Where Hearts Might Heal

Chapter 29

Not surprisingly Mom wasn't at home. I was pretty thankful for that. I don't think having her, Beck, and Jay in the same place would be a good thing. They were both pretty pissed off. I'd kept the tears in until after they pulled away. It didn't matter how many goodbye hugs or kisses we shared, it wasn't enough. I just had to make it through a month. I could do that. I'd be at school all day. I could spend the rest of my time with Jake or at the diner. Hopefully, this month would pass as quickly as the previous month seemed to. I knew it wouldn't though. This would be a long ass month. I never wanted to come back here. I didn't have any plans to return unless it was to see Jake and Joe. Jake and Joe. I looked around the lonely house. I didn't want to be there when my mom got back. I put my bags into my old room, then went to the diner.

Joe looked surprised to see me. I couldn't blame him. He looked behind me. "Where's your shadow?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I'm alone," I mumbled.

"What did he do?" Jake asked. I shook my head.

"Nothing. My mom did though. She made me come home. I didn't have a choice." I explained. Joe's eyes narrowed.

"She couldn't just leave you alone to be happy, could she?" I shrugged.

"I just don't understand why she wanted me back after a month. Why did she wait a month before sending cops after me?" I asked. I sat down on one of the bar stools. "I'm only here for a month. As soon as I turn eighteen, I'm going back." I told them. Joe nodded.

"You were happy. We all saw that. That boy made you happy." I nodded with a small smile. "I bet he hates this," Jake whispered. I nodded again.

"He even thought about taking me somewhere far away. I wasn't going to let him throw his dreams away like that. My mom was threatening to have them all arrested for kidnapping. Even Beck." I admitted.

"Damn. Why did she want you back that bad? She doesn't pay attention to you." Jake snapped. I just shrugged.

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Two weeks went by. I hadn't heard from Jay. We'd talked a lot the first two or three days, then school started back. I guess he was just too busy. Nat and Day called me the most out of his family. We talked almost every day. I never asked about Jay. I didn't want them to know that he wasn't talking to me. I was too scared of what they might tell me. I was afraid they'd tell me he found someone else. Although, I knew if he had, they would've told me. They wouldn't have hid that from me. I hadn't seen my mom either. I went to school then the diner. I didn't come home until late. She hadn't even tried to talk to me either. She didn't wait for me to come home. She was still asleep when I left. I still didn't know why she made me come home. I stayed away from Makenna. I just didn't see her as a friend anymore. A part of me wondered if she had something to do with this. She'd come between two of my relationships already.

I smiled as my Facetime call was answered. My smile fell when I saw Nat's smiling face instead of Jay's. "Well, it's nice to see you too." She mumbled.

"Sorry. I was just expecting Jay to answer since this is his phone." I told her.

"Oh, he took Snow to the groomers. He's inside getting her right now. He should be out in just a few minutes." I'd decided to leave Snow with Jay since I knew my mom didn't like dogs. She'd be better with him. Nat turned the phone so I could see the building. "She got out of her little pen and found the grossest smelling shit she could to roll in," Nat explained. "Jay wasn't very happy with her. What the hell?" My stomach dropped as Jay walked out of the building with some girl. She was holding Snow. They were both laughing. Tears filled my eyes.

"So that's why he's not talking to me," I whispered.

"Who the hell is that?" Nat demanded as soon as Jay opened his door.

"Her name is Mallery," Jay replied.

"What the hell were you two doing?" She asked.

"We were just talking." He motioned at Snow in the backseat. "About dogs." He finished. Nat made a noise. "Why does it even matter?" Jay asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you have a girlfriend. A girlfriend you haven't been talking to." She snapped. He still hadn't looked over or he would've seen that Nat was holding his phone with me still on Facetime.

"It's complicated. Just butt out of it." His eyes widened when he finally did look at his cousin. "Blaire." He whispered. I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. I shook my head then hung up. I didn't need to hear anymore. I was stupid to think he'd wait for me. I'd been naive.

Jay called me a lot after that. I never answered. Why should I? He didn't seem to care before he realized I was on the phone. At least now I knew why he wasn't talking to me. I felt so stupid. I had actually thought he'd wait for me to come back. I thought we were still together. I still considered him as a boyfriend. I knew it wasn't at all how it seemed or how my brain took it all. I just couldn't find anything better. I knew he wouldn't cheat on me. That's just not the person he was. I couldn't help but feel that way though. The hurt. The betrayal. I had felt it all before. Several times. With Makenna. With my mom. With John. This time it was all worse. I never expected to feel like this because of Jay. I realized then how much I really did love him. Did he love me as much as I loved him? It didn't feel like it. A part of me knew he loved me, but the part wasn't so sure anymore. If he really loved me, why wasn't he talking to me before that?

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I groaned as I sat on the couch beside Jake. "Are you okay?" He asked. I shook my head. "You're really pale." He told me.

"I think I need to go to the hospital," I mumbled causing his eyes to widen. He looked down to where my arms were.

"Your kidney?" He asked. I nodded slowly. "Can you walk?" He asked as he jumped up. I shrugged. I slowly tried to stand up. I couldn't. I was in too much pain. Jake pushed his phone into his pocket then pulled me up. "I'll call my dad and Beck on the way to the emergency room. Do you want me to call Jay?" I hadn't told him about what was going on with Jay.

"No. I don't want them to worry. I'm sure I'll be fine." I replied as he gently sat me in his car. He had his phone pressed to his ear as he walked around the car.

"I'm taking her in now. She doesn't look so good." He told whoever he was talking to.