FINDING MY KING

Chapter 55

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

About an hour later, we're all sitting down at the dinner table, and it's pretty quiet. Dean still hasn't told me what happened yet, but I hope Braden has told him. I don't want him bottling things up to where he has a meltdown, just like he did at school when he fought with Anthony.
Dean breaks the silence when he asks how my back is doing, making Braden's head snap up to look at Dean, and then at me.
"What's wrong with your back?" He asked, looking worried. Bless him.
"It's nothing to worry about, honey. I just got myself a little tattoo the other day. It's just a little sore still, but I'll live." I tell him this with a reassuring smile. He then asks what I got. So when I tell him, his face lights up. It's a total change from before.
"I want a tattoo when I get bigger. Dean said he'll teach me how to draw because I want to be a tattoo artist."
My eyebrows hit the ceiling. I'm shocked and quite emotional that Braden wants to follow in Dean's footsteps.
"Wow, really? Gosh, I think I should take it up too, huh? It seems everyone I know is a tattoo artist. Maybe I'm in the wrong job." I tease him, making his face change to one of shock.
"No, you can't quit your job. I need you there. You need to stay there. I need you there!" Braden shouts out in a panic, making me jump, taken back with his words. Before I could tell him I was only kidding, and I'd never leave my job, he jumped out of his chair. He's running off to his room again. Then we hear a lot of banging and shouting, so Dean and I rush upstairs to stop him.
"I won't let YOU! I won't fucking go to that SCHOOL! Not without YOU! I FUCKING HATE THEM! Every day, they bully ME! If you leave, I'll have NO ONE!"
I hear his words as we hit the top step, and when I try to open his door, we stop. We can't enter because he's locked it.
"BRADEN, open up, please, honey." I have to shout out to him. I'm not sure he'll even hear me over the banging and shouting he's doing.
"NO! I won't. I won't let you leave me in that school!"
"Brade, honey, I'm not leaving the school. I was only joking. I'd never leave my job. I can't draw to save my life, honey." I tell him as I huff a laugh to lighten the situation. He's gone quiet, probably thinking about what I've just said to him.
"Honey, open the door, please. I promise I'm not leaving you or work. I'd never leave you. Ever."
"Come on, buddy. Open up. We need to talk to Shell about this. You need to tell her what happened today." Dean says as he stands behind me. Oh god, I'm worried even more now.
"No, it'll make things worse."
"No, it won't, kid. You know, we're both here for you, no matter what."
Shortly after a few moments of waiting, he eventually unlocks the door. I wonder if it's a good idea to keep that lock on it now. I mean, who knows what he could do to himself? When Braden opens the door, my heart breaks. I see the tears rolling down his little face, but that's not the only thing I see when I look behind him. He's trashed his room. I mean, there wasn't much in there, but Dean's desk was still in there with his paperwork and boxes piled on it.
They've all been thrown around, along with all his new clothes and shoes. Braden must see the hurt on my face because what he says next guts me.
"I-I'm sorry, Shell. I thought you were giving up on me. I thought you'd leave me. Please, don't leave me. I promise I'll be good. I promise I won't be bad anymore." He says as he drops to the floor, wrapping his arms around his legs. It's something I've noticed he does when he's upset. Gosh, he's so fragile.
I rush over and sit next to him, pulling him into my embrace. I'm rocking him in a gentle motion, trying to calm him. I'm telling him I'm going nowhere. He'll be part of this family, and we'll be a proper family together.
"Braden, I love you. Honey, you're stuck with us hopefully forever if we have anything to do with it." I tell him, and it makes him cling to me as he sobs his little heart out.
After a while of holding onto each other, he finally speaks again.
"I'm sorry," he said, pulling back slightly. He looks up at me and then at Dean, who's sitting on the edge of his bed with his hand on my shoulder. He wipes his eyes and carries on.
"I'm sorry about your stuff, Dean. I didn't mean to...."
Dean cuts in, telling Braden not to worry about it.
"But kid, you can't keep on lashing out in your room. You cannot do this every time something makes you mad. I mean, you'll end up with nothing in here. We want you to be happy here. We'll try our damn best to make you happy, but we need your help in this too, kid. When stuff gets bad, we need you to be honest with us. We need to know about it so that we can help you. I'm not saying we can fix it all, but we'll do our best, buddy."
As he says this, gosh, I look at Dean. He's amazing. I feel Braden nod his head when he tells him he will.
"I-I promise I'll try."
Dean sighs and asks if he wants to tell me what happened today.
"Or do you want me to tell her for you?"
I feel Braden go rigid in my arms, but then he relaxes before telling us.
"They think I started the fire, then said I tried to kill myself and my foster parents. Then they said they wished I did and that school would be a better place if I wasn't in it."
My whole body jumps and tenses in shock at his words. Oh, my fucking god, are they serious? My eyes snap to Dean's, and he knows what I'm going to do. He sees my rage on this shit, and it won't be pretty when I get back to school tomorrow.
"Please, don't say anything. It'll make things worse." Braden pleads with me with tears in his eyes, threatening to spill over again. I can't just let this go.
"Braden, it's already worse. Look at the state you're in. They shouldn't have said those awful things to you. It needs to stop, and it's my job to help you."
"I know, but they'll come after me again if they find out I've told you. So please don't say anything." He begs me with his eyes, pleading with me not to say anything.
"Okay, I won't say anything for now, but one wrong move from them, and I promise I won't let it go. Brade, I won't have you upset like this again."