It only takes me about twenty minutes of walking to realize that these heels may not have been the wisest footwear choice for the evening. That fact is confirmed three minutes later when the heel on my right shoe collapses, sending me tumbling onto the sidewalk.

It’s only then, on the ground and covered in dirt with my knee bleeding, that I finally let myself fall apart. Thankfully I am in some obscure neighborhood where all the houses are set off from the road, so there are no witnesses to my pity party. I am so embarrassed, and mad at myself for being embarrassed. And mostly, I’m angry that I let myself trust someone.

And the only person who I want to call right now is the person who I told I never wanted see again.

But I don’t care anymore. I don’t care about any of it. Because I want my sister.

* * *

I see the headlights and I instantly know it’s Daphni. Surprisingly, she had been asleep when I called, but told me she was coming right away. No questions asked.

As the car approaches, the passenger-side door opens even before the car pulls to a complete stop. In PJ bottoms and slippers, Daphni runs toward me and throws her arms around me. Only when I feel her embrace do I let myself go and sob into her arms. She coos in my ear, calming me. After a few long moments, she gently leads me back into the car and sits with me in the back seat, never letting me fall out of her embrace.

We drive in silence, with Daphni’s hand caressing my hair. As we pass under a streetlight, she catches the blood running down my knee.

“Gabby, you’re bleeding!”

“I’m okay,” I tell her.

“No, hold on. Liam, pull over,” she directs, and it’s only then that I realize Liam has been driving us the whole time.

He pulls over into an empty lot and grabs the first-aid kit out of the glove box before jumping out of the car. He opens the door to my side and Daphni turns on the interior light.

Pulling out an antiseptic wipe and a Band-Aid, Liam stands in the door and gestures for me to bring him my leg. He reaches for my leg and I instinctively flinch. He pulls his hand away.

“Sorry,” I mumble.

“Don’t apologize,” he replies. “I just want to put your foot here,” he gestures to his knee, “and then I want to clean the cut and put a Band-Aid on it.”

I nod in response and he takes my leg, his warm hands gently guiding my foot to rest on his knee. He wipes away the blood and blows on my cut as he wipes it down. When it’s clean, he carefully places the Band-Aid over the cut.

“Thank you.”

He looks at me and I catch the gentleness in his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something before his eyes dart to Daphni, sitting behind me. He closes his mouth and offers me a tight-lipped smile and a nod before removing my leg and closing the door.

Once back in the driver’s seat, he pulls out of the parking lot.

“Gabby, can you tell us what happened?” Daphni asks.

I look at her and she squeezes my hand reassuringly. I start from the beginning of the party and end with the altercation with Jordan in the bathroom and the photographers.

Daphni keeps silent as I tell my story and I see tears brimming in her eyes. I squeeze her hand tightly. “Daphni, nothing happened. I’m okay.”

She nods, as if to reassure herself. “I know. I’m still going to shoot that little shit’s dick off,” she declares.

I can’t help but chuckle at her words and how serious she looks.

“No, I’m serious, Gabby. He is a dead man walking. You’ll alibi me, right Liam?”

“I’ll give you the fucking gun,” he snarls.

“Great, then it’s settled. He’s dead.”

I roll my eyes in response but let my head fall to rest on Daphni’s shoulder. In return, she gently lays her head on mine.

We pull into the hotel a few moments later and all pile into the elevator.

“Can I stay with you tonight?” I ask Daphni.

“Obviously, baby girl.”

As the doors open to our floor, I follow Daphni out. Liam places his hand gently on my arm. “If you need anything, I’m right next door.”

I nod and offer him a tilted smile in return. “Thank you,” I say. “For everything.”

He tenses his jaw and for a moment, I think he is going to say something. Instead, he snaps his mouth closed and nods. I bite down on my lip, trying to conjure the words I want to say to him. But I’m too tired, too drained. As if he can sense it, Liam places a reassuring hand on my arm.

"We'll talk tomorrow?" he tells me, more of a question than a statement.

I nod and turn to follow Daphni into the room, hoping that sleep will find me easily tonight and when I wake up tomorrow, this whole night will somehow have been a terrible dream.