Bree

Ten years ago…

I knew something strange was going to happen today from the minute I opened my eyes this morning.

My father was acting strange from last night.

Normally, he’d come and say good night to me when he got home from work but he didn’t last night.

I made sure I got home just before he did, and ensured I was tucked in bed.

Aunt Lily would have normally covered for me but she was in Wisconsin visiting my cousin.

It was one of those nights when I should have probably skipped seeing Drew, but I didn’t want to. There was a chance I would get in trouble at the least for being out late but I didn’t think my father would figure out that I’d been spending time with him.

Today, though, I wondered, and not for any specific reason.

It was just a feeling I got that grew progressively worse as the day wore on.

I was so unsettled that I couldn’t wait to see Drew later at the lake house.

Deep in the woods the old lake house had been the perfect nest for us. It was practically our home.

It was an abandoned house that had stayed that way from war time.

We’d played there as kids and now that we were together it was our sanctuary.

It was also probably the first place my father would come to if he ever found out I was with Drew.

God, he would go completely crazy. Beyond fury.

The thing was, our fathers at one point, were the very best of friends. Until the day of the accident that killed my mother. I was ten years old at the time.

My father swore blindly that my mother was having an affair with Ryan, Drew’s father.

My mother and Ryan were in a head on collision that killed my mother instantly. It put Ryan in a coma but he survived, pulled through a near death situation only to have my father accuse him of not only killing my mother, but also ruining his marriage.

I was forbidden to have contact with Drew or his older brother Parker. And, of course Ryan.

I tried to obey my father but Drew was my only friend at the time. He was two years older than me and always took care of me.

I also didn’t blame his father for my mother’s death and I didn’t see the reason why I wasn’t allowed to see Drew. I saw what happened as a terrible accident, that wasn’t even Ryan’s fault, let alone Drew.

We were friends but I’d always loved him. The day he first kissed me came as no surprise to me. It was more of an expectation because I was so sure he felt the same way about me.

Every time I thought about how much I loved him my heart would soar straight out of my body. It was that feeling I held on to as I ventured to the lake house.

Except that my heart sunk when I didn’t see him there.

He was always here waiting for me. Where would he have gone to?

The unsettled feeling I had returned and when a good half an hour passed and there was still no sign of him panic filled me.

I was just about to leave when I heard the door open and he came in.

It was dark now, night had just fallen and I should have been well on my way home.

“Where were you? I was worried,” I blurted.

The was a dread filled expression on his face that told me something was definitely wrong. “Your father found out about us,” he replied.

“What? How? Oh God.” My father was definitely going to be mad.

“Someone must have told him.” Drew’s eyes widened. “I don’t know who but he’s been snooping around since yesterday trying to find out if it was true. He came by our house and fought with my dad.”

“What, an actual fight?” I couldn’t believe that. My father had the tendency to overreact but he could normally keep his cool.

“An actual fight. Parker split them up. I got out to come and get you.”

“What are we going to do?” I felt scared now. Scared of what could happen, scared that my dad would be mad at me, and disappointed. And, I was scared to lose Drew.

“We leave,” Drew said.

Leave?

“We just leave. What will we do if we leave? And, where will we go?” Those were all valid questions, and I was trying really hard not to freak out but it was hard to remain calm.

This wasn’t exactly a calm situation, or one that could just be acted on without consequences. I knew what my father was like.

He could be the best man that I knew but in the same breath he could also be the worst because of his overbearing tendency to control everything.

“I don’t have another idea. I have a thousand bucks in my account we can head to my cousin in Atlanta or somewhere and make the money stretch.” Drew nodded.

“What about college?” Good question.

I wanted to go to Brown University to study fine arts and photography. The only thing I wanted more than to become a photographer and travel the world taking exciting pictures, was Drew.

That was saying it all for me. Those were my two goals in life. Be with Drew and become a travel photographer and work for a prestigious magazine like National Geographic.

In that order.

“I’ll figure something out,” he said nodding with clear determination.

“Drew you can’t afford college for both of us and even if I work I don’t have the kind of skills yet that could get me a good job.” I was trying to see reason, and not jump into this.

“I’m not going to college Bree.” He gave me that half smile that I’d always found attractive.

“I’m joining the Navy. I’ll pick up whatever further education I need from there.”

All I could do was stare at him. He’d never said anything about joining the Navy. He’d taken a gap year after high school to think about what he wanted to do. He’d worked with his father at their construction company and he’d mentioned going into business.

Drew was every bit the tough guy and loved the water, but the Navy?

“Why would you want to join the Navy? You never said anything about the Navy.” I was double freaking out. What if something happened to him?

“Because you would freak out like you are now. I’ve always wanted to join. I’ve been dropping hints for the last few months but you didn’t catch on.”

“But you’ll be away and there could be a war. Drew this is bad, you can’t go. You could die.”

“Baby stop, we need to worry about your father now. Let’s just go and –”

His words were interrupted by a loud pound on the door that was barely on its hinge. The sound frightened me and I jumped straight into Drew’s arms.

“Open the damn door, I know you’re inside. Bree get out here now!” My father bellowed.

“Shit, he found us,” Drew hissed.

I started to shake.

“Come let’s go through the back.” Drew held me and was about to make a move to go but the door burst open flying off the hinge and smashing as it hit the wall.

My father rushed in like a homicidal maniac, face contorted in rage when he saw me huddled in Drew’s arms.

“It’s true, you’ve been seeing this boy behind my back?” His usually bright blue eyes bore into me with intense anger and the disappointment I feared.

I was always a daddy’s girl, always wanting to make sure that I made him happy, always took care of him, always made him proud. That look he just gave me hurt me to no end.

“There’s nothing wrong with Drew dad,” I cried.

“Mr. Dawson if you could just let me –” Drew attempted but my father cut him off.

“No, you don’t speak. I told you months ago to stay away from my daughter.”

I looked up at Drew who was staring my father down head on like he would take him down if he needed to.

Drew hadn’t told me that my father warned him away. So, he must have had some suspicion about us months ago.

“You have no respect for me. And this…” he looked around the house. “What have you been doing in here?”

That was a question I didn’t want to answer but my silence spoke a million words.

Drew and I lost our virginity to each other on my birthday and there wasn’t a day that had gone by since that we didn’t have sex. And sometimes it wasn’t just the one time either.

In the bad lighting the house had I watched my father’s face turn red with rage. He might have been angry before but I could visually see that his emotions had jumped several notches above angry.

“You touched my little girl,” he cried rushing forward to us.

“Dad, please stop.” I screamed but it did nothing to stop him.

He grabbed me tearing me away from Drew’s arms and pushed me out of the way.

Before I knew it, I saw his fists fly straight in Drew’s face. Blood spurted from his nose in an instant but it didn’t faze Drew.

And he didn’t fight back either.

I’d seen him take down anyone who’d dare to mess with him in a matter of seconds, and with very little effort but right now all he was doing was blocking. Blocking my father’s punches while I screamed for my father to stop.

Tears poured from my eyes when I watched my father hit Drew to the ground and started pummeling him. And, still Drew didn’t fight back.

It was because he would never hit my father. I knew that he knew his strength and would have been able to defend himself, but he wouldn’t hit him back.

Seeing that, I did the only thing I could and threw myself down on to my father’s back.

“Dad, stop it you’ll kill him. Please stop.”

I didn’t know if it was me on his back, or my words but my father ceased his punches.

When he moved I got off his back and gasped when I saw the mess he made of Drew’s face. He was completely covered in blood and barely conscious.

Rushing to his side I tried to lift him. “Drew, oh God.”

“I’m okay.”

“Bree come here.” My father demanded. I looked over at him standing above us, fists still balled, face still red.

“No.” I told him much to his surprise. “You’re a monster. How could you do this?”

I couldn’t believe that he’d done this. Drew was barely twenty years old and my father was forty-five. There was no way that he could think that what he’d done to Drew was okay.

Drew coughed and shuffled to sit up, but he looked like he couldn’t stand up.

“Get here now!” My father yelled.

Drew pulled me to him. “I love you Bree, always remember that.” He whispered into my ear.

He’d told me he loved me before but I didn’t like the edge of finality that his voice took on. As if this was goodbye.

“I love you,” I replied.

My father raged again when he saw that and charged forwards to grab me.

I screamed. “Let go.”

“I’ll find a way Bree.” Drew called out as my father picked me up and carried me off screaming.

“I’ll find a way Bree!” Those were the last words I heard from Drew.

They echoed in my mind, in my heart and my soul.