“I think that’s a great idea, Emma,” Stella praised, patting me on the shoulder from where I was curled under Jesse’s arm.
“All right, Miss Clark, we’re finishing up now so you’re good to leave whenever you’re ready,” Officer Conner informed us.
“Are you ready for us to call your mom?” Stella asked, now that I’d been dismissed. Nodding, I gave my guys each a hug and kiss before Kaleb directed them away from me even though I knew none of us wanted to be apart.
“I’ll call her,” I told Stella, knowing there really wasn’t a way to explain why they were there. “She can take me home and everything, try and avoid as much awkwardness as possible.”
“We’ll wait in the car over there until she’s here and you guys have headed home, all right? We don’t want you to be alone while you wait,” Kaleb assured, squeezing my shoulder gently. Nodding for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, I watched them step back and tell Kingston, Reid, and Jesse, all three of whom looked pissed. Kingston broke away first, Reid and Jesse going back and forth with Stella and Kaleb in hushed voices.
“You have your phone on you, right?” Kingston questioned when he reached me. I nodded, pulling it out of my bag. “Text us, we want to make sure you get home safely and everything. If you need to talk, call. Promise?” It was weird hearing Kingston, my laidback boyfriend, be so assertive, but I couldn’t stop the feeling of security that came with knowing they were there, checking up on me.
“Yeah, I promise,” I said, squeezing his hand. After one final kiss, King stepped back, and Jesse and Reid took his place. “I’m okay, guys—”
“We know you are, Love, but it’s still too close for comfort,” Jesse cut me off, cupping my jaw and pressing his lips to mine. His kiss was deep, holding me hostage in his grasp until he finally pulled back. “I love you, Em.”
“I love you too,” I murmured, my eyes starting to water as the severity of what happened pressed down on me.
“I’m happy you’re okay, Cali girl.” Reid gave me a wavering smile, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. “I quite enjoy knowing my girlfriend’s a badass who can handle her own.” The joke was ridiculous, but it made me giggle, nonetheless. The tension was still high around us, but the little joke acted as a life preserver on my quickly darkening mood.
When they finally stepped back and went to their car, I dialed my mom. The nerves of talking to her about it was almost as bad as trying to confront her about my Cali dad not being my biological father. What would she say? Were things so broken between us that this would somehow become my fault? I knew that whatever happened now, it would either be a sign that our relationship was too frayed to fix or that maybe… maybe there was a chance my mom was still in there and things could change. After three rings, she finally picked up.
“Hello?” her greeting seemed confused, knowing that I hadn’t called her any time recently.
Especially after how this morning had gone.
“Mom,” I started, my voice cracking as tears threatened to spill. We had our problems and fights, and while we were growing exponentially apart, there was still a sliver of me that was just a girl who wanted her mom. “I, uh, need you to come get me from work.”
“Are you okay? What happened?” she questioned, the sound of jingling filling the air. Thankfully, she didn’t make any accusations or question why.
“I got attacked walking to my car,” I whispered, forcing the words out from around the lump forming in my throat even as the knot threatened to choke me. “Lyla and Rick heard me yelling and were able to call the police. I’m okay, only a couple cuts and bruises from fighting back. I just finished talking to the police. They said I can go home, but I don’t want to drive.”
“Oh my god, okay, I’m on my way. I’ll be there in ten.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, “I’ll see you soon.” Pulling the phone away from my ear, I stared at my mom’s name on the screen, my thumb hovering over the end button. Except I couldn’t hang up yet. “I love you,” I said, putting the phone to my ear one more time.
“I love you too, Emma. I’ll be there soon, okay?” she told me, and my heart squeezed.
Please let this mean there’s hope after all.
An hour later, after a much-needed cup of hot cocoa and an episode of a fluffy TV show, my mom and I went our separate ways to go to bed. The guys had been blowing up my phone the entire night, Lyla too, all checking in on me and making sure I was distracted. Amazingly though, my mom hadn’t made a single comment on all the messages that were flooding in.
I changed quickly into pajamas, and I was just about to step into the bathroom when memories flared in my mind of Brad and everything he’d done. My bathroom quickly transformed before my eyes to the bathroom from the party from hell. My chest constricted and my vision tunneled, but my ringtone cut through the nightmarish vision, and with a blink of my eyes, I was back home.
“Yeah, definitely need to take Jesse up on that therapy suggestion,” I muttered under my breath, walking back to my room to pick up the phone. “Hey, babe,” I greeted when I saw it was Reid calling.
“Hey, look out your back door,” he whispered ominously. Jogging out to the hall, I peeked around the corner and found something that made my heart warm.
The three of them waiting on the other side of the door.
Hanging up the phone, I tossed it onto the couch and strained to hear if my mom was awake or not. The guys didn’t say anything as I opened the backdoor, but I gave a ‘shh’ finger just in case. Thankfully, the entire time we were in the main living area of the basement I hadn’t heard my mom. After shutting the door behind us, I launched myself at the three of them. We held onto each other, not moving for a long time. I soaked in their warmth and the safety their embrace brought me before finally pulling back.
“Why are you guys here?” I whispered after turning on my sleepy time music to mask any of our talking.
“We wanted to come cuddle,” Kingston told me.
“We remember how it was after the party, and we wanted to make sure you weren’t alone,” Reid continued their explanation. Jesse didn’t say anything, choosing to squeeze my hand. He didn’t have to add anything to the conversation; his gesture said more than enough.
“So, you guys are going to stay here then?” I asked, unable to hold back the hope filling my tone.
“At least for a few hours, want to make sure we’re out before your mom is up just in case.” As he explained, Kingston pulled me toward the bed, Reid and Jesse following. “So, let’s cuddle, and if you don’t want to sleep, we can watch a movie or something on one of our phones.”
One by one, they slipped off shoes and jackets, following me into bed. It was a tight squeeze, Jesse on the other side of Reid, but we somehow made it work. Reid held up his phone, a movie playing on the screen quietly but now that I was snuggled with my boys, my eyes closed almost immediately. Exhaustion pulled me into a dreamless sleep as I felt a feather light kiss on my temple.
20
April 6th