Tethered (Book Two of The Invisible String Series)

Thanksgiving: Part Two

Sliding off the bed I don't hesitate to wrap my arms around her, pulling her to me as I swallow back all the negative emotions that have swirled up inside of me. I fight back the urge to question her, to demand to know who had made (and obviously broken) those promises in the past, but refrain from doing so when I feel the teenager melt into the embrace, her arms wrapping around me tightly. Instead I just stand there, holding her as I try to calm the girl down. "Hey, no. It's not gonna be like that, okay?"

The teen sobs loudly into my shoulder, hands grasping at the back of my shirt, the sound causing my heart to shatter all over again. "Liv, honey, I need you to try and calm down. I promise we will talk about this, but I need you to calm down first."

When I don't receive a response from the teen I let out a sigh, pulling the girl backwards with me until the backs of my legs hit the bed, the teenager curling herself into my chest the moment I sit down. I rub the girl's back a few times while gently rocking the both of us back and forth, all in an attempt to calm her down.

After a few moments it seems to work, as the teen's sobs have subsided and there's only the occasional sniffle here and there that's muffled in the fabric of my shirt. I don't dare to pull away, though, and continue to rub soothing circles along the girl's back as I try and wrack my brain for something to say. But what exactly do I say? I certainly have no plans to just walk out of the girl's life, but Lizzie and I haven't properly discussed the idea of fostering her more than that one conversation in the car. So I can't steal her away and promise her that she'll never have to spend another day without having someone to care about her like I do desperately want to.

"I'm sorry."

Olivia's voice jolts me out of my thoughts, and I instantly pull the teenager away from me just enough to see her face, which is all red and blotchy from her tears. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

The teenager gently unravels herself from me, scooting back further on the bed before bringing her knees up to her chest, making no move to meet my gaze. "I didn't mean to just...cry on you like that."

I follow after her, sitting close enough that I can tilt the girl's chin up so that she's finally looking at me. "Hey, you don't have to apologize for your emotions. You were upset, understandably, and I'd much rather you not hide how you're feeling. At least when you're with me, alright?"

Olivia's still teary, brown eyes lock with my own, and I feel like I'm looking at a much younger version of her rather than the teenager that she is. "Why are you doing this?"

Frowning, I drop the girl's chin, letting my hands rest on my knees. "What do you mean?"

The girl keeps her gaze locked with my own, a few more tears escaping and making their way down her cheeks. "Why are you acting like you care so much about me?"

My stomach wrenches uncomfortably at her words, and I fight the urge to pull her back into my arms, settling with taking the teen's hands in my own. "Liv, I do care about you. I care about you so much. I know you've never really had anyone in your life who genuinely cares about you, and that really sucks because you're such a great kid and you deserve that and so much more, but I need you to understand that I'm not just being nice to you or that I have some ulterior motive in mind. I care about you and I want you in my life, and I have no plans to just abandon you or something. You are stuck with me, kid, for as long as you want me around."

The teen gives me a sad smile, and I know her next words before she even says them. And I hate that she's only sixteen and has been hurt this much already in life. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Y/N."

I know we've got a long way to go, but I also know that something inside of me solidifies with my next words, and that I silently promise myself that I will do everything in my power to bring this kid home with us soon. "I don't intend to break it. It's gonna take some time, I know. But I'm here whenever you need me. And so is Lizzie. We're here for you, babe. From now and until the end of time."

That earns me a much happier smile from the teen. It doesn't quite reach her eyes, and I know she doesn't believe me right now, but I know I will fight to make her believe with my last dying breath. In my eyes, this kid is already mine and I have this profound want to protect her and hold her and never let her go.

Knowing that I can't do that, at least not yet, I slide off the edge of the bed and hold my hand out towards the teenager. "C'mon. Before they think we both ran off to do something stupid."

Olivia snorts, grabbing a hold of my hand as she follows after me. "Oh please. More like they probably think you did something stupid and I just got roped into it."

Laughing, because she's not wrong, I hold the bedroom door open for her and follow her out and down the stairs. Lizzie meets us at the bottom, looking more than a little worried as her green eyes move between the two of us. "Where have you two been? I was starting to get worried."

I give my girlfriend a small, remorseful smile as I reach her, leaning in to place a kiss to her cheek. I probably should have let her know where I was, especially with her still being so on edge after the attack and everything. "Sorry, my love. Liv and I were just upstairs talking. I didn't mean to worry you."

The brunette thankfully seems to relax with the knowledge that I am indeed alright before she turns her attention towards the teenager standing silently next to me. "Is everything okay?"

Rather than responding, Liv just steps forward and throws her arms around my girlfriend, obviously catching the other woman off guard. Lizzie frowns, raising an eyebrow as she looks over at me and wraps her own arms around the teenager. I just shake my head, mouthing the word 'later' to her as I make a mental note to fill her in later. Lizzie just nods, bedding down to press a kiss to the top of the teen's head before moving her and the kid into the living room with the rest of our friends and family.

I follow after, settling myself next to my girlfriend and the teenager that refuses to dislodge herself from said girlfriend as I try and insert myself into the conversation that's taking place. I end up failing, though, as I end up focusing on watching Lizzie as she absentmindedly cradles the teenager against her. She's such a motherly person, and I love that she's obviously bonded with Olivia, just like I have.

I have a feeling that, after today, I won't be the only one with the urge to take this kid in.

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Okay, I feel like this chapter just sucked. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I'm just tired or something, but I have never used the backspace so much since I started writing these stories. I have terrible ADHD, so I completely forgot what my original plan was going to be for this chapter and I've misplaced the notebook I wrote all my notes and stuff in for that exact reason. But I want to keep this story moving and just decided to let this chapter roll out. It is what it is. If it sucks, I'm sorry. They won't all be like this.

The next one will feature a bit of a time jump, as I'm going to place us just a few weeks before Christmas. And then we'll have a couple of filler chapters, all full of fluff and stuff before we have the Christmas chapters and the New Years ones. Those will be extra fluffy and extra teeth-rottingly gross, including some smut. And then we'll be heading into the proposal planning part and then the eventual proposal itself. Also, I'm going to include a picture of the ring when we get to that part. I hope you all like it. It's so pretty, in my opinion. It's like an antique ring that I saw way before I started writing this story and I'm totally using it as the ring that Lizzie gets. I love it.

Anyway, I hope you're all taking care of yourselves. Remember to eat some food, drink some water, and take a break from your computers/phones/tablets/etc. for a bit! Love you all!

-Commander ❤️