reticent

32

"Hey, you okay?" I ask.

     She shakes her head.

     My eyebrows crease in concern. "What's the matter?"

     She closes the door and runs over to me, her bottom lip beginning to wobble as her eyes water. She jumps onto my lap, and I wrap my arms around her in a hug. "What's wrong, Ally?"

     "My dad is a meanie!" She exclaims.

     "What? What happened?"

     "He picked me up from school." She whispers. "I told him I was supposed to go to Archer, but he picked me up and made me go. Then when we got to his home he made me go to sleep."

"What happened next? You can tell me."

She sniffles. I hold onto her tighter, almost protectively. "I woke up when A-Archer came to get me. He carried me out into the hall but then my dad was there. I pretended to be asleep because I was afraid.

"Then h-he said th—that it was our fault that my mum and him aren't together. And then h-he punched Archer. And then he ran out."

My eyes widen. "Oh, Ally." I whisper. She sobs against my shoulder.

"W-was if my f-fault?"

"No, of course it wasn't." I say. "It wasn't you or Archer. You're both great. Your dad is just a dick—a horrible person."

She wraps her arms around my neck. "I don't think Archer's very happy."

"Why don't I go talk to him and you can stay with Petal and look after her for me?" I suggest.

     She nods, wiping a tear off her face. She climbs off my lap and over to Petal as I stand, making my way out of my room and toward Archers. I knock on the door, only entering when I gain his permission.

     "Hi." I say.

     He smiles at me. "Hey."

     I close the door and walk over to him. I sit next to him on the bed. "Ally—she told me what happened."

     Now that I know to look for it, I can see the bruising by his eye. I frown when he furrows his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

     "She said what happened with your dad. She was upset." I explain.

     His jaw hardens. "It's fine."

     "It's not fine." I whisper softly. Am I saying the wrong things? I don't know how to help him. Do I tell my dad and ask him to do something? But Archer hasn't asked me to, and I don't want him to think I'm overstepping a boundary. "You can talk to me."

     He shakes his head. "It's fine, Amalia."

     I shuffle over to him again, then climb onto his lap so I'm straddling him. I wrap my arms around him in a hug, and his strong arms immediately lock around my waist.

     He rests his forehead on my shoulder. I start playing with his hair, and neither of us talk for a while until he looks up at me. His eyes are clouded with tears. One falls down his cheek, so I lean over and kiss it away.

     "Your dad seems like a dick." I say.

     His lips tilt up a little. "He is."

     "My dad has already started to organise some help for your mother." I whisper. "Hopefully she'll get better soon. You know she loves you, right?"

     He nods.

     I smile and kiss his cheek. There isn't another tear there, I just think that he needs it.