Chapter 28
'Are you sure they'll like me?' I asked Drew for the fifth time
''Of course. Why are you still asking?"
"Cause its unexpected. I don't want to seem like a nuisance"
"Let's go"
I told him about Damien and I. He was angry about it at first but cooled down after a bit. He was just mad that I wasn't honest with him from the beginning. I apologized and he let it go. It isn't much of a big deal anyways.
Since the night is still young, we decided to go over to his house.
He held my hand as we entered his house. It was actually very nice and neat too. Sure, it isn't a mansion but it seemed very cozy and cute. Like a place you would love to stay in and drink hot chocolate on a snow day. I felt at home immediately. It had a warm vibe to it
A little girl who I assumed is his sister was on the floor watching TV. Her eyes lit up when she saw Drew.
"Big brother!"
She ran over to hug him. She was so cute. She looked about six years old. She had blond hair and pretty eyes.
''Hi sweetie" he replied dropping her on the floor
"Hello" I smiled at her
I crouched down to her level
"Hi, my name's Abby. What's yours?"
"Bella"
"That's a pretty name"
"You're a pretty girl"
"Thank you. Its nice to meet you"
She gave me a hug. My heart literally melted
A voice was heard from inside the house
"Drew, is that you?"
A woman came out. I think its his foster mom
"Hey mom. I brought my girlfriend home"
She smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back. She's so pretty and seems friendly.
"Hi. I'm Bella"
She hugged me
"Its nice to have you here dear. My name is Sharon. You're so beautiful"
"Thank you ma'am, so are you"
"Thank you darling. Come have a seat"
"I actually I brought her here so we could talk privately" Drew said
"Oh I see, maybe some other time we'll get to talk"
"Yes ma'am"
What a nice family. My mom could never be as welcoming to a stranger.
Drew took me upstairs to his room. It was exactly what I expected; dark and plain but neat nonetheless.
He laid on his bed while I looked around
"Come here" he whispered
I don't know why but I find those two words very sexy. When a guy tells you "come here" it sounds so dominating and... You get what I mean
I went to lie beside him. He turned off one of the light switches making the room look darker.
I snuggled closer to him enjoying his scent
"Tell me what happened between you and Damien"
I sighed
"Do you really wanna know?"
"Yes"
"Fine. I'll tell you only if you tell me the story about your eye too"
He was quiet for a while before he answered
"Deal"
"Where do I start? I was in the ninth grade when he graduated. I met him at a family dinner. Our parents are very close. I was instantly attracted when I saw him, he felt the same way too. That night we exchanged numbers. After that, we kept seeing each other. We went on dates and hung out a lot. We liked each other but he felt I was too young for him. Long story short, we dated. He took my virginity"
I felt Drew's hands tighten round mine
"Are you okay?" I asked
"Yeah. Go ahead"
"We dated for a while before he had to go back to his hometown; France to go to college. We broke up. He's been gone for two years. Whenever he comes for holidays, we'd hook up and stuff. We stayed in touch till he came back last week. He's graduated and he's going to work here. That's it"
He was silent for a while taking in everything I just said
"Do you still have feelings for him?" He asked me
"Not at all"
He kissed my forehead
"I believe you"
"Good. Tell me what happened to your eye"
"It happened when I was seven. Ever since my dad lost his job, he became abusive. He hit my mum and I on a daily basis. He would borrow money from people just to get high. One night, I heard screaming, it was so loud to have woken me up from sleep. I ran to my parent's room. My dad was trying to have sex with my mum but she refused so he started hitting her. I stood there watching how he hit her. There was so much blood but he didn't stop. He even threatened to stab her with a knife in his hands saying her body belongs to him. That image still haunts me till today"
He stopped and took a deep breath in
"You don't have to continue"
"I want to. Just give me a minute"
"Take your time"
After a few seconds, he continued
"I snapped out of it and ran to the basement where I know my dad hid a gun. I went back to the room and screamed at my dad to stop. He got up from the bed and slashed my eye with the knife, that's how I got this scar. Impulsively, shot him right in the chest"
I gasped
"Oh my god. Did he die?"
"Yes. All I could see was red. My mom tried to stop me. I wasn't even thinking when I shot her too. I lost control and I didn't know how to use a gun. As soon as I realized it was her I rushed to call the ambulance. Turned out she was pregnant. The doctors tried all they could to revive them but failed. They died in the end. I explained what happened to the police. I went to rehab for a year then they put me up for adoption"
I didn't even know what to say. So the rumours were true, he killed his parents. I know its not intentional but still.
"Do you hate me now?" His eyes were stained with tears
"I can never hate you. I'm just shocked. How was the orphanage like?"
"Very bad. The older boys would beat me just to get a reaction. I couldn't fight back cause I was on probation, I didn't want any trouble"
"Do you have any scars?"
"Yeah"
He sat at the edge of the bed removing his shirt. A big scar was in the middle of his back. It looked so painful
"What happened?"
"Apparently a boy thought it would be funny to press a hot iron on my back just because I didn't wash his clothes well"
I almost cried. He didn't deserve any of this, no one does. I traced it with my fingers
"Its beautiful" I whispered
He laughed
"How?"
I kissed it softly
"It represents part of your pain. You turned it into something better. Its a piece of art to me"
He turned around to face me
"Really? "
"Really"
He was about to kiss me till someone knocked on the door
"Come in"
Abby came in. She walked to us and laid in between. I admired how confident she is considering she just met me.
"How old are you Abby? " I asked
She counted her fingers and held up six
"I'm five"
I added one finger for her. She giggled
"Oops my bad"
She's sooo cute
"Come here"
I opened my arms for her to jump in. I wrapped my arm around her to play with her long silky blonde hair.
"She's autistic"Drew whispered to me
"Oh"
"Go to your room Abby" he told her
She pouted
"But I wanna stay with Bella"
"Please"
"Fine but you owe me candy"
"Of course baby girl"
"Gimme a kiss"
Drew gave her a peck on the cheek. I gave her one too
"Bye Drew. Bye Bella"
I helped her get down
"Thank you" she said smiling
"You're welcome"
She waved then left the room
"I think you should go home" Drew said
"Yeah"
He was getting up from the bed
"I'll walk you to the door"
I actually want to be alone in order to process everything that I just heard.
"No its fine"
"You sure?"
"Yeah"
He gave me a short kiss before I left the room
I looked for Sharon to say goodbye but there was no sign of her in the living room
"Sharon?"
"In here"
I followed the sound of her voice which led me to the kitchen
She smiled when she saw me
"Hi Bella"
"Hey. I wanted to see you. I'm about to go home"
" How sweet of you. Do you have time to spare?"
It was 8:15pm. I'm late already so I might as well stay
"Sure"
She led me back to the living room for us to sit.
"Can you be honest with me?" She started
"Of course"
"How do you feel about Drew?"
I grinned widely
"I really like him, even though we haven't been together that long"
"I see that look in your face" she teased
"Oh stop"
"Ah young love. How refreshing"
"What about you? Do you have boyfriend?"
I regretted asking that question when I saw the sad look on her face
"I was married but he died"
I covered my mouth in shock
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry"
"Its okay"
"Mind telling me what happened?"
"He was in the army. It happened on the day Abby was born. On his way to the hospital to meet me, he got into an accident. He died holding Abby in his arms two days after"
"I'm sorry"
"Its okay. I adopted Drew a year after"
"Oh"
"Please don't leave him. I haven't seen him this happy before"
'I won't, unless he gives me a reason to"
"I hope he doesn't. I hope you two last"
"I hope so too"
"If you ever need anything like advice or just someone to talk to, you can come to me. I'm your friend"
"Thank you"
"You should get going. Your parents must be worried"
"Thanks"
"You're welcome"
I gave her a warm hug. We said our goodbye's then I left
****
I was about to sleep when I heard a knock on my door
It better not be my mum. We had a confrontation when I came back
She said she doesn't want me near Drew anymore
"Come in"
To my surprise, it was Steve
"Hey kiddo"
I started hyperventilating. Beads of sweat ran down my neck. It reminded me of when my dad would sneak into my room to molest me.
Calm down, Steve isn't like that
"Can I sit on your bed?"
I nodded. He sat on the edge
"How you feeling?" He asked
"Not good"
"I'm sorry about dinner"
"Its fine. Its over"
My mind became calmer
"I get your mom loves you but she should be less harsh"
"Tell that to her"
"I might have an idea why she doesn't like Drew"
"Which is?"
"Can you keep a secret kid?"
"Yes"
"Your mom was heartbroken by a someone that wasn't as rich as her when she was a teenager"
My eyes widened in surprised
"What?"
He covered my mouth with his hand
"Shhh, don't let her hear you"
"Sorry. Tell me what happened"
Before he could even respond Gerald barged in
"I heard you scream, are you okay?"
His eyes landed on Steve
"Steve what are you doing here?" he asked defensively
I smiled at his actions
"Its okay come sit. He wants to tell us a story about mom"
He calmed down when he noticed how relaxed I was.I made space for him to lie beside me
"I feel like a baby being told a bedtime story" Gerald joked
"Shhh" I hushed him "continue please"
"Your dad was very poor till he met your mom. Your mom practically lifted him. Gave him all he needed, started a business for him but he kept cheating on her, using her money to spend on other women. They got married because she loved him that much now look how it turned out. He's facing a life sentence in jail for sexually abusing you and committing crimes"
"Wow" was all we could say
"This is the reason why she doesn't like Bella and Drew together" Gerald said
"I never knew"
"Don't blame your mom. She doesn't want you making the same mistakes she did"
It all made sense now
"I have to go back to the room so she won't look for me"
"Okay"
"Good night kids"
"Night Steve"