Page 3 of The Destruction You Desire

"Then whose is he, Peyton? Because you can't honestly stand there and tell me that he's got nothing to do with me. You've seen his face, right? He looks just like me."

"Yes, Luc," she hisses. "I've seen his face. I've had to look at his face for the last five years and swallow down the pain in my chest every fucking time."

"Who is he, Peyton?" I ask, ignoring her comment.

"He… He's…" She blows out a breath, turning away from me momentarily and pulling at her hair. Spinning back around, her eyes capture mine and she takes a step closer.

Her face is set in anger, her usually bright silver eyes are a dark gray.

"I never once lied to you, Luca. NEVER," she seethes. "What I told you that day, I told you because I loved you, because you deserved to know what I'd overheard. I had no idea if it was true at the time. But that didn't matter because I didn't keep anything from you."

"Peyton," I growl, my patience long shattered.

She throws her arms up in defeat.

"He's your brother, Luc. He's your little b-brother."

She covers her face with her hands as a sob rips from her throat.

He's my…

"FUCK," I roar. It's so loud that a couple of birds rush from the trees above us. "FUCK."

I pull at my hair until it hurts, until I swear it's going to come free as my world tilts on its axis once more.

Stumbling back, I collide with the fence behind me and drop to my ass, trying to process what all of this means, but right now the only thing I can picture is fifteen-year-old Peyton with tears streaming down her cheeks, her bottom lip trembling as I shouted at her, called her a liar, told her that I'd never trust her again.

Emotion clogs my throat, tears burn the backs of my eyes, and I fight to keep them in as she curls into herself while lowering down to sit on the deck and sobs.

Tipping my head back, I stare up at the sky just watching the clouds move as I focus on just breathing.

My fists clench and unclench at my sides as I fight with myself not to just get up and walk away because fuck if that wouldn't be the easiest thing to do right now.

2

Peyton

My body trembles with my uncontrollable sobs. I want to get a hold of myself but this has been a long time coming. Over the past five years I’ve let the truth totally consume me and now that I’ve finally let it out, I’m overwhelmed by my emotions.

My hands are soaked with my tears, my nose is running unattractively but still, I don't lift my head.

The pain is too much. The knowledge that I've just exposed Kayden to all of this is just more than I can handle.

All I've ever wanted is to protect him from the truth. From his reality. But it's all about to unravel in front of me and I have no idea how to hold onto any of the threads to stop it from happening.

"W-what’s his name?" Luca finally asks. His voice is rough with his own emotion and when I peek through my fingers at him, I find he looks as wrecked as I feel.

Good. He fucking should after everything.

I blow out a shaky breath, wiping at my face with my sleeves in an attempt to look less of a broken mess.

"Kayden. H-he's five." I hold Luca's eyes but it hurts to do so because I can see his pain in his dark green depths. Pain that I once would have wanted to take as my own to make it easier on him, but right now, a twisted, evil side of me wants him to feel all of it. All the hatred, betrayal, and desperation of the past five years.

"Five," he breathes.

"Is that the proof you needed to believe me?"

"Pey—"