~
"We were born to be real
not to be perfect."
~
*Trigger Warning: The nature of what's going to be talked about is related to suicide.*
Jake's POV
"Rise and shine!" A voice says, bursting into my room.
I groan and turn over, trying to block out the voice.
"Babe come on." Kara's voice says, and I sigh before turning over to look at my beautiful girl.
Last night, Kara stayed over since her parents were, once again, absent from her life. She didn't feel like spending the night alone, so my parents agreed to let her stay over as long as we all made it to school today.
Which right now is proving to be difficult.
"No. Leave me alone." I mumble, pulling my duvet over my head.
I feel her get into my bed, and climb over to where I'm laying under the blanket.
She pulls the blanket down so that she can see my face and I'm met with her smirk.
"If you get up now, I'll join you in the shower." She says suggestively, and suddenly I'm wide awake.
"Meet you there?" I say, getting up.
"Nah, I just said that to get you up. Emma is leaving now and I told her I'd go with her." She says, laughing at my annoyed expression.
"I hate you." I say.
"Love you too. Now get up." She says, giving me a kiss and skipping out of my room.
I fall back into bed with a frustrated sigh. Letting out one more groan, I stand up and grab some clothes before walking to the bathroom.
Caleb is on his way as well and the second we make eye contact, we start running. Of course, I win and make sure to flip him off before closing the door.
"Hate you!" He yells.
"Love you too, brother dearest!" I yell back.
'~'
I was late for school. It was only by like five minutes, so I should be fine. I left the same time Caleb did, so it's not like I'm the only one.
"Mr. Richardson." My English teacher says as I walk into the class.
I just nod my head in acknowledgement, taking my seat in front of Dwight.
I see Emma give me a side glance from where she's sitting, but I ignore it. She's probably gonna give me hell later for being late again.
But I do notice that she's looking better today. A year ago today, I was worried that I would never see her again, so seeing her sit there with a teasing smile on her face is all I can ask for.
It's been about two weeks since I accidentally revealed her secret to the gang. I still feel like absolute shit for that because that should have been on her terms. I get that she was technically the one to say it, but I egged it on.
I've been on high alert these past two weeks though, making sure she's okay. She's still playing her fake smile bit, but I've also noticed how sometimes it's real. We're making progress and that's all I can ask for.
As the teacher drones on about who knows what, I take my phone out and respond to Kara asking if I made it on time.
For the remainder of the class, Dwight and I text jokes about the teacher and I spend the entire class trying not to laugh.
However, I know Dwight played along so that I wouldn't focus on the idiot sitting beside me.
Alex freaking Jones.
I still can't believe I fell for his lies. I mean we all did but I should have recognized it sooner. I shouldn't be surprised at this stage seeing how he literally shares the same genes as Mason.
As pissed as I am though, I can't help but believe him when he says there's more to the story. The guy literally looks miserable. He was just staring down at the desk in a haze, not really paying attention either. I could see the bags under his eyes, and the remorse on his face.
But do I feel bad for him?
Hell no.
The bell rings and I get up, putting the notebook I didn't use in my backpack.
"You're always late somehow." Em says as we're walking out of the classroom.
"Caleb was late too." I say, defending myself immediately.
"That's because someone took five years in the bathroom." Caleb himself answers as he shoves past me in the hallway.
"Whatever!" I yell after him, causing Em to laugh.
"Y'all are such a dysfunctional family." Dwight says, laughing as Caleb flips me off.
"But we're a fun family." Emma says, smiling.
"Are we?" I mumble, earning a hard slap on my shoulder from Emma.
"Yes we are." She says firmly, but with a smile. A real one.
She says goodbye when she spots Chase, and starts to walk to her next class with him.
"She seems happier." Dwight says with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm just hoping it stays that way. Anyways, I'll see you at lunch." I say and give him a fist bump before heading into Government.
I instantly see my girl and I walk up to her, snaking my arms around her from behind. Sierra smiles at us as Kara turns around with a smile.
"Hey!" She says, kissing me on the cheek.
"I'm gonna let you two have your nasty moment." Sierra says, turning around.
"Have you seen yourself with Chase?" I ask her, rolling my eyes.
"Hush." She says, smiling.
"So, I'm sorry that I left you this morning." Kara says, bringing my attention back to her.
"I bet you are." I say, rolling my eyes.
"No really, I am. I'll make it up to you after school at my place?" She says, her voice low and seductive.
I bring her in for another quick kiss because honestly, I can't help it.
"Sounds good." I say, giving her a smirk. She smiles back at me and takes my hand, leading us to our seats.
'~'
"And then it turned out she was using me to get with Travis." Austin says, glaring at Travis.
"Not my fault she prefers me over you." He says, smirking.
"You were supposed to be my wingman." Ausin says, rolling his eyes. "Maybe next time I'll take Caleb instead, right Caleb?"
The guys and I were in the weight room, instead of football since the season was over, and Austin is currently telling us about his latest conquest that Travis apparently 'stole'.
"Do not drag me into this." Caleb mutters, doing another bench press.
I laugh as Austin rolls his eyes again.
"It's weird not having you at the parties." Austin says to me, spotting Dwight as he does his bench press.
"I prefer what I'm doing now." I inform him, causing him to roll his eyes for the millionth time.
"You mean dating?" Travis says, as if the very word itself was venom.
"Yes I mean dating. It's not that bad if you find the right person." I say, my mind drifting to Kara.
"You are whipped." Chase enunciates.
"Says you Chase. Have you seen yourself with Sierra?! Oh wait, you're always with her, nevermind." Austin bites back sarcastically.
"Jake's not wrong." Dwight says and our heads turn towards him in confusion.
"And how would you know that? You've been in like, what, one relationship?"
"Two, thank you very much." He says, rolling his eyes.
"It's not like you need anyone Dwight, you have Em." Travis teases in a singsong voice.
Dwight almost drops his weights and Austin flies in to save him. Dwight sits up abruptly and looks at Travis.
Thank God for spotters right?
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dwight asks.
"Oh come on. There's no way you don't see it." Chase says.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." He says back.
I roll my eyes at how much he's in denial. Everyone but him can see it.
Well, him and Emma.
"Oh come on. You do everything together and you're the number one person she goes to if she wants to get something off her chest." I say, smirking at him.
If I wanted anyone to end up with Emma, it would be Dwight.
"That's not true. She goes to you too." He points out, causing us to laugh.
"Dwight, you know more about my sister than I do." I say, rolling my eyes.
"Whatever. There's nothing going on between me and Em."
"Y'all keep telling yourselves that." Caleb mutters from the corner of the room.
Dwight doesn't respond and just lays back down, sighing.
He so likes her.
'~'
"So where are we going? Cause we all know that lunch was not it today." Sierra says, glaring back at the direction of the cafeteria.
"Diner sounds like a good idea. I'm craving their shakes." Em says from beside me.
"I'm down, let's do it." Travis says.
We were all crowded around the locker area and were about to head out until I see Emma being jerked backwards.
"You little slut!" I hear Mason snarl.
I don't hesitate to pull Emma out of his grip, and shove him up against the lockers, my rage quickly taking over at the sight of his hands on my sister.
"Don't you ever touch her again." I growl, tightening my grip on his collar.
"You better stay out of this Richardson, I wasn't talking to you." Mason says, shoving me off him and glaring at her with so much anger.
"What the hell do you want?" Emma says, standing her ground.
"You killed my child."
It was like someone sucked all the air out of Emma as I see her go pale and Dwight puts an arm around her protectively.
I know he did not just go there.
"H-how do you kn-know about that?" She manages to get out.
"You may not want to be as loud in the bathrooms." He says, looking at the three girls.
What the hell was he doing in the girls bathroom?
Actually never mind.
Emma just seems frozen, and I honestly don't blame her. She's been blaming herself for the baby's death since it happened, and here's the damn source blaming her.
"So not only are you a fucking liar, but a murderer too? What did you do, abort it?" He practically spits out.
"Shut up right now Mason." Austin warns under his breath.
"I d-didn't do anything l-like that." Emma gets out, trying to stand her ground. I can see her crumbling though.
"You killed my child Emma." Mason repeated, his voice raising considerably. "I knew you were useless but you couldn't even give birth to my freaking child!"
"And who do you think caused all of that?!" Dwight yells back at him, stepping in front of Emma.
"Do you really think you can protect her from me? You couldn't back then and you can't now." He scoffs.
"I'm warning you Jones." I say, stepping towards him.
"I'm not scared of you Richardson." He spits back.
"You should be. I'm more of a man than you'll ever be." I say, clenching my fist.
I feel my head whip to the side and stumble slightly as his fist connects with my face.
I curl my fist ready to punch back, but Kara cuts in.
"Jake, don't. He's not worth it." She says.
"Oh cute, your little girlfriend is calming you down." Mason sneers.
Is he actually trying to die?
"Shut the hell up." Kara pretty much yells.
"You better back off Johnson, unless you want what happened to Emma, happen to you too." Mason says, a smirk coming onto his face.
All I see is red as my fist connects with his face, knocking the smirk right off of it.
Mason is quick to punch back, but I'm so angry I don't give him a chance. My fist connects with his face over and over again.
It's all his fault.
He's the reason for it all.
For the pain my sister has been going through for the past year. For the baby. For her suicide attempt. For hurting her by using Alex. For everything.
I'm sick of it.
All I can think about is keeping him away. Away from Emma. Away from Kara. I'm finally here to protect them.
I don't even register arms wrapping around me, pulling me back and pushing me up against the lockers. Austin and Chase are holding me back while Mason lies on the floor. Emma isn't here anymore.
Shit.
When did she leave?
"Calm down right now, Jake." Travis says lowly while standing in front of me, trying to catch my gaze that was still on Mason's body on the ground.
I want to inflict the same pain that he inflicted on Emma.
"Jake! Look at me. You can't. No matter how much you want to, you can't. You're better than this, than him." Kara says, gripping my arm.
I finally take my gaze off of Mason, and meet Kara's eyes.
Her eyes are full of concern and I feel myself calming down slowly.
"Okay." I finally say, watching as Mason pulls himself off the ground.
"Get the fuck away from us." Travis practically spits. "And stay the hell away from Emma."
"This isn't over." Mason spits before walking away.
It takes everything I have not to go after him and begin punching him all over again.
However, Austin and Chase's grips don't loosen, so I don't think I would've had a choice.
It takes me about five minutes to finally calm down enough for Austin and Chase to let go of me.
"Where's Em?" I finally ask.
"She just had to leave for a few minutes. I don't really know where she went." Sierra says, looking in the direction she apparently ran.
"I think I do. I'll be right back." I say, grabbing my backpack and walking out to the football field.
Back when Em and I were freshman, we agreed that if we ever needed to get away, we would hide away under the football field stands. It's been a while since we've done this, but I had a feeling that she was under there right now.
Call it a twin intuition.
As I duck under the stands, I immediately see Em sitting on the ground, staring at the ground.
She looks up and smiles softly at me.
"Hey." She says as I take a seat next to her.
"Hey." I say quietly.
I know how much Emma hates violence. She may have her moments where her anger gets the best of her, we all do, but she's hated it ever since that's what Mason chose.
And I know how much it disappoints her when I choose it too.
"Are you okay?" She asks me, looking over at me.
"Are you?"
She rolls her eyes. "I asked you first."
Sighing, I look down at my busted fists.
"I'm sorry I hit him." I say.
"Why? He deserved it." She says, her voice cold.
Taken aback, I stare at her. She meets my eyes and gives me a confused glance.
"What?"
"I thought you hated violence." I point out.
She just shrugs. "I do, well I did. I still think it's wrong to choose violence, but at some point it's necessary. Mason doesn't ever know when to stop, and sometimes he just needs to be put in his place."
I'm silent for a few minutes, agreeing silently with her.
"What worries me is the anger that was behind those punches from you." She says after a few minutes of silence. "You know, I've had a lot of anger in me, with everything Mason did, and I know how good it feels to finally let it out in the moment. But, take it from me, it's better to just talk about it than punch it out."
I smile at that but then frown.
Hands cover my own, and I look over at Em who's still giving me a small smile.
"Mason isn't the only thing on your mind, is it?"
I don't say anything and she looks back down at the ground.
"I guess it's on your mind too, what happened a year ago today?" She continues quietly.
It's been at the back of my mind, but I've been trying to ignore it.
I guess I was just too scared to admit that I almost lost her for good.
"Of course it is." I say putting my other hand on top of hers. "I was a wreck that day, you know." I say, my voice almost cracking.
I still remember her body slumped on the bathroom floor, the empty bottle of pills, not too far away from her.
I still remember the echo of my screams to alert our parents. The brokenness I felt inside knowing I let her down again.
I still remember the drive to the hospital following my dad. We didn't have time to wait for an ambulance, which is actually what saved her.
I still remember seeing her lying in that bed, unconscious, and not knowing if I would ever see her again.
It's all too real and as Emma reaches over and wipes a tear from my eye, I realize I've started to cry.
"Let it out Jake...everything." She urges.
I don't think she's ready to hear all of that.
"And I know what you're thinking, I can handle it." She says, reading my mind.
I take a deep breath.
"I--I can't really explain it...I was the one who found you Em..." I trail off.
Images of that night cloud my brain and I shake my head, trying to get rid of them, but they aren't going away.
"I was so damn scared Em, scared that I would never see you again. That, the last thing I would've said to you was 'goodnight'. I remember asking myself whether or not I told you I loved you. If I had let you know that you were loved...or if you were dying feeling unloved.
"I was scared that I would never get to see you again. That the last time I would see you would be you in that hospital bed. I also remember feeling so angry with you...how could you want to leave us? To leave me? We've been there for each other since birth and you didn't let me be there for you in this.
"Did...did I do something wrong?" I ask, voicing out my thoughts. "Did I not help you properly...was I not enough reason to stay?"
I cut myself off because I just can't bring myself to keep going. I don't want to hinder her progress. She seems to be doing so well.
"Jake...you did nothing wrong. That was my decision." She says softly.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." I say, throwing her a weak smile.
"Jake, you don't have to cover up what you're feeling for my sake. I had no idea that you had those thoughts, but you did nothing wrong. You have to know that." She says.
"But I did do something wrong Em...I let you down. It all goes back to that night. If Mason would have never done what he did, everything would be okay. But he did, and I wasn't there. I was too busy being pissed off at you for not listening to me, that I wasn't there.
"I told you to not come to me when he hurts you...and he did. And I've regretted it every since. I'm so sorry Em." I say, as another tear runs down my face.
"Jake..." She trails off as she pulls me into a side hug. I wrap my arm around her and lay my head on top of hers.
"I had no idea." She said shakily and I could tell that she had started crying too.
I laugh through my tears.
"We're a mess aren't we?" I say, referring to our current state and she laughs a little.
"You know, all of the therapy that I've been in since my attempt has been trying to get me to come to terms with why I did it. That's what everyone wants to know: the why. And you have to know Jake that it was never your fault.
"I couldn't cope with what happened to me, and some days I still don't think I can. Mason didn't just hit me...you know what he did to me." She says, pausing to take a deep breath and I try to push down my anger towards him again.
"I can't explain to you the feeling of having that taken from you Jake. I felt like I had absolutely no control in my life, no control over my body, no control over my mind. Losing the baby was just the tipping point.
"But, as much as the attempt hurt everyone around me, I can't say that I regret it. Because without it, I wouldn't be where I am now." She says softly, and I can tell that she's trying to gauge my reaction.
"I get it." I say softly, because while I wish that attempt never happened, I don't know where we would be today if that wouldn't have happened.
"I think it's time I slowly started putting the pieces of myself back together. What do you think?" She says, wiping away a few stray tears.
I pull back to look at her and get a little bit surprised when I see determination shining in her eyes.
It's been a while since I've seen her look like this.
"Only if you're ready Em, no one's expecting you to suddenly be alright again. You can take it slow." I say, still concerned about her.
"It's alright Jake, I want to get better. I know that it's not going to happen overnight, but if I don't make the decision to start working on it, I'm never going to get anywhere. I'm done letting Mason rule my life. He's just a person."
"I'm so proud of you." I tell her, hugging her tighter.
"I'm proud of you too. I know I'm not the easiest to handle, and yet you never leave."
"You can't get rid of me that easily." I say with a chuckle. She laughs as well and we stay sitting there in silence for a few more minutes.
"You ready to actually go get food? Because I'm starving." She asks me and I smile.
"Yeah, I'm sure the gang thinks we died." I say, standing while helping her up too.
"Come on before they send a whole search party after us." She says.
"Don't you mean Austin sends a whole search party? I say, causing us to laugh.
'~'
"Hey we'll see y'all later." I say, my arm slung around Kara as we exit the diner.
"Remember you're too young to be parents!" Emma calls after us, causing us to flip her off.
"Shut up!" Kara yells back.
I open the door for Kara and she hops into my truck. Walking around, I climb into the truck and start to drive towards her house.
"How are your hands feeling?" She asks as I reach over to hold her hand.
"Better now." I say, giving her hand a small squeeze.
"I know I've seen you angry, but today..." She trails off, looking out the window.
I glance at her quickly and grip the wheel.
"I'm sorry Kar." I say quietly. She shakes her head and smiles.
"It's fine Jake, I understand. He threatened not only your sister, but me too. I would have done the same if it was the other way around."
I just nod.
"I love you." She reminds me, causing me to look over at her.
"I love you too." I say, giving her a smile and she squeezes my hand in response.
I'm so lucky I have her.
I practically grew up with Kara and for a long time, I saw her as another sister. I'm not exactly sure when the feelings started to change, but I do know that I screwed up a lot of things with her. The fact that she even gave me a chance just shows how perfect she is.
But our relationship isn't always perfect. We have our fair share of things we have to work through, most of it coming from her parents and how she learned to deal with things versus how I did. But, she's worth fighting for and she's worth so much more than she thinks.
And I'm so lucky she chose me to be hers.
I look over to see her in deep thought, and I sigh before squeezing her hand.
"Have you heard anything from them?" I ask.
Her 'parents' left on a business trip months ago and still haven't bothered to contact their only daughter. With her brother leaving as soon as he was old enough to move out, they're all she has left family wise, and it breaks my heart how terrible they are to her.
"No, I'm starting to think they've forgotten about me." She says, quietly.
"Kar..." I start.
"It's fine, I'm over it. I'm just tired of coming back to an empty house." She says, sighing.
"You know you always have a home with us and me."
She smiles. "I know, and I'm so grateful."
We pull up to her house and I see her shoulders sag a little bit. I feel like she always has a small amount of hope that her parents will be home one day when she gets home.
"Come on, let's go watch a movie to take your mind off of things." I tell her, getting out.
"Okay, but it's my turn to choose the movie."
I groan and throw my head back. "You always pick those romance movies that make you cry."
"They're the best! You always pick action movies that have so many gorey things in them."
"Because they're the best! I'd rather be on the edge of my seat than crying my eyes out."
She scoffs as she unlocks her door. "You don't cry, you just make fun of me for crying."
"Because it's funny to see you cry over something so dumb." I defend, causing her to punch my arm as we walk inside and she shuts the door.
"It's called being romantic Jake." She says, rolling her eyes.
I reach over and set my hands on her waist, pulling her close.
"Let me show you just how romantic I can be." I say, my voice low.
She smiles as I lean forward and plant my lips on hers. She sighs in content as she begins to kiss me back.
Her arms wrap around my neck as she pulls me closer to her. I grip her waist tighter and she moans into my mouth.
"Do you wanna move this up to my room?" She asks breathlessly.
"Are you sure? I know how bad you wanted to watch that movie." I say, smirking.
"Just shut up and kiss me." She says, pulling me towards her again.
Just as I was about to pick her up, we heard keys rustling in the door and quickly jumped apart.
"Who's that?" I ask, trying to control my breathing.
She shrugs, but I see a sliver of hope in her eyes.
"I swear, Henry, you can't even put keys in the door right." Her mom's voice says harshly, and Kara sighs.
Whether it's of relief or frustration I'm not sure.
The door opens to reveal Kara's parents, both of them having an angry look on their faces.
"Kara, whose truck is parked in our spot?" Her dad says angrily, and I feel my anger begin to rise.
They've been gone for months with no contact and the first thing they say to her is asking whose truck is in their spot? Seriously?
Their eyes land on me and I try to hold back my anger for Kara's sake.
"Jake Richardson? It's been so long since we've seen you." Her mom says.
Whose fault is that?
Maybe talk to your daughter first.
"Yeah, it's good to see you." I say, trying my best to sound polite.
They shut the door fully and walk in. Her mom removes her coat and her dad puts down his briefcase. I glance over at Kara to see that her face is stoic.
My heart breaks for her, and I reach over to grab her hand. She smiles at me gratefully.
"Did we miss something?" Her mom asks, staring at our locked hands.
"Yeah the entire beginning of my senior year, my birthday, Thanksgiving, literally everything." Kara says, her voice hard.
Oh damn.
Silence engulfs us as her parents are taken aback.
"You haven't seen me in months and you can't even be bothered to ask me how I am? Or check up on me? You cut off all contact with your only daughter and the first thing you're concerned about is the fact that my boyfriend parked his truck in your space?!" She says, her voice rising throughout her rant.
"Excuse you, young lady. You will talk to us with respect like we raised you to." Her father says, his voice cold.
I see the anger rise in Kara's face and I take a step back.
Shit is about to hit the fan.
"You raised me better than that? You? The father who's never home? The mother who never cared about how I'm doing or what's going on in my life? The parents who would rather scream at each other while their kids are in the next room instead of taking it somewhere where their kids aren't?
"And you raised me to have respect for you? How do you expect me to give you respect when my entire life has just been listening to y'all disrespect each other? That's not how you respect each other dad."
I have to bite back my grin at their shocked facial expressions.
That's my girl.
"Kara Johnson, how dare you?" Her mom sputters. "We've tried our best for you and your brother."
"Really? Then why did Aiden move out as soon as possible and has absolutely no contact with us? Who do you think pushed him to do that mom?"
"You're such a disrespectful daughter." She says, tears glistening in her eyes.
"I can't believe this." Her dad says, muttering under his breath.
It's literally taking everything I have not to let my anger get the best of me. But this is something that Kara has to do herself.
"I can't do this. Y'all don't have the right to judge me when y'all don't even know me anymore. I'm done." Kara says, tears brimming in her eyes. She backs away slowly, and I could tell her emotions were getting the best of her.
She turns around and runs upstairs, leaving her parents behind.
I don't say anything to them as I follow Kara upstairs.
I knock lightly on her door and see her sitting on her bed. The way she was sitting reminded me a lot of how I would find Emma.
She looked defeated and I felt so helpless, once again.
I walk over to her and kneel in front of her.
"Hey, I'm right here." I say softly, putting a hand on her knee. She looks up at me, tears still in her eyes.
"Oh baby." I say, grabbing her hand.
"They didn't even care." She says through her tears. "I haven't seen them in months Jake...months."
"I thought that if I waited for them to come back, we could try and be a family again. I wouldn't be alone anymore, every time I came home. But I was wrong." She says, as tears continue to fall.
I reach up to wipe them away and cup her cheek.
"Kar, you will never be alone okay? I'm here for you, always. I'll always be your home to fall back onto."
That makes her cry harder and I reach over and pull her into my arms, letting her bury her head into my chest as she cries.
"I love you baby." I say softly, kissing the top of her head. "Always and forever."
'~'
"So you haven't heard from her since?" Em asks me later that day.
Kara's parents ended up coming and kicking me out, and I unfortunately had to leave against my will.
I didn't want to leave her, but her parents said they needed to talk about some family matters.
As soon as I got home, I filled Emma in with everything and since then we've been scheming on what to do to help Kara.
"No, she hasn't sent a text or anything. I'm worried about her." I say, running my fingers through my hair.
I glance outside and see that it's currently pouring down rain.
"I'm sure she's okay. This is Kara, she's stronger than nails."
"You didn't see her Em...she looked so defeated."
"Yeah, I've seen that look so many times over the years. As soon as she gives me the okay, I'll be over there with chocolate and movies." She tells me, changing positions on the couch.
I just nod and a knock on the door pulls me out of my thoughts.
"I got it." I mutter, getting up to walk to the door.
I'm met with the sight of my girlfriend soaked from the rain, looking heartbroken.
"Kar?" I ask, pulling her inside. Emma looks up from her spot on the couch and rushes to her side.
"What's wrong?" She asks. "What happened?"
"T-They're getting a divorce..." Kara cries before practically collapsing in my arms.
My eyes widen at the news and I just hug her tighter, holding her head to my chest as she sobs.
"Shh, I got you." I whisper as I gently sway us.
"Who's at the door?" My mom's voice says as she pokes her head out from the kitchen.
"Kara?" She says, practically rushing to her side. "What's wrong honey?"
I hear Emma quietly whisper, no doubt filling her in. My mom gasps, and reaches over to stroke Kara's hair.
"We love you sweetheart, you'll always have a home with us." She says, repeating what I said to her earlier which causes Kara to cry harder. In response, I pull her closer to my chest.
"I got you baby." I whisper over and over again.
I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I've seen Kara completely breakdown up to the point where her sobs are taking over her body. And each time, my heart breaks a thousand times more.
The fact that her parents, the ones who are supposed to be her comfort, are the reason she's breaking down, frustrates me beyond belief.
I'm not sure how long we stand there, Kara sobbing in my chest and Emma and my mom helping me try to calm her down.
"O-okay, I'm okay." She says, pulling away and wiping her face.
I kiss her forehead before Emma pulls her in for a hug.
"Hey mo--never mind." Caleb says, as he walks in but cuts himself off once he sees the situation.
Kara laughs at him through her tears as he slowly backs out. I smile at the sound of her laugh.
"Your brother is something else." She says, and we laugh with her.
"Come on dear, let's get you into something more comfortable." My mom leads us to the kitchen as I wrap my arm around Kara's shoulder.
"I love you." I whisper and she smiles.
"I love you too."
'~'
Hey y'all!
So...this particular chapter took a while to get together which is why it's so late, but we appreciate the patience!
Don't forget to give us your feedback! Comment and vote!
~Marie Black :)