Chapter Text
Going to a party with Sadie in the next town over had not been one of Phee’s brightest ideas. The place was too loud – far too crowded and messy and overwhelming – as people pressed against each other, trying to move around in the double-wide.
Phee had been apprehensive the moment they pulled up in Sadie’s tiny car to see the front lawn already packed with cars as music poured out of the house. And now that she’d downed a few lousy beers while she waited for her friend, all Phee wanted to do was leave.
Only Sadie was too preoccupied off in the corner as she made out with a random football player to even notice that Phee had been slowly inching towards the front door for the past hour.
God, it was awful. Phee had never gone to a party before – at least not one as out of control as this – and it was quickly becoming obvious how much of a mistake it had been.
Sadie had talked all day about how much fun it’d be to see her old friends in Boone County, but dodging sticky messes on the floor and swatting away grabby hands as her beer sloshed out of an off-brand solo cup wasn’t what Phee had planned on doing when she agreed to visit her best friend over the summer.
“What am I supposed to do, Sadie?” Phee asked, trying not to scowl when Sadie waltzed over to announce that she was going over to her makeout partner’s trailer instead of driving Phee home. “You’re my ride.”
“Call my uncle.”
“What?”
Phee stared at her in shock, wondering if the beer had gone to her head. She could not believe what she was hearing. She knew Sadie was flighty, but Phee would never have come to this damn party if she thought her friend would abandon her there.
“Call Uncle Clyde. He’ll come pick you up.”
“Sadie…”
“It’ll be fine,” Sadie laughed, waving away Phee’s protests as she pulled out her phone. “Uncle Clyde’s cool. He won’t care.”
Dread pooled in Phee’s stomach as her best friend headed towards the door, leaving Phee all alone in a sea of strangers while the party raged around her.
Oh god. What the fuck had she gotten herself into?
Thirty minutes passed as Phee sat on the front stoop, working up the courage to call Clyde. Sadie’s uncle had given her his phone number - and the one for the Duck Tape, too - the first time she’d visited the Logan family in Boone County.
Just in case, he’d said, giving her a little grin as he slid a piece of paper across the table. Cell phone reception wasn’t the greatest in these parts, and he’d hate for anything to happen to a city girl like her.
“Phee’ll be fine, Uncle Clyde,” Sadie said, rolling her eyes at her uncle. “It’s not like we’re in middle school anymore.”
“Well, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” Clyde said, nodding in approval when Phee pulled out her phone. “Don’t want any of the Logan luck to rub off on her while she’s here.”
Sadie huffed and rolled her eyes again, muttering something about her uncle and his stories about the family luck under her breath, but Phee found the gesture oddly sweet. She wasn’t used to families that were so close, let alone ones that cared for each other like the Logans clearly did.
And now more than ever, Phee was grateful for Clyde’s thoughtfulness as she finally convinced herself to dial his number.
“Hello?”
His voice was little more than a rumble, tinged with exhaustion as Phee struggled to hear him over the noise of the party.
“I… I… Clyde…”
She didn’t know what to say. All the words she’d rehearsed vanished as she tried to explain why she was calling Clyde so late.
“Phee? You ok?”
“I… I’m fine,” Phee said, struggling to get the words out around the hard lump in her throat. “But… but I need some help…”
By the time Clyde arrived, Phee was awkwardly shifting on the porch as the loud music continued on in the background, trying to ignore how uncomfortable she was. All the beer from earlier had left her more than a bit tipsy, and the growing need to use the bathroom was becoming harder to ignore, but Phee was trying to tough it out, unwilling to walk back inside the house.
Not that the bathroom was likely to be available anyways. And after the noises she’d heard when she passed by the door on her way out of the house, Phee decided to take her chances on waiting for Clyde.
“Phee?”
“Oh… I…” Phee stared up at Sadie’s uncle in surprise when he hopped out of the old truck and quickly strode over to where she was sitting.
She hadn’t expected him for at least another twenty minutes – maybe even longer since it’d taken an hour for Sadie to drive them here earlier. He must have been almost flying over those old mountain roads.
“Hey, you good, Phee?” Clyde asked, his voice gruff as he came to a stop right in front of her. “You sounded kind of scared on the phone.”
He somehow seemed even bigger in the dark, looming over her as he held out a hand to help her stand up. But maybe that was all the alcohol she’d consumed talking.
“I... I...” Phee tried to blink back tears, struggling not to sway as a heavy lump formed in her throat, realizing just how overwhelmed she was.
“Who hurt you? Is there someone I need to kill?” Clyde asked, a low growl rumbling in his chest as he moved even closer. And his gaze swept over her, up and down and then up again as he searched for evidence of… something.
“I... I’m fine.”
“Phee, you can tell me.”
“Really, I... I just...” she paused, a couple of stray tears starting to fall as a sob escaped her. She was just so tired. And overwhelmed. And all she wanted was to curl up someplace safe. “I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t... I shouldn’t have come.”
“Ah, come here, Phee,” Clyde said, his voice softening as he pulled her into a hug. “I’ll take you back to my place so you can sleep this off.”
Phee nodded, her face rubbing against his t-shirt as she clung to him. Maybe if everything hadn’t been just a little bit hazy – her body still trying to sober up – she might have been embarrassed at how her hands dug into his back, but all Phee knew then was that she didn’t want to let him go.
It was the first time she’d felt safe since agreeing to Sadie’s ridiculous plan.
“It’ll be ok, Baby Girl,” Clyde said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as he began to guide her to his truck. “Just a little trip over the mountain, and then we’ll be home.”
“O… ok.”
“Can’t believe Sadie just left you here like that,” Clyde muttered as he opened the door for her. “Logans don’t leave anyone behind. Not ever.”
“It’s ok. She didn’t… I’m sure she didn’t think… nothing happened,” Phee said, trying to come up with some sort of defense for her friend’s behavior.
Sadie usually was a good friend, but when there were boys involved… well, she tended to have a one-track mind.
“No,” Clyde said, interrupting her before she could say anything else.
A scowl appeared as his hands paused on the seatbelt he was trying to fasten around her. It made her feel all weird inside – like she was the one in trouble - as Phee squirmed on the seat, her belly turning into a churning mess.
“I’ve already sent Mellie after Sadie to give her an earful. She’s just lucky I’m busy taking you home because I’d probably…” Clyde growled, abruptly cutting off what he was going to say.
His eyes shuttered closed, taking a deep breath and then another before he eventually said, “Well, never mind what I’d do. But Sadie Logan is very lucky that she’s not here right now.”
Phee gave a quivering smile as she wiped her tears; his concern was almost endearing as he grumbled about how foolish it was for his niece to just leave her like that.
She wasn’t used to people caring this much about her safety.
No wonder Sadie loved her Uncle Clyde so much.