**NOTE: You might have to reread the last chapter. This picks up right where chapter 39 ends**
I don't say anything on the drive home.
There are honestly no words to truly portray how I'm feeling right now. About Chloe and her horrible situation. About her, lack of a better term, mother and the despicable human being she is. About what comes next. More importantly, I can't stop thinking about my family.
The twins let a miserable high school senior sit with them at lunch, even though I pouted like a baby. Saffron gives me her dessert in hopes of making me smile, even though she has to keep her room clean to earn them. Scarlett... she does everything for me, even though she's basically still a kid herself.
God, look at how I've treated them.
Glancing over at Chloe as I pull into our driveway, I watch her wipe away a stray tear. "Would you like a minute?"
She shakes her head, undoing her seatbelt and I follow suit. Running around, I grab her hand as we move up the porch steps. She doesn't offer a snide remark about me coddling her, instead she gives my hand a tight squeeze and steps closer.
As I reach for the handle, I silently beg for my house to be normal. With one last plea and the thought that maybe I should've texted Scar first, I open the door and prepare for–
Silence?
Taking a tentative step inside, I glance around to find the living room empty. Same in the kitchen.
"Hello?" I call out, genuinely concerned. "Anyone home?"
The pitiful whine of Fluffy from his crate and the echo of my voice is answer enough so I turn to Chloe, who looks so small hugging her sides. "What can I get you to eat?"
"I'm not–"
"A bowl of fruit it is." I decide, cutting her off. I know she's hungry.
"Sage."
"And a tall glass of water." I add, opening the fridge just to peak around it. "Other than myself, of course."
The wink I send her way causes her to scowl. At least it's an emotion.
She picks at her food, eating enough to keep my quiet, but I know her mind is anywhere but here. I open my mouth three times and three times I shut it before busying myself with letting the dog out. I have no right to say anything to her after how I've acted.
Once the bowl and glass are empty, she stands up. Going up to my room, I clear my throat. "Um, would you like to shower?"
"What?"
"Shower." I shift on my feet. "I know whenever I'm upset it feels nice to rinse off, let the water drown out my screams and have the scalding heat make me feel something." Why the actual fuck would I say that? "Or whatever."
She finally looks at me long enough to process what I've said and blinks once. "I guess."
"Cool." I run to the hall and come back with a towel. "Here's a towel, black just for you." Going through my drawers, I shove a pile of miscellaneous articles on top of the towel. "Clothing for when you get out, including fuzzy socks. Anything else?" I rack my brain before snapping my fingers. Duh. Opening my closet, I pull out a worn, black sweatshirt and add it to the pile. "Your favorite."
"Thanks," she whispers, barely visible over the stack of shit I've handed her, and walks to my bathroom.
"I'll be–" The door shutting cuts me off. "Right here if you need me."
Slumping onto the ground, I listen to the water turn on. Studying my room, I jump into action. I tidy up, messy spaces never help when upset. Then, I realize she could get hungry later, so I grab snacks and a few bottles of water from the kitchen. Or she could be cold, so pick up a few extra blankets.
Back in my room, I can still hear the water running so I try to find something else to do. My phone rings and I scramble to answer when I realize it's not my phone. It's Chloe.
The first call I ignore. The second has me hesitating. The third; however, has me checking to see who's calling. Realizing it's Wes, I answer.
"Chloe, where the hell are you?" He demands. "No one's heard from you, so I go by your house and what do I find? A raging lunatic promising that if she ever sees your face again, you're as good as dead." Anger pumps through my veins. Maybe I should go visit her mother alone. "So tell me where you are because I know you're not with Maggie, Zayne, Graham or me. Last I heard, you're still mad at Golden Boy so... Oh My God, don't tell me you're with Bennett." My anger is now blinding rage. "Chloe, I was sorta starting to like Rhodes, but we'll figure it out. Just tell me where you are."
"Well, Micheals, I was sorta starting to like you too." I offer now that he's done with his heroic monologue.
"Rhodes, where the fuck is Chloe?"
"In my shower." I listen to make sure the water is still going. "She's staying here tonight."
"Good." He lets out a breath. "I think that's best but..."
"But what?" I press when he hesitates.
"I don't know if that'll be long enough." He admits. "Sage, that house is normally unsafe. After whatever the fuck happened today, I'm not sure it could even be considered that."
"I figured." I kick a bottle cap on my floor. "That's something we can figure out tomorrow. She has options."
"Just because she has them, doesn't mean she'll take them."
Ain't that the truth. "Hopefully she does, but let's take things one step at a time. She needs to rest for now."
"You're right." He admits and the line goes quiet. I'm about to see if he hung up when he coughs. "Thanks for talking to me."
"Thanks for checking on her." I counter, a smug smirk spreading across my face. "So you're really starting to like me, huh?"
"Rhodes, go to hell." He says, ending the call.
Silently laughing, I plug Chloe's phone in. The door opens and I whirl around to find Chloe standing in my bathroom doorway, faint remnants of mascara running down her cheeks. Wet hair soaking the sweatshirt that looks like a dress on her.
"Hey."
She nods in acknowledgment, wandering to the bed.
"I brought snacks and blankets." I offer and she blankly wraps a blanket around her. "Wes called so I told him you were okay."
She grunts in acknowledgment.
"Do you need anything?" I ask in one last effort to get words from her.
"Silence." She says, her voice so empty.
"I can do that." I nod, backing into my dresser. My cologne crashes to the ground and I wince. Shit. "We can just cuddle."
"No, Sage." She shakes her head. "I want to be alone."
Oh. "Okay."
Resting on the bed, I twiddle my thumbs for a few minutes, losing interest quickly.
"This is a mistake." She stands up suddenly, throwing her blanket on the bed as she searches for her boots. "I need to go."
Processing the bullshit spewing from her mouth, I grab her before she can run for it. "Stay here."
"Sage, I need to be–"
"Alone." I finish for her. "I know, so be alone here. I can go."
"This is your house."
"And you're my guest." I remind her. "So go lay down. I'm sure there's a game I can watch downstairs."
"But–"
"Nothing." I kiss her. "I'm going."
Leaving my room, I go downstairs and turn the TV on to a random channel. Then I sit there with my head in my hands.
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." I mutter, hitting myself in the head. "Why can't I just be normal?"
She asked for space and I countered with how much smothering can I do without suffocating you?
This is a shit show. Speaking of shit shows, where's my family? It's getting late. Unlocking my phone, I send Scarlett a text asking where they are.
Scar
I tried telling you earlier, we went to dinner and a movie.
Be home late
Love you!
"Love you too." I mutter, sprawling out on the couch. Looking at Fluffy, I shrug. "It's just you and me, dude."
Snorting, he trots into the kitchen.
"Or not." I sigh. Damn dog has a worse attitude than Ashton. Grabbing a pillow, I flip on a random movie and close my eyes.
*****
Something wakes me up.
Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, the general noise properly registers in my mind and I sit straight up as Fluffy growls dangerously low. Everything looks just like I left it. Muting the TV, I stand and see if anyone's in the kitchen.
Nope.
Fluffy charges the back door and I follow, peering out the window.
Something catches my eye on my search of the area and I do a double take just as I hear a crash. The dog crashes into the door again and I let him out. Stepping onto the porch, I watch Fluffy run around the corner of our house.
Following after him, I try to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach, but the dog stops at our fence. Growling once, he turns back and trots over to me.
"Good boy." I reach a hand down to pet him. Maybe Ashton had the right idea all along.
Someone grabs my shoulder and I rear my fist back. It connects with someone's jaw as I turn around.
"What the fuck?" Sterling shouts from the ground, holding a hand to his face.
"What the hell are you doing?" I demand.
"We could ask you the same thing." Silver snaps, offering a hand to pull his twin to his feet.
They head for the house and I follow after them, calling for Fluffy to follow us inside.
"Look, Sterlz, I'm- holy shit." My jaw drops as I take in his swollen eye. My fingers reach out to touch it and he hisses. "Why is it bleeding?"
"You broke my glasses, asshole." He groans. "They cut me."
"Boys can you please- holy shit!" Scarlett stops in the doorway.
"That's what I said." I offer.
"Who did this to you?" She demands, grabbing an icepack from the freezer.
The twins point at me and I smile weakly. "In my defense, Fluffy was freaking out and I thought someone was breaking into the house when this idiot thought it would be a good idea to sneak up on me."
"I told you not to do that." Scarlett sighs.
"How was I to know he would knock my ass out?" Sterling counters, wincing.
Pursing her lips, she hands him Tylenol. "You're gonna have quite the bruise tomorrow."
"Hey." I nudge his shoulders. "Ladies love bruises. They think it's hot. Isn't that right, Scar?"
"So do guys." Silver shrugs.
"Bruises are not attractive." Scarlett snaps, studying his face closer. "You look horrible already."
Sterling hisses in pain, trying to pull his face away while she pours disinfectant on the cut.
"That's not what you've told Ashton a time or two." I tease. "Maybe I should give him a call."
"I'm not speaking to Ashton at the moment." She snips, releasing his face.
"Why?"
"Because it is his fault we're in this current situation to begin with."
"How?" the twins ask together.
"Because he brought that damn dog into our home."
Fluffy whines, trying to nudge Scarlett's leg for attention. Our sister closes her eyes and walks out of the room. She definitely isn't getting over the dog anytime soon.
Hurrying after Scarlett, I lean against her bedroom door as she pulls her shoes off.
"Where's Saff?" I ask, realizing I haven't seen her tonight.
"She went to bed." Scar shrugs. "She fell asleep on the drive home."
"What movie did you see?"
"Wonder Woman." She goes into the closet.
"Oh," I wanted to see that one.
"Sorry." She walks back out in shorts and one of Ashton's sweatshirts.
"I thought you were mad at Ashton?" I raise a brow.
"Shut up." She rolls her eyes. "Where were you?"
"Actually, I need to talk to you about that." I start and her eyes widen in panic. "I didn't do anything. It's about Chloe."
"Is she okay?" Her eyes fill with concern.
"Don't freak out." I say before telling her everything Chloe gave me permission to explain.
By the time I'm finished, she's holding a hand to her heart. "Is she okay?"
"She's in my room." I offer because I really don't know the answer to her question. "Tomorrow, do you mind... helping her."
"Me?"
"You're responsible. You know what she should do now. She'll listen to you." I explain. "You make people feel safe and that's what she needs right now."
"Okay." Scar nods. "I'll try."
Taking a deep breath, she heads to the bathroom to take her makeup off and contacts out. Sitting on her bed, I scan her wall of pictures. A few left over images have Ella in them and surprisingly, I don't even give them a second glance.
A yelp pulls my attention back to reality as Scarlett stares at me. "I thought you left."
"Actually, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about." I clear my throat, motioning for her to sit down.
"O-okay." She joins me.
Taking a moment to remember everything I've learned today, I grab her hand. "I know I've been an asshole these last few months and I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record when I say I'm sorry but today changed my life."
"Sage, you don't-"
"I do." I assure her. "Life sucks. I don't have a mom and dad anymore but I have the Saff, the twins, Uncle John and Mel."
"More importantly I have you... and Ashton." I add. "Scar, you work so hard to keep us safe and happy and I have done nothing but tear you down. Ashton was right when he threatened to kick my ass, I deserve it."
"He did what?"
Moving on. "Seeing what it's like to truly have no one love you blew my mind away and I am so grateful for you."
"I know."
"How could you?" I scoff. "All I do is act like an ass. I don't communicate. I don't help you as much as I should. I appreciate nothing you do for me. I got mad at you during my visits when all you were trying to do was protect me."
"It's my job." She smiles.
"It's really not." I say, because the truth is she could stop her support with a roof over my head and food in my belly, but she does so much more. "But you do it anyway and I love you so much for it."
"I love you." She blinks.
"You deserve the world." I promise and one day I'll do my best to give that to her and the rest of my family.
"You guys are my world." She wipes her face. "Don't tell Ashton."
"Never." I grin, wrapping my arms around her. "I promise to be better."
"You've always been perfect." She whispers. "Your emotions just needed to catch up."
Holding onto her, I release all my guilt.
Don't be sorry, be better and that's what I plan on doing.
"Scar, I have a confession." I pull back, hating the concern in her eyes for what I'm about to say. "I really, really love Fluffy."
"Get out." She deadpans, pointing to the door.
"Give the fur ball a chance." I beg. "He's cute."
"Out!" A pillow smacks my face as I run for the door.
Snickering, I head downstairs and sneak into my bedroom. Chloe's sleeping in the bed, curled into a ball with her soft breathing filling the room.
For a second, I rest on the edge of my bed, listening to make sure she's okay. My room looks the same. None of the food was touched but a bottle of water is missing. Once I've concluded she's alright, I go to stand up and a hand grabs mine.
"Stay." She mutters, half-asleep.
"But–" Conscious Chloe wanted space.
"Lay down and hug me." She orders, not bothering to open her eyes.
Yes, ma'am. Lifting the covers up, I crawl into bed and she rolls over, throwing an arm around me.
"I'm sorry for kicking you out." She says through a yawn.
"I'm sorry for smothering you." I pull the covers over us. "It was annoying."
"It was cute." She corrects me. "I love it when you do that."
"Don't flatter me."
"I'm not." She yawns again. "I wanted you to stay but I process things better alone."
"I understand." I assure her. Everyone handles things differently.
It's silent for a second and I'm convinced she's fallen asleep when she tightens her arms. "I don't know what I'm going to do about everything."
"We'll deal with that in the morning." I assure her. "Get some sleep."
"m-kay." She whispers, relaxing as sleep takes over again.
We can deal with everything tomorrow.
*****
Happy 1 year, LIH. Sage... this was like pulling teeth but I missed you boo!
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