Chapter 2; Everything that Falls

POPPY’S POV

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the light. It came in sideways through the curtains, too bright for how my head felt, and for exactly three beautiful seconds I didn't remember anything. 

Then I rolled over, and the other side of the bed was empty. The pillow still held the faint shape of where his head had been, and I stared at it for a long moment.

My hand pressed flat against the cool sheet beside me, like touching it could tell me something but it didn't.

I sat up slowly, the sheet pooling around my waist, and looked around the room in the thin morning light. 

His jacket was gone from the chair but the glass of water he'd set on the nightstand was still there, yet he wasn't. There was no note on the pillow, he was just gone.

“Of course.” I mumbled, dragging a hand down my face. “What was I expecting?”

I got dressed in my clothes, and let myself out of the room. I stepped out into the cold morning air and stood on the pavement outside the building for a moment.

“Grey,” I whispered, as if that would make him appear. 

I could still remember his warm hand on my face and those amber eyes that looked at me like I was worth seeing. 

It might have been one night but I would remember it for life. Maybe it was best we never saw each other again. 

With a final sigh, I started walking home. I was just reaching the end of our street, rehearsing the various ways I could get up to my room without running into my mother, when I saw my father's car in the driveway. 

Which meant whatever waited inside that house, there was no avoiding it.

I pushed the front door open and saw that they were in the sitting room. 

Dad was standing with his arms crossed, Mom was seated with her ankles together. They looked up when I walked in, and for a split second I though that maybe this was about last night. 

Maybe someone had called them and somehow against every odd, they were worried.

“Hi.” I waved, pretending to pant and wipe a phantom sweat on my forehead. “I’m just coming back from a run.” 

Mom scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You’re already a bag of bones. What are you walking out for?” 

I wanted to be annoyed, but I was more glad that they bought the lie. 

"Sit down, Poppy," Dad said and I frowned, confused but did as he asked. 

"We've been speaking with the Rockwell family," he began, and something in my stomach went very still. "Their son, Jude, is without a mate. He's forty-six, his family is well-regarded, and the arrangement would be beneficial for both sides."

He paused, eyeing me slowly. "We would like to move forward."

I stared at him. "You want me to marry someone old enough to be my father?”

"We want to secure your future," Mom interrupted. "Given recent events."

Recent events?

She said it as if Damon rejecting me had dropped my value somehow, and now they needed to offload me before it dropped further.

"I'm not doing that," I snapped.

My father's jaw tightened. "This isn't a discussion you have a say in."

"I said no." I stood up, which surprised all three of us. "I'm twenty-two. You don't get to sell me off to someone because my mate rejected me. That's not-"

"Keep your voice down," Mom snapped. "Do you want the whole pack knowing our business?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "You mean the business where your daughter was publicly rejected last night? I think they already know."

"Poppy." Dad’s voice carried a warning but I was tired of flinching at it.

"I won't do it," I said again. "I won't marry an old man because it's convenient for you."

Mom looked at me for a long moment and there it was… that look of pure hate. 

"You were supposed to be a boy," she said.

She never actually said it out loud before, not directly. But there it was, finally sitting in the air between us.

"The healers said the difficult birth affected me," she continued, her voice was flat like she was reporting the weather. "I couldn't carry another child after you. Your father needed a son, a proper heir for a Beta line, and instead…" 

She stopped and the silence finish the sentence.

Instead, he got me.

I had known this, in the way she never quite looked at Lena the way she did for me. I had always known. 

But knowing something and hearing it said out loud were two entirely different kinds of pain, and this one hit somewhere deep. 

I opened my mouth but front door opened first.

Lena walked in, and she had her phone in her hand, and the look on her face was the one I last saw at the bonfire. 

“Well, family. It’s a good thing you’re all gathered here.” She said with a satisfied drawl. "You're going to want to see this.”

She turned the screen toward us and it was a video shot from across the street showing me and Grey walking into the motel with his hand at my lower back.

The timestamp in the corner read 11:47 PM.

"Someone sent it to me this morning," Lena said, and she sounded almost sorry, except her eyes weren't sorry at all. "It's already been shared in two group chats."

The room went very quiet and I slowly looked at my father.

I watched his face go through several emotions at once. Mom looked away from me like even the sight of me was suddenly too much.

"You went to a hotel," my father said slowly, "with a stranger. Last night. After…" He stopped and pressed his hand over his mouth. 

Then he crossed the room in four steps and the sound of his palm connecting with my face was so loud in the quiet house that Lena flinched.

I stood absolutely still with my cheek burning, and my ears ringing slightly.

"You have tarnished this family," he continued. his voice low and shaking. "Everything we have built and everything our name stands for!"

I opened my mouth and my words came out warbled. “Let me explain.”

“NO!” He growled and I staggered back. “Go to your room and don’t come out until you’re told!” 

My eyes widened and my heart dropped. He narrowed his eyes.

 “I said GO!”

I jumped and rushed upstairs, not missing the disgusted look on my mother’s face or the smirk on Lena’s lips. 

I made it to my room, closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed. I couldn't decide which part of the last twelve hours had done the most damage.

And for the first time since last night, I let myself wonder what Grey was doing right now… if leaving had been easy and if I was forgettable.

I decided I probably had been.