roxie shook her harder. "Angela, wake up."

Angela stirred with a groan, blinking slowly at her. For a second she looked confused and heavy from sleep, but then Kurt shouted again downstairs and her eyes widened.

"What’s happening?"

Roxie hesitated for only a second. "Caleb’s here."

Angela sat up so fast Roxie reached for her automatically.

"What?"

"He just pulled up."

Angela threw the blanket aside and stumbled when her feet hit the floor. She caught herself against the bed before Roxie could reach her, then rushed toward the door.

"Angela."

Karen went after her immediately, and Roxie cursed under her breath before following as quickly as her ankle allowed.

By the time she reached the stairs, Angela was already halfway down.

Kurt stood near the front door with Mr. Hart holding one of his arms while Mrs. Hart had both hands pressed against his chest. Whatever had happened before Roxie came downstairs, they clearly didn’t trust Kurt to get anywhere near Caleb yet.

Then Roxie saw Caleb properly.

He looked nothing like the boy she had seen crossing behind Bianca beside the pool.

There were dark bags beneath his eyes, the whites red enough that Roxie wondered when he had last slept. His hair was messy, his shirt wrinkled and he looked exhausted in a way that made the picture she had built in her head of him relaxing somewhere while Angela cried upstairs suddenly feel less certain.

Angela stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

Caleb looked up.

His entire expression changed.

"Baby."

Angela crossed the remaining distance so quickly that even Kurt stopped struggling against his parents.

Caleb barely had time to open his arms before she crashed into him.

He caught her immediately.

Angela buried her face against his chest, and Caleb wrapped both arms around her so tightly his hands bunched into the back of her shirt. For several seconds nobody said anything. Then Angela started crying again.

Caleb closed his eyes and pressed his face into her hair. "I’m sorry."

Angela clung harder.

"I’m so fucking sorry."

Roxie stopped beside Karen near the bottom of the stairs and watched them.

Kurt had gone completely rigid.

Mr. Hart still had one hand around his arm, probably because nobody trusted what he might do if Caleb said the wrong thing.

Angela finally pulled back enough to look at Caleb. "Where were you?"

His face tightened.

"Why didn’t you call me?"

"I didn’t know."

Angela stared at him.

Kurt immediately moved forward, and Mr. Hart tightened his hold.

"You didn’t know?" Kurt snapped.

Caleb looked toward him. "I found out today."

"Bullshit."

"Kurt," Mrs. Hart warned.

"No." Kurt pointed toward Angela. "She’s been sitting upstairs losing her fucking mind for days and he’s telling us he didn’t know?"

Caleb looked back at Angela instead of answering him. "I swear to you, I didn’t know about the picture until today."

Angela searched his face.

Roxie found herself doing the same.

Caleb looked awful. Exhausted, red eyed, tense enough that his jaw kept tightening every few seconds.

Roxie had spent the last few hours wondering what kind of asshole could know his girlfriend was falling apart and still stay away, but the boy standing in front of them looked like he had barely been holding himself together either.

Angela’s voice shook. "Your parents knew."

"My mom knew something happened at school. She didn’t tell me what it was."

Kurt gave another bitter laugh. "Convenient."

Caleb’s jaw tightened. "My grandmother almost died."

The room went quiet.

He looked at Kurt now. "My entire family has been at the hospital. Half the time I didn’t know what fucking day it was. My mom wasn’t sitting me down to explain what was happening at Briarwick while they were trying to keep my grandmother alive."

Kurt opened his mouth, but Mrs. Hart pressed harder against his chest.

Caleb turned back to Angela, and his voice softened immediately. "I found out when we got back."

Angela wiped at her face. "When?"

"This afternoon."

Her expression changed.

Roxie saw Caleb notice.

"You’ve known for hours."

"I know."

"You knew for hours and you still didn’t call me?"

Caleb ran both hands over his face. "I was trying to figure out what happened."

Angela stared at him.

"My phone was full of messages when I finally checked it. Screenshots, people asking me questions, people saying I sent something I didn’t even know was out there. My parents started asking how anybody could have gotten it from my phone, and I was trying to figure out what the fuck happened before I came here."

Angela’s shoulders stiffened.

Caleb immediately stepped closer. "I didn’t send it."

"I know."

He stopped.

Angela wiped her face again. "I know you didn’t."

Something in Caleb’s expression broke.

He reached for her face, and Angela let him.

"I swear to God, Angela, I never sent that picture to anyone. I never showed it to anybody. I never let anyone see it."

Angela nodded quickly, crying again. "I know."

Roxie glanced toward Kurt.

He still looked furious but he had stopped trying to get free from his father.

Mrs. Hart stepped forward. "Caleb, the school is investigating where the image came from."

"I’ll cooperate."

Mr. Hart finally released Kurt’s arm, though he stayed beside him. His voice was much calmer when he spoke, which somehow made the question sound more serious.

"Your phone?"

"Yes."

"Messages?"

"Yes."

"Accounts, backups, anything they ask for?"

Caleb nodded. "Whatever they need. I’ll give them everything."

Kurt folded his arms. "And we’re supposed to believe you just suddenly found out?"

Caleb looked at him. "Believe whatever you want. But I wouldn’t hurt Angela."

"Kurt," Angela pleaded.

Caleb glanced at her and immediately looked calmer again. "I’ll cooperate with everyone. The school, your parents, whoever needs to see my phone. I want to know who did this too."

Mr. Hart watched him carefully. "You have no idea who could have accessed it?"

Caleb didn’t answer.

Roxie noticed immediately.

His eyes dropped toward the floor while his thumb rubbed slowly across his palm.

Kurt noticed too. "What?"

Caleb looked up.

"What?" Kurt repeated.

For a few seconds Caleb seemed to be putting something together in his head.

Angela stepped closer. "Caleb?"

He looked at her.

"When we were in Europe, I barely had my phone some days."

Kurt’s expression hardened. "What does that mean?"

"We were moving between the hospital, hotel and my aunt’s place. Everybody was carrying bags, chargers, phones, whatever. Sometimes somebody grabbed somebody else’s stuff because nobody was paying attention."

Roxie frowned.

Caleb continued. "My phone went missing for a while."

Angela stared at him. "How long?"

"A few hours. Maybe longer. I thought I left it in one of the cars."

Mr. Hart’s attention sharpened. "And where did you find it?"

Caleb hesitated.

Roxie felt Karen move closer beside her.

"Caleb?" Angela asked.

He looked directly at her.

"In Bianca’s room."

The room went completely still.

Kurt’s face changed immediately.

Angela stared at Caleb. "What?"

"She said somebody left it there. I believed her because everything was a fucking mess and I wasn’t thinking about it."

Mrs. Hart stepped forward. "Are you saying Bianca went through your phone?"

"I don’t know."

Kurt scoffed. "Sounds like you do."

Caleb ignored him.

Angela was staring at him now, and Roxie could almost see her trying to connect Bianca’s messages, the threat, the video and the photo all at once.

Caleb swallowed.

"I don’t know if she did it."

He paused, his eyes staying on Angela.

"But I think Bianca had my phone long enough to get that picture."