Give Me Grace(165)

A growl worked its way up from my chest, and I took another step forward, going nose to nose with my brother. “Did you stop to think that maybe if you hadn’t gone and disappeared, that none of this would’ve happened?”

That jabbing finger poked me in the chest, right in the middle of bruised tissue. “None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t left in the first place!”

I shoved him. “I spent ten years, ten fucking years, thinking you were dead!” I yelled back, my voice cracking. “Godammit!” I spun around, fighting to control the absolute pain of it all.

“Stop it, Kelly,” I heard Grace say angrily to my brother. “Just … stop. I’ve listened to every word you’ve spoken since the moment I met you and not once, in that entire time, did you stop to consider Casey’s feelings or what he went through. He’s just as important as you are, but you know what he never had?” she asked him, her voice hoarse and sad and I knew she was crying. “He never had anybody to fight for him the way he fought for you. He never had anybody.”

“Babe—” Kelly began.

“Shut it,” she hissed and I could sense her temper starting to heat up. “He’s got me now, and he’s got my family, and he’s got a whole pile of friends who love him. We’ll fight for him.”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat, so fucking proud of Grace I had no idea what to say. “Grace.”

“Shut it,” she hissed at me, taking my hand. “I’m not finished.”

She dragged me back around and lifted my shirt, exposing the tattoo of the ancient sword and dragon covering the left side of my torso. “Can you read what the tattoo says?” she snapped. The words were pretty clear, but she read them out anyway. “Glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Grace twitched my shirt back in place while glaring at Kelly. “That tattoo covers a scar so deep it almost killed him. His father almost killed him, and he took that for you.” I saw Travis flinch from the corner of my eye. I’d never told him about that scar because I hated the memories. “Then he had it inked over so instead of seeing a scar, he sees the sword of a warrior, and it reminds him that every time he took a hit, it was a hit he was taking for you. You know what I see when I look at that tattoo?”

Kelly shook his head, mute.

“I see a man who doesn’t know how to give up and I thank fucking God for that, because while I might be able to fight for him, right now, I need him to fight for me. I need …” Grace choked up, unable to speak.

My eyes burned as I dragged her into my arms wrapping her up tight. I kissed her forehead, and I kissed her temple, and I buried my head in her neck and kissed her there too. “I love you so much, Slim,” I whispered against the warmth of her skin. “I’ll fight for you. I promise.”

I vaguely heard the murmur of Travis and Gabriella talking before they left together, leaving just me, Kelly, and Grace standing in the living room.

“Grace is right,” he said. I looked at my stricken brother over Grace’s shoulder. “I didn’t … I never thought about you or what you did at all. You were just always there and one day you weren’t.”

My arms tightened on Grace as she sniffled into my shirt. I rubbed her back soothingly as I spoke. “I left to setup a better life for us. It took longer than I’d hoped, but I was coming back for you, Kelly. I was coming back.”

He nodded. “I believe you.”

“Will you tell me what really happened to our parents?”

Kelly lifted his chin but I could still see the tremor in his chin and the pain in his eyes. “I killed him.”

I froze and Grace stilled in my arms.

“It was me that killed dad.”

I closed my eyes, reeling, before I opened them again. “Why? What did he do?”

“He hit Mum. She went down hard, crackin’ her head against the dresser in their room.” Kelly’s eyes filled. “She never got back up. She never fuckin’ got back up,” he bit out, his tone harsh and thick with grief. “So I killed him.”

Grace let out a whimper and I realised I was squeezing her too tight. I loosened my arms a little. “Did he come after you?”

He shook his head. “I heard the yellin’ and Mum screamin’ and suddenly it went real quiet. Then I heard Dad sobbing and I never heard that sound in my life. So I crept towards their room and saw him sittin’ on the edge of the bed cryin’ and Mum on the floor.”

Kelly drew a deep breath, his lungs expanding visibly. “So I went and I got Dad’s gun and I walked back to his room, all the while feelin’ like I was standing outside of myself lookin’ in on it all from above, you know?” He shrugged. “And then I held the gun up to his temple, and I shot him.”