darling

Thunderstorm

Bit of a TW. This chapter is Aleah telling Kate what has happened to her. How she was kicked out and everything. She also tells Kate about what she did to her arm. You won't miss too much I promise. There is a little fluff at the end but not anything too big. Skip if you need, look out for yourself!

It is mainly: anxiety attack, talking about self harm, and talking about trauma.

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We ended up putting the groceries away and hung out with Kate's parents until 9:30pm. I was so grateful to have her parents in my life. They took such good care of me and treated me like one of their own.

It started to get late so me and Kate started to head downstairs to get ready for bed. I went right to the couch and laid down. Kate went to the bathroom and then slowly snuck into her room so she wouldn't disturb me in my slumber.

<——->

I woke up in a cold sweat. The blanket and pillow were both on the floor. I was gripping onto the couch for dear life.

What was that? I heard a big crash. Am I sure? I think so. I don't know. I'm scared. I hate this. I hate storms.

I started to hear the sound of rain clashing against the roof. The lighting struck trees and the grass outside. The thunder sounded like it was growing at me. I hated thunderstorms. I have always been petrified of them since I was a baby. I would always go to my parents room so my mom could calm me down but I don't have her anymore. I started to sweat and felt fear take over my body.

Without a thought crossing my mind, I ran right into Kate's room so she could comfort me. I laid down on her bed and she seemed to start to wake up when I laid down. I didn't care if I woke her up, I needed her.

She looked over at her phone. 2:56am.

"Aleah?"

I didn't say anything back. I started to feel a tear roll down my cheek. Then another and another, then before I knew it I was sobbing.

Kate flipped over to face me, "Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?"

My voice was trembling, " I- i don't like this."

"Don't like what- oh, the thunderstorm?" She said as she started to wipe the tears off of my face.

"No, I-i would always go t-to my parents so they could c-comfort me. B-but they aren't here," I said while dragging the 'e' in 'here' into my sobs. "I miss them."

"It's ok darling, I'm here for you," she pulled me in close for a hug. We stayed there for a while until I stopped crying. But then I spoke up again.

"They don't love me anymore," I pulled my head out of Kate's shoulder to look her in the eyes.

"Your parents," Kate said, questioning me while looking down at me.

"Yeah."

"Aleah, I promise they still love you. They could never stop loving their beautiful daughter," Kate said while tucking my hair behind my ear.

"No. No they don't. They kicked me out. Brittany told them. They picked me up from s-school and kicked me out into the streets. I didn't k-know where to go. I didn't want to see anyone or ask for help. I-i was scared. I am scared." I said as my voice started to tremble again. Kate looked worried and I saw a tear form in her eye. "They told me they didn't love me anymore. They hate me now. They h-hate me. But Cameron, she packed my bag and wrote me a letter. She still loves m-me."

"A-Aleah," Kate said as now her voice was shaky and a tear rolled down her face.

"I was stuck out in the cold. I slept on a rotten wooden bench. All I had was my j-jacket. I got a hotel at one point. But I didn't have enough money to last long enough. I got too s-stressed out. I didn't have money or someone to look up to." I was now crying again and also I felt like I was ready to tell Kate about what I did to my arm. I started to feel safe around her and felt like I could open up to her. "I-i hurt myself. I was panicking. I didn't know what to do. I didn't mean to. It was all a blur. I'm s-sorry."

"Darling, it's ok. There is no need to apologize. You deserve the world. I am so grateful to have you in my life and to have you here right now. I don't know what I could do without you. I am so grateful that you reached out to me for help and comfort. I love you so much Aleah, I don't want you to ever forget that, ok." Kate said with a soft and soothing voice to calm me down. She still had tears rolling down her face but tried not to show it. I could tell she was worried about me but she didn't want it to show.

I paused for a second and then responded.

"I love you Kate."

"I love you too darling."

I tucked my head back into Kate's shoulder and she rubbed my back to calm me down. I never wanted to let go of her. She makes me feel safe. I feel like she is the only one I can trust at this point. I love her so much. I truly don't know what I would do without Kate. She took me into her home. She gave me shelter. But not only a shelter, she gave me a home.
She meant the world to me.

Kate had one hand on my head and the other on my back. She was twirling my hair and just messing with it. I had my one hand over Kate's body, by her waist. The other was under her, I would squeezing her if I heard the lighting strike. She would hold me tighter to let me know that I was ok. The storm started to die down around 4am and we both started to drift asleep in each other's arms.