My Safe Haven (BxB)

Chapter X - Take Care

Christian's POV

I'm beyond mad right now. The bell just rang signaling the end of our lunch period and neither one of Andrew's friends bothered to stop by like they had promised. He looked so hopeful when I told him some of his friends said they were going to show up at Pam's office to check on him, but the longer we waited, the more the hope drained from his face.

Now that the bell had rang, he just looked defeated. Not even his girlfriend had showed up. Imagine!

"Hey Andrew, I have to go back to class" I say already packing my belongings. I hate leaving him in this state but I really need to get to class because I know Ms. Smith would have my head if I showed up late to her class.

"Okay, I'll see you soon then" he responds, disappointment evident in his voice.

"Just relax okay?"

"I'm tired of relaxing Christian!" he snaps at me. "I'm sorry man but I hope you understand what I mean. I've been resting much like a sick person would but the thing is, I'm not sick, just beat up..."

"Beat up very badly" I add.

"Yay, way to make me feel better" he says sarcastically.

"I just want to ensure that you're alright" I express honestly.

"Why do you care?" damn, this young man has no filter.

"Who said I care?" I retort with a smirk.

"Your actions did" he responds, even I have to acknowledge that his response is very smart.

"Yeah, yeah whatever" I say with a chuckle. "I'm doing all this because I'm a good person..." I am interrupted by Andrew's laughter reverberating in the small office. I would say he sounded so nice if he wasn't laughing at me.

"What? I am a nice person, you just don't know me" I state, feigning hurt. "I mean you've already seen how nice I am. Should I remind you that you are the very same lad that gave me this?" I say gesturing to the bruise he gave me.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that Christian" he expresses genuinely, tension rising once more.

"Don't worry about it Andrew, you're forgiven. But back to what we were talking about, I'm not doing all this because I'm a nice person, but I'm doing all this because you need a real friend" I state, looking deep in his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess" he says, awkwardly rubbing his neck.

"I should go, Pretty Boy" and there's that blush I was looking forward to this morning. Why is he so adorable?

"I told you to stop calling me that" his gaze never meeting mine.

"Okay, I'll stop but promise you'll stay here with Pam" I say looking at him expectantly.

"Okay" he states with a sigh.

"Good, I'll see you soon" I say with a wave, and see myself out of the office.

//////

It's afterschool now and I'm sitting in the office across from Pam, Andrew's whereabouts unknown.

"Well Chris, he just said he wanted some fresh air and I couldn't deprive him of that. I mean, he has been cooped up in here for the whole day so you need to understand why he left" Pam explains.

"I understand Pam, I'm just mad at myself for believing him when he promised me he was going to stay here" I say shaking my head.

"You care about, don't you?" she asks as a matter of fact.

"I don't know why, but I kinda do" I say honestly. "I mean I haven't know him for that long so there's really no saying" I add.

"I see it in your eyes that you care. You know..." Pamela gets interrupted mid-sentence when my phone starts ringing. I retrieve the phone and raise a finger, gesturing that Pamela should give me a minute. I look at the contact displayed on the screen, Home. Who's using the house phone to call me because I'm a 100% sure it's not my mother. Well, let me answer and find out.

"Hello?"

"Hey Chris" oh it's Isabella.

"Oh Bella, what's up?"

"Mom's acting weird again, please come home" Bella pleads.

"You don't have to ask twice, I'll be there as soon as I can" I say, lifting my backpack off of Pam's carpet and wave at her as I walk out of the office. "Leave the house Bella, just in case mom tries something, you'll be able to scream or run-away" I add.

"Okay Chris, I'll see you soon" she responds, then the line went dead.

See, my mother has never laid a hand on either one of her children but one can never confirm what goes on in the head of a person who's given their lives to drugs. Maybe one day she'll get exposed to stuff that will drive her anger levels and the closest outlet for that anger would be us, and who knows what she would do. Well, truth be told I stress mainly for Bella because if our mother decides to let her anger out on her, she wouldn't be able to protect herself.

I drive out of the parking lot fearing the horror that awaits me at home. I just hope that it's not something to severe.

//////

As soon as my house came into view, I could see Bella standing outside. So nothing happened, that's a relief. I park my car on the side of the street and bolt towards my sister.

"Is everything okay Bella? Are you okay?" I question.

"Yeah" she says in a 'duh' voice. "But as for everything else, I think you should go in yourself and see what I meant when I said she's weird."

"I'm dreading what I'll see on the other side of the door but let me just do it" I state with a shrug, as I make my way into the house.

I enter the house with Isabella behind me, where is my moth- Who's that hugging me?

"See what I meant when I said weird?" my sister says not so subtly. Well in her defense, this really is weird. It's not every day where we'll come back to our mother being so affectionate, I'm actually convinced that this hug is the first I've received from my mother in years.

"Christian, honey, how are you?" my mother questions gently.

"I'm alright mom?" The way I said this made it sound like a question. Can you blame me though? I'm not certain where she is taking this conversation, so I have no idea how to respond to all this.

"Chris I need to talk to you" she says looking into my eyes. When she sees that I'm not going to respond, she adds: "Honey I need help." Help? What kind of help? Financial help? Did she cross a drug lord? Does she owe a mafia? Maybe she wants...

"Whose bags are these?" Bella says, interrupting my train of thought. I follow her gaze and my eyes land on a few bags in the family room.

"They are mine" my mother responds. "Chris, this is what I needed to talk to you about. I need to get help and the first step is going to rehab. I've been in touch with your uncle Mark for a few days now and he has found help for me. He's probably on his way over here right now because he's gonna drive me there. I just wanted to say thank you..." she says, breaking down. "I can't say I haven't been the best mom because I know that I haven't been a mom at all. I understand if you don't want anything to do with me, I kn..."

"Mom stop" I say firmly. "I don't hate you, if that's what you think. I'm proud that you're taking this opportunity to better yourself." I add.

"Thank you Christian. Continue taking care of your sister..." stopping momentarily when a honk sounds from the outside. "That must be Mark" she says, making her way to the family room to grab her bags. "I'll miss you guys"

"We'll miss you too. Take care" I state.

"Will do" she says hugging Bella awkwardly, then hugging me. "I'll see you" she adds, before walking out of the house, into what I hope will be a massive step towards her recovery.