Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jo stood across the road from Amelia’s house, her hands clenched into fists in her coat pockets.
The street was quiet, it always was during the day, but Jo felt a fury deep inside of her she’d never experienced before.
On the drive over here, once she’d called Callum to confirm where he was, she’d quickly had doubts about showing up.
She didn’t want Amelia to think she was meddling, they’d only just reached a point of wanting to be together this morning, but Jo couldn’t sit back. She wouldn’t sit back.
She wasn’t surprised that Callum hadn’t left as he’d been asked, he always did do his own thing when it suited him, but at least Jo didn’t have to chase him across the city, trying to find him. Still, he had some front, sitting in Amelia’s home as if nothing had happened last night.
Jo crossed the street without another thought and banged on the front door.
No answer.
She knocked again, louder this time, her pulse roaring in her ears.
A moment later, the door creaked open.
Callum stood there, shirtless and with his hair wet, surprised that Jo had actually shown up. “Jo, hi.”
Jo didn’t wait to be invited inside. She stepped forward, shoving him out of the way as she pushed her way inside, and spun on her heel the moment she landed in the hallway. “You’re still here…”
Callum frowned as he closed the door. “What the fuck was that for?”
“She told you to leave, Callum. Why can’t you ever do anything you’re asked?”
“Where exactly am I supposed to go? I don’t have a place to live!”
Jo scoffed and stepped closer. “You don’t get to sit in this house and pretend that you didn’t treat her like shit last night. You don’t get to pretend that you’re welcome here after the things you said to her!”
“She’s my mum and this…it’s got fuck all to do with you.”
“Oh, now she’s your mum? Because last night, she was the woman you reduced to tears in her own kitchen!
” Jo took another step towards him. “You want to act like the wronged party? You want to play the victim now that I’ve moved on and don’t want you back?
Too fucking bad, Callum. She doesn’t want you here.
I don’t want you near her after everything she told me this morning. ”
Callum scoffed and folded his arms. “Why do you care? You’re not even a part of our lives anymore.”
Oh, you have no idea.
“I care because she’s been there for me.
When you fucked off and left, also claiming that I was the problem in our relationship, she helped me through.
” Jo laughed. “You know, isn’t it funny how everyone else seems to be the problem in your life, but you never take any responsibility? Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
“N-no.” Callum snorted. “You were a shit girlfriend…and she’s been a shit mum since I walked back through the door yesterday. I mean, where the fuck is she? I’m home, I’m here…and where is she?”
“She’s away from you and your shitty fucking attitude.” Jo clenched and unclenched her hands, trying to compose herself. “Did you feel like a big man last night? Did you feel like him…trying to control her and put her down because you couldn’t have things your way?”
“I-I never—”
“You basically said she deserved what he did to her. Right here, in this house, last night. Do you have any idea how much that broke her? Do you even care?”
Callum looked away. “I didn’t mean it. I told her that.”
“But you did.” Jo’s hands were starting to tremble now. Seeing Callum in this light…she couldn’t believe she used to shed tears over him. “You basically became him. You spewed his bullshit when she stood up to you and acted like you were the one who’d been wronged.”
Callum’s jaw set, his nostrils flaring as he squared his shoulders.
“She didn’t give you my information because I asked her not to.
It’s as simple as that. If you can’t deal with it, then that’s on you.
For me, I couldn’t give a fuck if I never saw your face again.
And after last night, even if there was anything still there for you, you royally fucked it up.
I don’t want someone like you in my life who thinks it’s okay to not only speak to another woman like that, but his own mother.
The woman who has done everything for him.
” Jo fought back the emotion lodged in her throat.
“She paid for your trip abroad. She made sure you had everything you needed so you could follow your fucking flowery Thea around the world, and you come back and treat her like that. You’re pathetic. ”
“I-I need to see her.”
“You have no idea what it’s taken to rebuild herself.
Finding a place where she feels safe has been difficult for her.
She’s made something of herself without your dad, and you…
God, I want to punch your fucking face in.
” Jo took a breath and stared him straight in the eye as she said, “You didn’t just let her down last night, Callum.
You broke her all over again.” Silence descended over them like a fog, but Jo wasn’t standing around watching her ex trying to feel sorry for himself for a moment longer.
She could think of far better things to do with her time.
Right now, Amelia was her priority. She headed for the door, her voice low as she turned back to him and added, “If you have a single shred of decency left, you’ll be gone by the time she comes back. ”
Callum’s brows drew together. “Wait! W-where is she?”
A satisfying smirk curled on her lips. “Exactly where she should be. With me.”
Jo walked away before he could speak again, her trainers pounding the pavement and matching the rhythm of her heart. And with every step she took, she felt lighter.
She’d done what needed to be done. For Amelia and for herself.
Amelia sat quietly in Jo’s living room, toying with the frayed cuff of her hoodie as her mind spiralled through a thousand different thoughts and worst-case scenarios.
Her immediate thought was that Jo had left because of everything she’d learned this morning, but then Amelia reminded herself of that softness in Jo’s eyes as she’d leaned down and kissed her forehead.
She smiled as she lay her head back, aware of how incredibly lucky she was to have Jo in her life. She hadn’t thought it possible just last night, and if she was being entirely honest with herself, she wasn’t sure she quite believed it yet.
Her heart sank when she realised she had yet to break the news about them to Callum.
For so long, she’d worried about him noticing the way Amelia looked at Jo.
For so long, she’d wanted to keep the peace…
even when he’d cheated and broken Jo’s heart.
But now? Now she didn’t care what he thought about any of this.
He would find out eventually, it was inevitable, and all Amelia could do at this point was brace herself for whatever came of it.
As she rubbed her thumb over the inside of her wrist, a method she’d used over the years when she felt anxious, Jo’s door flew open, and she entered like thunder.
Amelia looked up, her stomach lurching when she noted Jo’s bright red face.
Her jaw was clenched, her hands were balled into fists, and she stood rooted to her spot, the air around her vibrating with tension.
Amelia’s heart leapt up into her throat, her body reacting before her brain could catch up. She flinched, shifting further back on the couch as Jo stared back at her. “W-what… I didn’t—”
The realisation dawned on Jo as her eyes widened. “Shit. I didn’t mean to…” Jo’s voice broke. “I’m not angry with you, Amelia. Christ, I’m so sorry.”
Amelia swallowed. “It’s okay. You just startled me.”
“No, it’s not okay.” Jo dropped to her knees in front of her, hesitating as her hand hovered near Amelia’s. She didn’t lower it. Instead, she pressed her chin to her chest and sighed. “You looked at me like you were terrified of me.”
Amelia reached out and brushed a tear from Jo’s cheek. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m fine. I just didn’t expect you to come bursting through the door.” Her hand remained against Jo’s cheek as she asked, “What’s happened?”
Jo exhaled slowly, then sat beside her, closing her hand over Amelia’s. “I went to see him.”
“Callum?” Amelia’s breath caught. “Why?”
“I couldn’t not after what you told me. After what he said to you. I called, he answered, and he was still at your place.” Jo’s nostrils flared. “After you told him to leave…he’s there, without a care in the world.”
Amelia lowered her gaze. “I’m not surprised. Why do you think I didn’t protest when you told me to stay before? I don’t want to see him, and I knew he’d be there.”
“Can I ask you something? You can tell me to mind my own business, but I was thinking on the way home in the car…”
Amelia frowned. “What is it?”
“When we spoke about your dating life last month, does it all relate back to your past?”
“Yes.” Amelia laughed and shook her head. “Pathetic, isn’t it?”
“Not at all, but would you tell me about it? I want to understand so I know where not to go wrong.”
Amelia’s lips parted, her mouth suddenly dry. “You really want to hear about the ways I’ve destroyed everything I’ve touched?”
“I want to know you,” Jo said simply. “All of you.”
Amelia guessed that it was better to continue with her honesty.
If she had any hopes of keeping Jo, then it was time to lay it all bare.
“There were precisely two serious relationships after my ex-husband was arrested. The first was about three years after he went to prison. I was barely standing upright emotionally, but I’d convinced myself I was healed enough to love someone. ”
Jo listened, stroking her fingertips over the back of Amelia’s hand.
“Leanne. She was lovely. Soft, caring, patient with me…at first. But I was distant. I had triggers I didn’t understand back then and flashbacks that would render me speechless.
I’d flinch at sudden noises, retreat at the scent of certain smells or raised voices, and she couldn’t handle it.
She didn’t want to have to tiptoe around me anymore. ”
“I’m so sorry,” Jo whispered.
“I don’t blame her. I wasn’t ready.” Amelia absently brushed her thumb over Jo’s hand. “And then I met Sophia. God, I thought she was the one. She was magnetic, confident. She was everything I’d ever admired in another woman.”
“What happened?”
“She liked control. Which worked, in some ways…for a while. Until she used that control to isolate me. She made me feel like my PTSD was a burden, like I was lucky she was sticking around.”
Jo’s fingers tightened around hers.
“She didn’t hurt me, but she knew how to make me doubt myself. She knew how to manipulate silence and guilt. She knew how to make me feel like I was the problem.”
Jo’s jaw tensed.
“It didn’t end well,” Amelia said, staring down at their hands. “And when it did, I promised myself I’d never put that kind of power in anyone else’s hands again. Then years later, I started going to Satin. I needed to feel in control and safe. The dark was the best place for me.”
Jo turned her hand over and laced their fingers. “You didn’t destroy those relationships. You were surviving in the only way you knew how.”
“Maybe, I don’t know.” Amelia lifted a shoulder. “I still find it hard to believe that you’re here, knowing all of this.”
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere, babe.”
Tears brimmed on Amelia’s eyelids. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been someone’s babe.”
“I was into you when I met Callum. That first time we all went out to dinner together, I found it hard to look anywhere else. It was only when it became serious between me and him that I knew I had to curb whatever I was feeling.”
“Me, too,” Amelia whispered. “But…what if I mess this up too?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you mess anything up in the years I’ve known you.
And if things are a little bumpy at any point, we’ll figure it out together.
The way it should be.” Jo leaned in and pressed her lips to Amelia’s, lingering as she said, “I’m not scared of your past. I just want to be a part of your future. ”
“This…being with someone who cares, is all I’ve ever wanted.
” For the first time in a long time, Amelia allowed herself to believe that everything may just be okay.
“When I told you I loved you, I meant it, Jo. I didn’t just say it to get a reaction out of you, I meant it with everything inside of me. ”
“I know. I felt it.”
Amelia scooched over on the couch and lay down, pulling Jo with her. “Come here and lie with me.”
“On one condition.” Jo narrowed her eyes, but Amelia noted the smirk immediately. “Stay for dinner tonight. I’m cooking for us.”
“Mm. Try and stop me.”