Don't Let Me Fall

Chapter 11: Every Tear is a Waterfall

"The best thing to hold onto in life, is each other." -Audrey Hepburn

Chapter 11

I silently watched as Sam let out another high pitched sob. She'd refused to let me touch her, which was almost unbearable. No one ever wants to watch someone cry their eyes out, especially someone they love.

I had been sitting by her for the past ten minutes, not knowing what to do. In the five months of dating her, she had never gotten this upset. She never cried infront of me, but sometimes it was obvious she felt like crying.

"What's the matter?" I asked, panicked.

I didn't expect a reply, and I didn't get one. Instead she layed her head silently on the side of my shoulder.

"I don't understand what you're so upset over." She let out a painfilled weeze. I shut my eyes, not liking this one bit.

"Its...never is...goi-..." She let out a sob, then plopped onto the couch, burying her face with pillows. I put my hand on the top of her back, awkwardly leaning over her.

I rubbed my eyes, feeling slightly exhausted. It had been a long, boring day. I'd woke up at four, and never could get back to sleep. The Saturday conflict was still on my mind, and it wasn't seeming to go away. She'd apologized, then we kissed and everything seemed fine, at least that's what I thought. On Tuesday after school the same thing happened again, except for this time she didn't argue about it she just rolled her eyes and lay back on the bed. I mean, I could honestly say I love her, but if she wasn't willing to respect my wishes, were we really that perfect for each other?

I broke away from my thoughts, feeling her upper body begin to quiver.

"It's never...goi- to en..-" She tried again. This time I understood what she was trying to say, but I wasn't sure what she meant.

"What does that mean?" I waited for a long moment, neither of us saying anything. Though I couldn't see her face I was sure her cheeks were stained with tears.

Suddenly she sat up, her eyes red.

"I can't even sleep in my own house because of them!" She managed to yell, her voice breaking.

I placed a hand on her lower back, then scooted her small body up against mine. At first she began to push me away, but then seemed to realize she didn't have the fight in her.

"It will all be fine." I kept repeating softly in her ear. Her entire body was shaking by now, and it seemed as if the only thing I could do was hug her. We sat in this position for what seemed like several minutes, though I couldn't be sure.

The silence was eventually broken by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, then almost immediatley followed by the opening of the front door.

Crap. I'd forgotten that I was supposed to babysit Brooke while they went out to dinner.

I gently let my grip on Sam go. I was suprised when the shaking didn't continue.

"I have a deal for you." I suggested to both of my parents.

"I will babysit Brooke for the next week. No charge, weekends included if you let me off the hook this one time?"

Brooke reached out for me, and I quickly took her from my mom's hip. She began shoving her little fingers through my hair. I looked at my parents, who were looking from me to Sam, then back.

"Are you two having a fight?" Mom whispered, quiet enough so Sam couldn't hear her.

I shook my head no.

"She's having a break down of some sort, and I really don't know what to do."

She pondered it for a second, then looked at Sam on the couch. Surely she could think of a solution. She was a woman, and hopefully had dealt with something like this before.

"Fine, we'll leave you guys alone." She said, still looking at Sam.

"We'll go to Buddy's, you want us to bring anything back for you?" Dad asked me.

Once again I shook my head no. What I really wanted was to curl up in my bed, and sleep a couple twelve hours. I was beginning to feel the exhaustion in my neck, and upper arms.

"Are you going to Buddy's?" I asked Brooke in a high pitched voice. She grabbed at my nose, smiling. No matter how tired I was, or how stressed I was I couldn't help but smile back at her. Mom took her from me carefully.

"We'll see you in a bit, just tell us if you're not ready for us to come back." They all were quickly out the door. In a way I didn't want them to go. I had no clue what was going to happen next. I didn't know how to handle what was happening to her, I didn't know how to make her feel better.

When I got back to her spot on the couch, she was already asleep. I let out a quite laugh. I suddenly felt a wave of relief. I decided to lay on the floor next to her, just in case she woke up, and started crying again.

Even though she had stopped crying, I still couldn't fall asleep. This was something else that was on my mind. Earlier at school, she said that her dad and mom were fighting about me. I didn't have to think twice about what they were fighting about. The problem was, Sam had no clue. She was in the dark, and would stay that way.

Ever since that terrible night, her father had always found something to hate me for. When he would see me anywhere in town, he would simply keep walking, not even giving a simple hello. He had all the reason to treat me like I didn't deserve to be with Sam, because in his eyes, I didn't.

I was absolutely sick of having to hide this secret. It was such a big part of my life that was hidden away. I especially hated hiding it from Sam, the one person who probably needed to know it the most. But I knew that if I told her, she wouldn't see me the same way. She would think of me as an entirely different person. If I told her it would just lead to a big fight, maybe not even a fight, just the end of it all.

Author's Note

So this was shorter than I thought it would be! I'm glad I finiished it though!

-Maddie