Count On Me(32)

She can’t go through anything like this again.

“Isabelle?”

She lifts her head at the sound of my voice and I take that as my chance to move closer. Wrapping my arms around her, pulling her back into my body, I let my hands rest on her head, stroking her hair gently. I have no idea where it came from, but with everything she’s been through today, I figure it can’t hurt. When no argument comes, either in being pushed away or a shaking of her head, I continue, the both of us completely still in the moment.

There is so much I want to say right now, but I know that none of it will come out right. I need to say something though. I can’t just stand here like this, especially now that she’s crying. The sound might be muffled, but I can still hear it clear as day and it breaks my heart.

“You’re welcome.”





Chapter Ten



Belle



I haven’t been here since before his mom left.

That’s what I’m thinking when he unlocks the door and motions for me to come in. The way I see it now, is definitely not the way it looked back then. It’s completely different and it makes me sad.

There are broken bottles all over the place, old food wrappers and even all sorts of different cans thrown about. I really don’t have any idea what to say or do seeing this. My mom doesn’t even drink, so seeing how much of that goes on here is beyond anything I can even begin to understand. When we eat at my house, we always clean up after ourselves, no matter what it is we’ve made or bought, but here, it’s like they don’t even bother.

Is this really what he has to live with?

I can tell he’s not sure what to say or do. I don’t think he ever intended for anyone to see this. It’s bad enough that he has to see it, but for anyone else, it’s got to be even worse. I haven’t seen him look so awkward before. For once, he’s the one that’s different and I can tell by the scowl that’s creeping across his face that he doesn’t like it one bit.

I can’t say I blame him. I’m not sure how I would feel about this either.

“I’m sorry about how the place looks. Dean isn’t much for cleaning.” He offers up and I just nod my head. He was nice enough to bring me here; the least I can do is be understanding about it. He could have easily dumped me on my front lawn after getting me out of the school and not given it another thought. He didn’t though and I appreciated it. Too bad I can’t tell him that.

After standing with me in the bathroom for awhile, he broke away to get the change of clothes he talked about and within five minutes he was back and handing them over to me. I went into the stall to change and wipe myself up as much as possible, making sure that the minute the door shut behind me it was locked as tight as it could go.

He was doing something nice for me, but it didn’t mean I trusted him. I don’t think I’ve ever trusted anyone other than my mom when I get like this. She’s the only one that’s ever dealt with it and didn’t look sad or pitiful. I needed that now, but since she isn’t here, Kayden was going to have to be good enough.

True to his word to Jim earlier, he cleaned up the mess while I changed. I saw the outline of the mop across the floor and I couldn’t help being impressed. That isn’t the Kayden I know, at least not the one that he’s been for almost eight years. The Kayden everyone sees wouldn’t be caught dead doing something like that. He would the one off causing it.



*****



“Do they fit okay?” he calls through to me and the minute the question comes out, I hear him swear under his breath.

My mom taught me something a couple of years ago. If I wasn’t comfortable enough to speak to her, especially when we were out in public, she told me to knock on the table or the door of a change room to answer her. One knock meant yes and two meant no. So that’s what I did for him, even though I was pretty sure he wouldn’t understand it. I knocked once on the door, attempting as best I could to let him know that they fit. It only took a minute or two before he seemed to piece it together.

“Does the knock mean yes?” he asks and I knock once again. I hear his laugh and despite how upset I am and how badly I want to get out of here, I’m happy. At least one of us can laugh in the situation we’re in.

“It’s all cleaned up out here Isabelle. I’m gonna put the bucket back out in the hall and when I come back, you can come out. I’ll get you out of here as quickly as I can, but I can’t promise that people won’t see us.”

I know he’s trying to warn me, but right now, that’s the last thing I want. For the last few minutes I’ve been able to focus on calming myself. Thinking about the looks I would get the minute I stepped out, in his clothes no less, just made it all come flooding back. I’m not entirely sure I can do this after all, even if he did his best to shield me from it.