Chapter 29 Hope #2
I stay silent, taking them both in. They’re both incredibly beautiful and insanely rich. Everything about them screams money and it makes me nervous. I come from a struggling household where I had to skip dinners because we didn’t have money. Seeing them, I realize they would never accept me.
It’s a miracle that their son somehow fell in love with me.
Carol runs her fingers through his hair and the tension drains from his body like a tide pulling back to sea. He relaxes and pulls down her hand and kisses her knuckles.
“See, you don’t have to be afraid of him,” she shoots me an encouraging smile. “Why don’t you sit down and we have a quick chat?”
I quickly shake my head. “No. I need Heath. Can you please call him? Please.”
She looks miserable. “I can do that but if it’s okay with you, maybe we should talk first—”
“Please.” I beg her.
“Hope—”
It’s then he speaks in a deep voice. “We know what happened two weeks ago.”
Color drains from my face. I have to hold the counter to not turn into a puddle on the floor from the shame.
I want to go.
I want to leave.
I want to disappear.
They know.
Did Heath tell them? I know he would never but what if… My stomach clenches at the thought of betrayal. But can I blame him? I’m the reason why he was at the police station. I’m the mistake that cost him a record. I’m the problem.
Tremors dance under my skin.
“We also know why you’re here,” he adds.
Those words make me sick.
No. That can’t be right.
They can’t know why I’m here.
I heard him wrong.
He is lying to me.
I keep telling myself that, but the way those two pair of eyes look at me, I know my answer.
I move but barely make a step because my feet are shaky. I stumble over and almost fall on ground, but grab the counter at the last moment.
Tears pool in my eyes as I feel like I’m standing naked in front of them, letting them see every scar and bruise on my body. Everything I want to hide, they can see it. And I hate how helpless I feel.
“Oh dear,” I hear Carol, and a few seconds later she appears beside me. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” She wraps me in her warm arms and tucks me against her chest. The switch flips and I turn into a statue.
I don’t know what to do or what to say.
I go numb.
“You’re gonna be okay, love,” she tells me softly, rubbing my back with such tenderness that it melts my rigid stature.
“Calm down.”
“You are safe here.
“It’s alright.”
“Stay here as long as you want.”
“Everything’s going to be okay.”
It takes me a while to calm down and stop shaking. I pull away from her embrace and put distance between us, refusing to meet her worried gaze.
The room is cloaked in silence and tension with unspoken words. I can practically hear their hundreds of questions and it makes me distressed.
I tug on my sleeves.
“Sit down with us for a moment,” Carol says. “We just need to talk.”
I look at both of them and slightly nod my head.
We leave the kitchen and walk into the living room. They sit on the sofa and I take a seat opposite from them.
“What happened last night?” Carol asks, in a soft voice.
My tongue glues against the roof and it takes everything in me to not get up and run away. These people are linked to the guy I love. I can’t avoid them or hide from them. But it physically overwhelms me to share about my family life with them.
“I… I’m sorry I’m here. I understand it’s your home and I can’t just come here and —”
“That’s not an issue, dear.” She gives me a genuine smile. “You can always come here because you’re someone close to Heath.”
I nod.
“I’m asking you this because of the way you arrived. It was raining and late at night and you were crying… something big must have happened.”
I tightly clutch the ends of my sweatshirt, trying my best to not lose it.
“My mother…she didn’t want me to stay. She kicked me out,” I tell her in a low, quiet tone. “And I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
I hesitate to meet her gaze and when I do I see tears glisten in her eyes.
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” I add hurriedly.
“No! No.” She tries to rise but her husband grabs her arm and shakes his head. Understanding flows between them as they stare at each other. One look and they know what the other one is saying.
She takes a deep breath, then says, “You can always come here. We don’t mind at all.”
I don’t believe her but I nod anyway.
“I’m sorry for troubling you. It wasn’t my intention.” I feel so awful for bringing my problems at their doorstep.
“It’s no trouble, dear. We’re just worried about you.” She coos. “How can your mother do that? I don’t understand.” Anger carries in her tone.
I twiddle with my fingers, hesitating to tell them the truth.
Just do it.
Heath loves you.
Even if these people won’t like you and judge you.
I realize I don’t have anything to lose. I have someone who will be there for me anyway.
Love flows through my veins and gives me strength that I wouldn’t have found otherwise.
“My parents had a huge fight and my dad hurt my mom. I tried helping her and she wasn’t… she didn’t like it and asked me to leave.”
Carol and Xavier stare at me with shocked expressions. More tears brim in her eyes and she presses her hand against her chest.
It’s Xavier who asks, “When you say fight you mean your father physically—”
I give him a shaky nod.
He presses his lips together in silence.
“That’s why Heath got involved that night.
My father attacked me and he was in my room and saw it happened.
In order to protect me, he hit him. It wasn’t his fault.
It is mine.” I clasp my hands together in my lap in desperation.
“Please don’t be mad at Heath, he was just trying to protect me.
My dad called the police and he pressed charges against Heath. ”
“Your father attacked you?” Carol asks with a shuddering whisper.
“Yes, but I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“How can you be fine?” Tears fall down her eyes.
“It’s okay.”
“It is not.” She protests, looking miserable as if the thought of me getting hurt aches her.
“It happens…” I murmur.
She starts weeping and her husband wraps his arm around her.
Guilt climbs around my heart like a vine, its branches tightening at the fact that I’m the reason behind her tears.
“How long has this been happening?” she asks.
“A few months.”
“Did Heath know?”
“Not until that night. I didn’t want him to know about it. I knew he’d get into trouble because of me.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t regret it. He likes you a lot,” his mother assures me.
“But I don’t want him to get hurt,” I say.
The front door opens and a few moments later Heath appears.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
His gaze locks on me.