Page 10 of Love Legacy

Sage

A fter I checked on Naomi and made sure she was alright, we both had made our way back into the club.

She was currently dancing her heart out on the dance floor with Maeve, and I was sitting next to Theia back in our booth.

God, my feet are killing me . As cute as these boots were, I always forgot they are horrible for going dancing in.

They didn’t have as much cushion and support in the soles as I needed, and they trapped the sweat from my feet and ankles.

I was taking a moment to give them a break before my ankles swelled, because then, I would be done for the night.

Theia’s phone pings for what seems like the billionth time and I glance over to see Aaron’s name flash across her screen before she quickly clears the notification.

Aaron is her fuck knuckle of a boyfriend, and lately, he’s been getting a bit too possessive and controlling for my liking.

“Is that Aaron blowing up your phone right now? What does that asshole want?”

She tenses but tries to play it off with a roll of her eyes. “You know how men are, he’s just trying to make sure that I’m safe tonight.”

I look her straight in the eyes. “No, no, I don’t know ‘how men are.’ I’m gay as fuck, remember?” I say with a laugh.

Theia laughs too, some of the tension releasing from her body as her shoulders come down from her ears a bit. “Right, silly me. He’s just still adjusting to this whole long-distance relationship dynamic.”

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. I snort. “Yeah, two hours is so long distance. One and a half if he comes straight from work.”

Theia playfully shoves me. “You know what I mean. This is the first time in the almost six years we’ve been together that we haven’t been in the same city together. He’s not used to it yet.”

Her phone buzzes again, and this time, Aaron is calling her, but she declines the call.

“What about your gap year in Costa Rica? You guys weren’t together then.”

“Yeah, but this is different. He was busy with law school then and I was quite literally unreachable by phone unless you had the compound’s satellite phone number, which I did not give him.”

“So then why doesn’t he just live with you and commute from campus?”

Theia shrugs. “Your guess is as good as mine. I don’t think he wants that long of a commute. Either that or he’s still hoping I’ll change my mind about the PhD program and come back to Jersey with him.”

Her phone buzzes again with yet another call from Aaron, and I grab it, having had enough of the harassment. I decline the call for Theia and power her phone off, silencing all further notifications.

“Sage! What did you do that for?” Theia asks incredulously, her eyes wide in surprise.

“The non-stop buzzing was irritating me. But now you can enjoy yourself.” I stand, holding my hand out to her. “You coming, Sis?”

She shakes her head, laughing to herself as she takes my hand, pulling herself up to stand. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

“And you love me for it!” I reply, heading to join Naomi and Maeve on the dance floor.

We take turns, alternating between dancing with the sisters near the DJ booth and heading to the bar for drink refills.

Now that the drag show was over and it was approaching midnight, the club was packed.

Thankfully we still had our booth, but it was getting harder and harder to track down our waitress for drink orders.

I had all but given up and decided to just come straight to the bar myself.

Thankfully, I’m extremely tall, and with these boots on, I easily exceeded six feet.

I had no problem making eye contact with one of the bartenders over the crowd of people that’s formed around the bar, signaling to him for two more.

I had switched to Vodka Sprites once the crowd started filtering in, so he was able to make them quickly, sliding them off to the side close to the back of the bar.

I grab the cups, bumping fists with the bartender and sliding him a twenty, telling him to keep the change.

As I make my way back toward the girls, I see a familiar head of blonde hair making its way through the crowd from the entrance.

Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, he’s here. How the fuck did he know where we were?

I pick up my pace, reaching Theia and Naomi quickly, passing Naomi one of the Vodka Sprites.

“Theia, don’t freak out, but Aaron’s here, and I’m guessing he’s looking for you. ”

Theia does in fact freak out, her eyes going wide and her chest heaving as her heart begins to race. “How the hell did he find out we were here?”

“You didn’t tell him?”

“No, I specifically left that out. I just told him I was going out tonight with the sorority for bonding with the newbies.”

Aaron spots me and then Theia, his eyes narrowing. He is pissed . His face is mottled, various shades of red, and that vein in his forehead is bulging as he stomps over to us. “Theia, what the fuck? Why is your phone going straight to voicemail?”

Theia grimaces. “Not here, Aaron, we can talk about this later. Just please go.”

“No! And what the hell are you wearing? I thought this was just ‘bonding with the girls,’ so why are you dressed like a cheap whore?”

I gasp, taken aback by how my sister’s boyfriend speaks to her. “You have no right talking to Theia this way!”

He gets into my face, the two of us eye to eye with me in my heels, and I can smell the alcohol on his breath. “What the fuck, did you drive here drunk?” I ask, my tone dripping with disgust.

“Stay out of this, you stupid bitch,” he growls. I pull back to really let him have it, but I feel a pair of hands on my wrists, holding me back.

“Sage, don’t, it’s not worth it. I’ll talk to him,” Theia says, pleading with me with her eyes. I step back, nodding, giving her space.

“Don’t cause a scene,” she says to Aaron through clenched teeth.

“We’re fucking leaving,” he demands, grabbing her wrist tight and pulling her, practically dragging her out of the club with him. I go to follow them, and Maeve stops me. “Sage…” she warns.

“I’m not going to do anything, I’m just going to make sure my sister is okay,” I say, shrugging her off and heading toward the exit. I haven’t even made it outside yet and I can already hear their screaming match.

“Aaron, you can’t just show up here like this!”

“You stupid bitch, I wouldn’t have come if you picked up the phone when I called you!”

“I should be able to have a night out with my sister and friends without having to be at your beck and call!”

“I’m sure you’d like that. I bet you would’ve gone home with someone tonight if I hadn’t shown up. Dressed like a slut!”

“I’m just wearing clothes, Aaron, for Christ’s sake! God, when did you become so insecure? Just because I went out dancing doesn’t mean I’m trying to pick up anyone tonight. I’m with you!”

“Then fucking act like it! Come home, and stop with all this nonsense.”

“Are we back on this shit again? I don’t know how many other ways I can tell you I’m not dropping out of the program.”

“If you really loved me, you wouldn’t make me do long-distance!”

“It’s not about you! I’m doing the PhD program for me because it’s what I want! I’m sorry your small dick ego can’t handle that.”

And that’s when I hear it, a sharp crack sound. I round the corner to see Theia cowering away from Aaron, holding her face, and him still standing over her with his arm raised.

“Get the fuck out of here, Aaron!”

He turns on me now. “Stay out of this, Sage!”

“Hey, asshat, you have two options. You can either leave of your own free will and stay the fuck away from my sister, or I can call the cops on you. Choice is yours,” I say, crossing my arms.

He glares at me, but once he notices I’m not backing down, he scoffs. “God, you’re such a bitch, Sage. Go to hell!” He retreats down the alley, presumably toward where he parked his car.

“I’ll meet you down there, fuckwit!” I shout after him, giving him a double middle finger to his back. A loud sniffle from behind me turns my attention back to Theia, and I turn to see her leaning against the brick exterior of the club, sobbing into her hands.

“The, are you okay? Did he hit you?” I ask, walking back over to her.

She nods from behind her hands, unable to say the words.

My heart shatters seeing how broken she looks.

I pull her into my arms, wrapping my arms tight around her.

“Theia, I’m so, so sorry. I should’ve stayed with you.

” I hold onto her, rubbing soothing circles into her back, letting her cry it out.

Naomi, Maeve, and a couple sisters round the corner and stop in their tracks once they see us. Naomi steps toward us, concern etched on her face. “I’ve got her, you guys just head back in.”

“They actually just did an announcement for last call. We came to see if you guys wanted anything or if you were ready to leave.”

“If you guys are ready to leave, you can head back without us. We’re going to take Theia’s car back when she’s ready.”

“Are you sure?” Maeve asks. “We can wait for you guys and come back for her car in the morning.”

I nod. “I’m positive. I’ll text you guys when we make it back to Pinebrook,” I say, still rubbing Theia’s back.

Naomi gives me a small smile and gently squeezes my arm. “Let me know if you two need anything, Sage. I’m praying for Theia.”

“Thanks, Naomi,” I say softly as they all take off, heading toward the party bus.

After a bit, Theia’s sobs subside. The only sound coming from her now is a soft sniffle. “Come on, Theia, let’s get you some water and ice.”

We head back into the club to find a lot of people clearing out. Perfect. I walk Theia over to the bar, taking a seat on one of the stools.

“Sage, you know we’re closing. You missed last call,” one of the bartenders says to me.

Thankfully, I know him. Dominic graduated from Pinebrook two years ago, the year after Theia.

He was actually my orientation leader when I was a freshman, and we stayed in touch through the years.

He was the one to introduce me to this bar since they threw a lot of queer-friendly events.

“Dom, we’re not trying to buy drinks. Theia’s been through it tonight. We just need waters. And maybe a clean towel with ice in it?” I ask him, giving my best puppy dog eyes.

“Jeez, what happened?” he asks, eyeing Theia as he pours some water for us and grabs a clean towel from one of the cupboards behind the bar.

“Something that never should have happened,” I murmur, turning to my sister and lifting her chin so I could get a good look at her face. Her cheek was extremely red, already beginning to swell a bit. She averts her gaze, chewing on her bottom lip.

“Shit.” I take the makeshift ice pack from Dom and gently press it to Theia’s cheek, holding it in place. She takes the ice pack from me, holding it herself and looking down at the bar. She couldn’t even look me in the eye.

“Theia,” I say softly, “we need to talk about what happened.”

She shakes her head.

“Yes, we do. Has he done this before? Hit you, I mean?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

Theia shakes her head again.

“How long have things been this bad? With the shouting matches, I mean? How did he even find you here?”

“He tagged my car,” she says in a small voice, barely above a whisper.

“He what?”

“Last time he visited. We got into a big fight about me staying at Pinebrook. Before he left, he put a Tile tracker under the mat in the backseat of my car.”

“He’s been stalking your location?”

“Apparently, for a couple weeks now.”

“Theia… That’s not healthy or safe for you if tonight’s any indication.”

“I–I don’t know what happened. This isn’t like him. The screaming matches, raising a hand to me, driving drunk? That’s not Aaron. I think the stress of the new job is getting to him.”

I look at her incredulously. “You cannot seriously be making excuses for him right now? He just assaulted you, Theia!”

“I know what it looks like, but I don’t think he meant to do it. He loves me.”

“Theia, that’s not what love looks like. He put his hands on you.”

She wipes her eyes, trying to compose herself. “I’m not going make any decisions tonight. I’m going to sleep on it, give him some time to sober up and think about what he did, and then I’ll talk to him another day.”

I sigh. “Theia, don’t do this.”

“Sage, we’ve been together for almost six years, and this is the first time he’s done anything like this.

I think I owe it to us, owe it to myself not to do anything rash.

Maybe if I talk to him, I can convince him to see someone.

We can do couples counseling. I can’t just give up on the history we share. ”

“Theia, just promise me. If he so much as raises his voice at you, degrades you or raises a hand to you, you will leave.”

She pauses, chewing her lip.

“Theia!”

“Alright, alright. I promise,” she says, holding her pinky up. I link my pinky with hers, kissing my thumb as she kisses hers. It’s the pinky promise she taught me when I was first placed with her family, and we reserve it for only the most serious of promises. “I won’t let Aaron hurt me again.”