Third Person POV
When Carrie and Mike decided to start fostering kids, it had been the best decision they'd ever made. Every teenager that had ever stayed with them, even for as short as a day, had been worth it and they hoped they had made the kids' lives just that little bit better for it.
When Alden came into their lives they had been thrilled. They knew about his past and what had happened to his parents, and most of all him, and they knew they had to take him in. It wasn't his fault any of the terrible events that had occurred.
Harrison, their last foster had been gone for a few months having found a place of his own at last after turning 18 and ageing out of the foster system, so they had a room for another. And ageing out was such a terrible thing. Carrie and Mike hated the thought of a child never having had parents long enough to help them into adulthood, so they wanted to be the ones that helped even if it was only for a short period. They would have loved to adopt some, in fact all of the kids', they'd had stay with them, but they simply didn't have the space or the finances for it if they wanted to help more kids out. So, they fostered to help in what ways they could, and it was a good thing actually because it meant they could help so many more kids than they ever dreamed of.
It started as Mike's dream before it became Carrie's too. Mike, whose best friend as a teen had been in foster care and told him all the horror tales that came from it. Of course, objectively, he knew not every kid in care had a terrible experience, but he couldn't help but think that they did, and he had wanted to do for others what he hadn't been able to do for his friend. It was when he shared this dream with Carrie a few months into their relationship that Carrie knew she loved this man and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him and make this dream come true together.
It hurt though. It hurt so much to see their kids hurting. And even if they didn't adopt them, every kid they fostered, particularly for a long period of time like they were doing with Alden, felt like their own. So, when they hurt as Alden was hurting now, it broke Carrie and Mike's hearts, especially as they didn't know how to help him. They were too scared to say or do anything that might make Alden feel like they were trying to replace his real parents as that would only upset him more. They did what they could though. They brought him food to his room where luckily, he managed to eat at least a little bit by the time they came to collect his plates again.
He'd been in his room for almost a week now. Towards the end he did start going to college again but as soon as he got back, he would get back in bed and snuggle under the covers where no one could hurt him. His bed was all he felt like he needed, which hurt Roman because he didn't know what to do for his boyfriend either.
Roman tried to visit and keep constant contact so Alden knew he wasn't alone. Roman always sent him funny videos and texted him everything he thought of, but Alden wasn't always in the mood to reply and often gave very short and blunt responses. Roman wasn't mad at him for this though. He just didn't know what to do. How do you help someone whose grief has returned out of the abyss and is trying so hard to drag them in whole?
Roman couldn't let Alden get dragged in again. He couldn't lose him like this. He couldn't lose him at all in fact.
Roman hadn't been lying when he said he'd loved every girl he'd ever dated, but with Alden he was starting to realise what the difference between loving and being in love meant. Not that he was in love with Alden exactly, but he'd already jumped off the cliff and was falling hard and fast and he only hoped Alden would be at the bottom to catch him or at least falling by his side. But Alden was too grief stricken for anything right now and while Roman was falling he felt like his heart was also breaking for the one he was falling for.
He missed Alden's bright smile and those beautiful green eyes that lit up with joy when he saw Roman. Roman had never had anyone look at him that way before and it upset him that there was no one to look at him that way right now. No matter, he was just going to make sure he kept looking at Alden in such a way until his gaze was returned with the same intensity. He wouldn't let Alden think he had been abandoned, so even if Roman had to carry the conversation or just sit in silence while Alden wallowed in his despair, it was worth it.
"Where's Alden been this week love?" Roman's mum asked him that Friday morning. Roman wasn't sure if he would be going to see Alden after college or not. He wanted to of course, but it was more a matter of whether Alden would want him there. He could feel that Alden was slowly coming back to himself as the week was nearing its end, but would he want some space as he finally put the last few pieces of himself back together as best he could? "Haven't seen him much."
"You two haven't broke up, have you?" Roman's dad asked. He didn't actually mean to say it out loud though, but it was a thought he had with every one if his son's ex partners. The longest relationship had lasted two months, the others fizzling out after a few weeks.
He knew it wasn't because his son was bad at relationships, but he loved being in relationships too much and was always too hasty getting into one even if they weren't a good match. He loved to be loved, which in truth had probably been a trait passed down from Romeo himself. But Roman also loved to love, a trait definitely passed down from Sofia who had been the first person to truly show Romeo how amazing commitment could be. He wanted that for his son too. A nice, committed, relationship that lasted, which of course was what he wanted for all his children, though hopefully he wouldn't have to worry about that for Genie for a while yet, and Lorenzo had already found it.
But because Roman loved being in a relationship so much, he didn't wait long to get into the next even before maybe it was the right time. He'd waited the longest with Alden though, having only learnt recently from Roman that they'd been talking for quite some time before they even kissed for the first time, and Romeo thought perhaps that was a good sign. He was able to know the person Alden was before they committed to one another as boyfriends and surely, they wouldn't have broken up so soon after. This time had to be different right? Romeo just wanted the best for his son.
"Dad, really?" Roman asked annoyed. "We're fine, I think. He's just been going through something."
"Okay, sorry. Is he gonna be alright?" Romeo asked his son.
"I hope so," Roman replied quietly. It broke both his parents' hearts to hear their son's voice so quiet, so without the confidence he usually encompassed. They hoped Alden would be okay, of course for him but a larger reason being do they could see their son happy again.
And Dahlia has plans to make sure Alden would come back to his normal self. Not that she didn't think it wasn't okay for Alden to grieve, because of course it was, but he couldn't let the grief take over his whole life again. Exams were coming up at the end of the year and she knew he wanted to do well but if he didn't get back on top of things how could he?
So, Dahlia went over to the Colloways house with the purpose of getting Alden out of bed even if she needed to drag him out with her bare hands. She marched into his room with a purpose when Charlie let her in, not even bothering to knock and was fully prepared to find her best friend hidden under the covers, but to her great surprise, Alden wasn't there. Not that he wasn't in his room, but he just wasn't under the covers being depressed like she imagined he would be. He was actually sat at his desk. Perhaps doing work, but she couldn't be certain.
"Oh, hey," Alden said surprised to see his friend there. She looked like she'd been in a hurry, and she had her typical determined look on her face. Whatever she came here to do, Alden knew she wasn't leaving until it was done. "What's up?"
"Umm, I came here to get you out of bed," she explained still confused. "You seem to be up already though." Dahlia didn't know what to do with herself now and stood awkwardly by the door at having been caught off guard.
"Yeah, I umm... I figured I needed to get some work done," Alden replied feeling just as awkward. He knew he'd put everyone through a weird week with his depressive episode. His hands were dry and sore from how much he'd felt the compulsion to wash them, and while he'd gone to some lessons, he'd been pretty absentminded in most of them.
He felt bad when anyone came to check up on him. He was trying to finish as much of the plates of food Carrie and Mile left for him now and he was actually glad Dahlia was here, just for some company. He didn't know if Roman would come and visit him again later, which he desperately wanted but he wasn't sure how to ask him as Roman hadn't come by for the last two days. Had he gotten tired of him already? Did Alden have too much baggage for Roman to want to deal with? Alden didn't know, and it made him scared. He was starting to realise that the title of a boyfriend didn't improve his confidence in the relationship as much as he might have hoped.
"Yeah. Okay cool. I'm glad you're out of bed Alden," Dahlia said.
"Me too," Alden replied quietly. And he was. He was glad, but of course it's not like his grief had disappeared. In fact, right now it was manifesting in the form of making him want to wash his hands again, but instead of doing that he got some moisturiser and rubbed it between his fingers and palms. That's what seemed to slowly help him last time his compulsions were this bad. Every time he felt like he needed to wash his hands for an unnecessary reason, he was going to moisturise instead.
He told Dahlia how he'd been feeling when she noticed him moisturise for the third time in a row after making herself comfortable in his bed. He told her not just about the compulsions but also how he felt so deeply hurt inside again at having to revisit his parents' death. He told her that he was trying to go back to normal, having mourned for them for so many years prior, but it was just hitting a little harder this week because of what he'd seen and remembered at the house.
Dahlia felt her heart struggle to hear how broken and defeated her best friend sounded. But she was proud of him too for trying to pick himself up again. She told him she would always be there for him, even through the hardest times like these, and Alden told her he knew she would because he really truly did believe that.
He sat there doing work for the next few hours with Dahlia in the room who had gotten some work out for her to catch up on too. She'd come over straight after college so everything she needed had luckily already been on her person. But Alden was feeling quite ready to be done now. He was proud of the little work he'd done, but he still wasn't feeling one hundred percent great again and really just wanted to see his boyfriend.
"Umm, Dahlia?" Alden called. "I umm, I'm gonna ask Roman to come over so..."
"Oh, yeah I get it. Get yourself a boyfriend and you don't need me anymore," Dahlia said having thought the fact that she was joking was perfectly clear.
"Oh... No Dahl, you know I love you," Alden replied his voice sounding small. He didn't want Dahlia to think that he didn't value her as much as he did anymore. How could he not? Dahlia was the one person he knew for sure he loved.
"I'm kidding hun. Don't worry. See you soon," Dahlia replied and, before he left, she gave her best friend a hug. "Love you okay," she said next to his ear which she had to get on her tiptoes to reach.
"Love you," Alden replied squeezing her tightly one more time before she left.
And then he texted Roman asking him to come over and hoped he would say yes.
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What did you guys think of a little third person POV chapter?
Just thought it would be a nice change and I wanted to try it out as I don't write in third person very often.
Remember to vote and comment please it means so much!