All Chapters of Blunt Pain: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

AxlHe closed his car door softly and unlocked the door to his trailer. He carried the shopping bag to his room where Merit was still asleep. He was glad. He hadn’t wanted her to wake up alone. He moved back to the kitchen and started making coffee.He was in two minds; he couldn’t just take her home, but he didn’t know how long he could keep her in his trailer. They were both still underage. He rubbed his hands over his face and took his coffee to the living room. The bitter heat of the mug grounded him, anchoring him to something simple while everything else felt complicated.The door opened and his grandmother poked her head inside. “I guess we’re not going to the lake this morning. I was still up last night.”Axl smiled and shook his head. “It’s so not what you think, Grandma. She was in trouble.”“What kind of trouble?” Fiona closed the door behind her, and Axl took Peyton.“She’s the stray I told you about,” he said with a grin, as Fiona pursed her lips at his description. “Assa

NorthAxl slid into the front passenger seat of North’s Jaguar and flexed his right hand. The dull ache in his knuckles pulsed with every movement, a quiet reminder of how quickly everything had spiraled out of control. North pulled away from the station, and Merit sat quietly in the back. He glanced at Axl, who didn’t have a mark on him, and sighed.“You could’ve told me something happened over the weekend,” he said.“I sent you a text saying we needed to talk,” Axl replied.“I can’t believe you did this, Axl.” He could feel the intensity of Axl’s glare. It cut through the silence of the car like a blade. He’d never been on the other side of Axl’s anger, and he wasn’t going to find out what that felt like now.“You didn’t see her on Friday night. You didn’t see the marks he left on her. I should’ve hit him harder.”“It doesn’t help anyone if you two are fighting,” Merit said.“You didn’t have to do that, Merit,” Axl said, glancing at her over his shoulder.“I wasn’t going to let them

MeritShe was filled with trepidation as she walked into the house. The polished marble floor felt colder than it ever had beneath her shoes, every step echoing too loudly in the silent hallway. She could hear voices talking in the sitting room, and her heart started beating faster. She had no idea what awaited her, but she knew things weren’t going to be fine.She stood in the doorway of the sitting room and watched her mother, Tiffany, and step-father, Thomas Cathwell, as they spoke in low voices. Their heads were bent together like conspirators, not parents. Her mother looked up first and noticed her. Something flashed in her eyes, and Merit had the feeling that she shouldn’t have come home.“Good, you’re finally home. I was wondering when you’d make an appearance,” her mother said. “Sit down, Merit, don’t just stand there.”Merit walked into the room and sat down in one of the antique armchairs. The room was only ever used to impress guests, and Merit had to wonder why they were e

NorthThe moment he stepped into the house, he knew something was different. He could feel it in the air, like the ambience had been disturbed. The familiarity of home felt hollow, stripped down to polished floors and cold marble silence. He was halfway across the foyer when Martin appeared, his expression stoic, just like his father wanted it.“Master North, your father is in the library. He wishes to speak with you at once,” he said.Of course his father was there. No wonder the ambience was shot to hell. He nodded and watched as Martin disappeared into the kitchen. He left his book bag on the floor by the stairs and made his way to the library.His father, Weston St. John, sat behind a large oak desk, the floor-to-ceiling windows framing him on either side. His mother was nowhere in sight, and he wondered what had prompted this visit. The chair across from his father felt less like a seat and more like a witness stand. Nothing good could come from his father being there now. His fa

MeritShe’d struggled to fall asleep, every sound and scrape of a tree branch had her sitting upright, fearing the worst. The guest house felt too quiet, too separate from the main house, the walls unfamiliar and thin, as if danger could seep through them without warning. She knew Jackson was still in the hospital, but it didn’t take away her unease. Axl hadn’t returned any of her texts, and he’d been silent from seven p.m. onwards.When she woke up that morning, there was still nothing from him. As she showered and dressed, she wondered if Jackson’s father got to him. That couldn’t be possible. Axl wasn’t easily swayed and he couldn’t be bought, right? Every person had a price though. How much would it take for Axl to bend the knee? The thought twisted uncomfortably through her stomach, unwelcome and sharp.She shook the thoughts from her head as she drove to school. The air felt different and she shuddered. The sky hung low and gray over Esperton, heavy with a dull promise of rain,