╔ ╗
𝔰𝔬𝔯𝔯𝔶 𝔦'𝔪 𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔢, 𝔦 𝔡𝔦𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢.
╚ ╝
THE ENTIRE FIRST FLOOR OF THE ELIOT HOUSEHOLD had been a complete wreck. Similar to the state of Harry's interior, Campbell's living room and kitchen appeared as if it were home to a wrestling match, the furniture being the losing party. The entertainment couch and loveseats had been tossed with their legs midair while broken liquor bottles strayed upon the kitchenette tops.
When Lena snuck in through the side kitchen door upon her tiptoes, she was flabbergasted with the sight and moved on autopilot to clean up the mess. It was when she accidentally sliced the tip of her thumb with a shard of glass and ran her hand under the cool faucet that she decided it wasn't her place to clean up after Campbell. She knew it was her disappearance that lead to Campbell's blow up and havoc upon the interior design and for once, she didn't deserve to come home to chaos.
After wrapping up her finger with a paper towel and securing it with a rubber band around the base, she sat herself upon a barstool, placing her hands on the counter. If Campbell had drugged himself until he passed out, Lena knew it would be hours until he woke and while it would have been best to let him sleep so he'd hopefully wake up in a better mood, she decided to not prolong the inevitable.
Regardless if Campbell woke now or hours later, there would still be wreckage between the two.
All the girl wanted to do was get the confrontation over with and go on with her day.
Filling up her cheeks with air, Lenna blew up a puff then reached for the stereo remote, fiddling with the buttons until the radio began flashing light blue signaling it was on. Rubbing her lips together in thought, she hummed to herself as she scrolled through the attached ipod with the remote before grinning as she clicked on a metal song.
Before pressing play, she tapped the plus sign on the volume join until it reached its maximum then tapped play. Placing the remote atop of the table, Lena leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, counting the seconds as the music blasted through the house.
She could feel the vibrations translate to the ground and up the chair legs, ticking her body to the beat of the music. It surprised her how good her hearing was. While she was certain she had woken the neighbors down the road, the music so loud she could barely decipher her own thoughts, she still could make out the stomping of Campbell's feet descending the staircase.
The music paused, silencing the rattles of appliances against the base of the speakers, and in a flash Campbell stood in the aisleway between the kitchen and entertainment room, holding the ipod.
"Took you long enough," Lena said and bit the inside of her bottom lip. She was nervous. The thought of confrontation filled her chest with anxiety especially when it came to the boy a few feet before her. His eyes were narrowed, heavy with deep darkened bags underneath from excessive drinking and lack of sleep.
By the way Campbell slightly wobbled and leaned his palm against the door frame for assistance, his few hours of sleep hadn't done him any good. From his appearance and scent it was clear the boy was still slightly inebriated. Lena arched a brow of amusement and pang of embarrassment, assuming this was exactly how she looked in her glory mornings.
"Where have you been?" he asked and stalked closer, tossing the ipad atop of the kitchen table.
His nostrils flared while his hand went to massage his temples, his own voice sending throbs of pain to his head. One would have thought his annoying wake up call would send him through the roof but what surprised him was the fact she had come back to him after all. That, and he felt too dehydrated and drained to make a more dramatic fuss, which he wanted to do.
"What're you my mother?" she bit and regretted her words.
Campbell was similar to a ticking time bomb. There was no telling when he was near a switch and ready to release his hostility. He could appear fine and speak as if there weren't any worries or frustrations within his mind and just like that, when one was most vulnerable and unguarded, he would latch with a hardened jaw.
There was not telling how he would react in this state and Lena was already pushing her lovers buttons since she hadn't come home or answered his calls.
Rather than waiting for him to answer, Lena licked her lips then pointed to her knapsack, "I picked up more wine." Without a glance, the Eliot went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle from her bag, opening a drawer to pull out an opener and pull the cork.
He was distant and absentminded to the fact his whole entire household was destroyed. Instead of filling a wine glass, Campbell brought the bottle to his lips and took a long swip, slushing the liquid in his mouth like mouthwash before swallowing and making a satisfied moan.
"You know," he said and walked to Lena as if he were a lion stalking his prey. The nerves in her arms ticked as he took each step but she kept her chin high, keeping her eyes frozen upon his. He'd want to see her coward but she refused to give him the satisfaction. "I wasn't sure you were coming back," he said and placed his hand on the back of her wooden stool, trapping her side between him and the table.
Lena thought between her choices, either bite back or admit the truth. Part of her wanted to give Campbell a taste of his own medicine but since she woke in a wonderful mood she didn't want to turn sour so decided on the latter.
"I was at home," she looked up at him to which he laughed. His hand darted to her knapsack of bottles, "no shit." Shaking her head, Lena breathed, "no - I" she stuttered feeling emasculate against him.
It was easy expressing her night to Harry, leaving out Lukes appearance, and her best friend was supportive and proud she had taken a step into a positive direction, confronting her past head on. Somehow, letting it out to Campbell, made her extremely nervous.
"I got carried away, overwhelmed -" she stuttered, "Anthony's room-" she fidgeted in her seat.
Campbell leaned to the side, "your brother?"
Lena nodded her head and felt her voice soften in betrayal, "yeah."
She could feel his eyes bore into her head and though she wanted to look down from him, she kept her glossed eyes upon his. She expected him to drill her for ignoring his calls, screening his messages, and showing up at his door on her own accord - on top of waking him up, but instead, all he did was breathe heavily through his nose and force a smile upon his face.
Campbell's hand went to her shoulder and he squeezed tightly, causing her to freeze underneath his touch. His hands usually comforted her and made her feel weak underneath his gaze but something felt off between them. His hand tightened until the skin of her tan shoulders fainted white from his massive hold.
His hands caressed her shoulder up to her neck, forcefully cupping her cheek causing her to squint, then snaked to the back of her hair. Calloused fingers wrapped around her ends, tugging at the strands then raked to her scalp, tightly pulling her head so her chin was higher.
Lena rubbed her lips together, feeling both pleasure and pain from his pull. Bending, Campbell brought his lips to Lena's forehead, while pulling her hair once more, "well, it's a good thing you got that taken care of."
His voice was thick with sarcasm, void of empathy as he pulled her hair and let go before turning his back towards her to pour another glass of wine.
"There's a broom in the closet," he said into the air, "if you want to help clean."
Lena's eyes stung as they were brimmed with tears and she swallowed the lump in her throat. She wanted to roll her eyes and walk right out the door with her long manicured middle finger in the air, but instead she cleared her throat and pushed her barstool chair over on its side and stalked up the stairs to a much needed hot shower.