Closer to You || Sequel to More Than This

Chapter 23

How is this only 2 pages?! Ugh, curse you wattpad. -.-* enjoy though! :) 

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Ella's POV

The five of us were in the car, driving away from the hospital Mrs. Tomlinson was resting in. Jay was doing better. The doctors said she'd be all right, which made us show some relieved smiles.

Seeing all the girls at the hospital too was nice. The whole Tomlinson family was there. Lottie, Fizzy, and the twins tackled us all in hugs. Poor Louis almost fell over. They'd grown up so much. Louis couldn't carry the little twins around anymore. Fizzy was almost as tall as her brother. Lottie seemed to get the most emotional when she saw her brother. It'd been a long time since they'd seen each other. The twins were in college. Fizzy and Lottie were married. Mark, Louis' stepdad, was just as happy to see us.

Jay was happy to see us all together, even in her state. From her hospital bed she watched as we all joked around and gave her as much support as she needed. For a hospital patient she was so happy. She was glowing. I'd never felt so much love in one room. I'd received so many kisses on the cheek and my forehead, that I lost count.

We eventually had to leave, tears shed and hugs all around, but I felt a small smile on my face as we all jumped in the car. It was just that feeling you get after you do something amazing. You can't stop smiling.

"Hey Ella, you want a car?" Meg asked out of the blue, looking away from the window she was staring out of. Louis smiled a bit from the drivers seat. I could still see dried tears on his cheeks, but he still smiled like they were never there.

My eyes widened as I registered Meg's words, and the fact that she was serious. "REALLY?! You mean it?!"

"I wanna drive!" Logan complained.

"Pass the test and we could work something out." Louis said, giving me a small smile.

"Who's gonna teach me?" I asked, holding onto the back of her passenger seat eagerly. I was 16 and I'd finally get my license.

"I could, maybe?" She said, but it came out more like a question.

"Okay!" I smiled. "But for real?! My own car?!" Meg nodded, laughing at me.

"Mum, when did you get your license?" Eva asked.

"Not when I was 16, that's for sure." She said, with a small chuckle.

"Why not?"

"Does it have something to do with our grandpa?" Logan guessed, fiddling with his thumbs."Why don't you ever talk about him?" He pressed on as Meg grew a little uncomfortable. I looked down at my lap as Meg bit her lip.

Meg let out a sigh and explained everything. "My step dad, your step grandfather, wasn't very nice to me or Ellie or grandma..." She started to explain. It wasn't easy. I saw her lifting up her sleeve of her sweater a bit. I knew what was under there. Faded scars from beatings. I had a few too. She finally showed them to her kids after some thought. Their eyes grew wide and gasps slipping out of their mouths. She threw in a few distractions about Louis and her love life and keeping the secret from Liam.

"You can't hide anything from Liam though," she laughed dryly as the kids smiled a bit too. They looked quite traumatized really. Their faces were pale and Eva looked ready to cry. Meg noticed and told her it was okay.

"That's not right, Mum. He shouldn't have done that to you." Eva said, sounding quite angry. "I hate your step dad."

"Hate is a strong word, Evangeline," Meg warned. "But I'm not done yet. Then Ellie," she met my eyes and I saw the hurt and pain in hers. She seemed much older. Like Mum. It hurt just to look at her. I could almost feel her pain. "was taken back with Walter. Kidnapped. That really hurt. I promised to keep her safe. I'd never let anything happen to her. Protect her. I tried to be that mother figure in life. When she was gone, it broke my heart." I gave a weak smile through my watery eyes. I felt there was a double meaning. When I pushed her away, when I was "gone", that hurt her.