“Luke, what’s going on?” Nick asked, worry and dread in his voice.
Luke stared at him for a moment, trying to find his voice and then he looked over Nick’s shoulder and his eyes met Cara’s momentarily. He pulled Nick closer to him and whispered so that Cara had to strain to hear.
“You got to get her out of here.”
Nick stood still, not saying a word. He looked at Luke, who nodded, as if there was some sort of code that only the two of them knew.
“Luke, where’s Jake?” Cara demanded, her patience was running out rapidly. Nick turned around and faced her, taking her arm.
“Come on, this was a bad idea.” Nick said, and she looked up at him incredulously. Her veins throbbed with anger and she smacked Nick’s hands away.
“Get off of me.” She pushed passed him and stood in front of Luke, who was about to close the door. She stuck her foot out in the door jamb and stared up at him, eyes blazing with fury. “I’m going to say it one more time. Where is Jake?”
“Cara.” He whispered. She looked up at him, and could see he was struggling. She felt Nick’s arms wrap around her from behind her.
“Don’t!” She yelled and viciously tore his hands off of her. She slammed her hands against Luke’s chest and he stumbled back. “JAKE?” She hollered, from the doorway. Luke grabbed her wrist. “I said get off of me!” She spat.
“Cara, listen to me!” Luke yelled and she looked at him shocked. “You need to leave. He will call you, I promise. But right you need to let him be.”
She felt the tears slide down her cheeks, and she hadn’t realized that her eyes had even been full. She wanted to tear his heart out, just as he was tearing hers out. “I’m not going anywhere until I see Jake, and then he can throw me out. But you, no I don’t answer to you.”
“What the hell is going on in here?” Joe Lanza said. She had rarely heard the man raise his voice in all the years she knew him, well seriously anyway. The three of them that stood in the entryway of the house turned and faced the patriarch; his face pretty much resembled his sons. Solemn, pained, and full of angst.
“Dad, I’ve got this. Go back inside with mom.” Luke said his voice raw.
“You’ve got what? Why are they standing in the door like strangers, and you on the sidelines waiting for war? You want to kill your mother today?” He swallowed and shook his head at his son. He grabbed Cara’s hand.
“Pop, Jake asked m…”Joe silenced his son with one bold stare, daring him to speak another word. It didn’t matter how old you were, if Joe looked at you like that, you shut your mouth, because there were very seldom times when he showed authority. Jake was a lot like his father, rolled with the punches, and didn’t let much get to him. But like Jake, when he was adamant about something, no one questioned him.
Cara met Joe’s gaze, and her heart broke for him. She had never seen him so completely undone. “I’m sorry.” She mumbled. “I just-“
“It’s okay.” He pressed his lips to her temple, affectionately and she felt like she belonged.
He took her hand and led her into the living room. She stopped, her feet wouldn’t take the next step, she was too afraid of what awaited her. She didn’t know what to expect, but by the looks that adorned Luke and Joe’s face, she knew it was worse than she imagined. She took a deep breath and stepped next to Joe. Her eyes roamed the room and stopped on Jake. He was sitting by the window, with his back towards her.
“Jake?” She breathed. Her hand dropped Joe’s and she made her way towards him, when he turned and faced her. The look on his face caused her to stop in her tracks. She raked her eyes over him. Physically he was fine, she noted. He wasn’t injured. Her eyes settled on his and she saw the pained expression that crossed his face. He wasn’t happy to see her, she didn’t remember a time when he had ever looked at her like that. Her heart broke.
“I tried to stop her.” She heard Luke say from behind her. She turned and looked at him, and saw that the sorrow reflected in his eyes. He wasn’t being mean spirited or doing it to hurt her, she realized. He was just doing as Jake had asked of him. She felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Cara was broken from her thoughts as Sam entered the room, with Deb’s hand firmly in hers. As soon as Deb’s eyes met hers, the woman began to cry uncontrollably. What the hell was going on? Cara felt like the plague. Sam closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around her mother, walking her to the couch. Joe slipped his hands in his pockets and dropped his head.
She turned around to look at Jake once again. “I don’t know what’s wrong. But I’m sorry you’re all hurting.” She wiped at her face, feeling shunted and pitiful. “Nick, can you please take me back home?”