"Leave."

My head jerked up. Logan's eyes glimmered in fury as his hand had dropped from my ear. It was curled into a fist now. His jaw was clenched tight. "Leave, man. Forget whatever the hell my brother's saying to you. Leave her alone. I mean it. If you don't, I'll pound your ass and send you to the hospital."

"Logan." Mason stepped away from Adam, but he kept a hand to one of his shoulders to hold him in place.

"What?" Logan jerked his gaze to his brother's. "You're going to let him go with that? Are you kidding me? He hurt Samantha, we all know it. Whatever the hell he said to that girl did the deed. We all know she stopped being friends with her. She doesn't have any friends anymore and it's because of this piece of crap. We pissed him off so he hurt Sam instead. You're damn straight that I want to beat the shit out of him. Let me at him. If he tries to sue us, he's gonna have to sue all of us. Four against one. If he's smart, he'll take the beating and keep his mouth shut."

Mason was torn. His one hand jerked in reaction and I knew he wanted to do what Logan was threatening, but then he caught my gaze. We both remembered the other bomb my mom could drop on us and Adam held a part of his life in his hands. If my mom knew I was here, she'd go to the police. She would file for statutory rape and Mason would be found guilty. Everyone knew he had sex, everyone knew that he had sex with me. If Mason was found guilty, who knew how long the damages could last for him, for us.

I jerked away from Logan. Adam had apologized. Why couldn't he have let it alone?

Then Logan continued to add to my nightmare.

He turned to me, his eyes pleading. "I talked to some people, Sam. Nothing will happen to you. So what if you get arrested as a runaway? Nothing happens the first time and the second time," he rolled his eyes. "You might get house arrest. That'd be drawn out in court, longer than a month. You can do whatever you want and your mom can't do a thing to you. You don't need to be indebted to this trash."

But the statutory rape charges would hold.

I drew in a shuddering breath. I hadn't talked to a lawyer, but I had a good feeling those charges could hold for a long time, longer than the month before I was an adult.

"Runaway?" Adam asked.

Mason turned to him. "Shut up."

Then Nate moved forward. A look of disgust twisted his features as he grabbed Adam and dragged him to the door. When he opened it, he clipped out, "You say a goddamn thing, and you'll regret it. By the time we're done with you, you'd be getting off easy with a pounding. Trust me. We've done worse to people for less."

Adam opened his mouth, but Nate shoved him out and slammed the door in his face. When he surveyed the room again, he slumped against the door. His head leaned back and he heaved a deep sigh.

I looked at Mason and found his eyes on mine. A look of vulnerability flashed over him. I shot forward and pulled him against me. His head dropped to my shoulder. Swallowing a knot, this was my fault. If he went to jail, it would be because of me. I couldn't let that happen. No matter what, no matter what I had to do, I was going to make this right. My eyes closed and despair swept over me. I'd have to go to my mom. I'd have to do what she wanted, anything, but she couldn't hurt Mason that way. No way.

"Why do I get the feeling something else is going on?" Logan pulled me back to the room. He raked a hand over his face and shook his head. "What the hell is going on?"

Nate and I both looked at Mason. It was his decision. He was the leader and it was his life, but when his head fell down my gut flared. He was going to lie. I knew it and I held my breath as I heard him mutter, "Nothing's going on, but it'll go on her record, Logan."

"What? Come on—"

Mason's head snapped back up and his eyes were inflamed. "Leave. It. I mean it. She could get arrested and that'll be on her record, for life, Logan. Drop it."

"But—"

"I mean it!" His voice raised an octave.

Then Logan threw his arms up. A litany of curses spewed from his mouth as he shook his head. "This is bullshit. We don't have to play by their rules. So what if it'll go on her record. She can fight it. She's not running away. This is such a load of crap—"

Then Nate spoke up, "It's not your call, Logan."

"What?" He swung around. A snarl was fixed on his features and his chest heaved up and down.

Nate faced him squarely. His gaze never faltered, he never blinked. "It's not your call. This has nothing to do with you."

"I got shipped off because of it. This is my brother. She's my—"

"It's their relationship. It's her life, it's her mother. They eliminated you from the equation because you support them, but right now you might be hurting them more than helping."

"But—"

"Stop!" A whisper escaped my lips. I couldn't hear any more of it. I couldn't bear it. I clapped my hands over my ears and turned away from everyone. "Stop, please."

I could only hear myself breathing. I was panting, not breathing. I couldn't get enough oxygen and everything suddenly hurt in my body. All my limbs, everything hurt and I collapsed onto the chair by the desk. I had no idea what was going on behind me. I couldn't hear it. I couldn't sense it, but it didn't matter.

I had torn them apart.

My mother had torn them apart, like she tore my own family apart.

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