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Outer Banks, Figure-Eight August 1st, 2020 11:30 am
Rafe leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss on my lips after he parked the car in front of Susan's house. When we pulled away, I smiled softly and he kissed my forehead, probably to give me more strength, even if I had never told him I was anxious, which I was a lot. "Are you sure you don't want me to wait for you?" he asked against my skin.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine," I responded.
He shrugged and I placed another kiss on his lips, which gave me more strength and helped me feeling better. "Alright ma'am, if you change your mind just call me," he voiced.
I nodded and smiled softly. "Thank you for everything. You're pretty cool," I smiled.
He laughed and I got out of the car, waving softly, until I reached Susan's front door and knocked. After a few seconds, she opened the door and I didn't even hesitate a second, I walked inside and tried to contain my anger. Behind her, on TV, the local newscaster was informing people about the heatwave upcoming, which I would have cared about if more important things weren't going on in my life than meteorological events.
"Janel? What are you d-doing here?" she stuttered.
"I escaped, and I'm never going back there can you hear me?" I told her.
"Janel I was about to come get you, you can't escape places like this or you could be in trouble!" she argued, closing the door behind us.
I shrugged. "I'd rather be in trouble here than safe over there," I announced.
She shook her head. "I was about to come get you so you'd finally be safe," she kept on telling me.
"Safe? Oh yeah- you were about to come get me from the place you sent me to! You could have at least tried to change their mind, but instead you drove them right to my house!" I yelled at her. "I haven't heard of John B ever since I was taken there, I really hope he's okay or it's all on you"
I realised that maybe I was being a little too rude, but she had earned it, and my anger would only disappear if I let it all out. I expected her facials to turn sadder but instead a gentle smile appeared on her face and I started to doubt she understood just how hard it had been for me to be away from everyone I loved. Times were tough, I was still grieving, so was John B, so if there was a moment we needed to be together and not so far away from each other, it was now.
"Exactly, it's all on me," she started to blame herself, but her smile didn't fade away, it even got wider. "I signed up all the papers, declarations, attestations, I'll be your legal guardian from now on, both of you"
At her words, more than being so surprised and taken aback by her decision which had never been discussed before, I felt awfully guilty for all the mean things I had just told her. How could I blame her for not being safe when all she did was care about me and protect me? I teared up and started babbling words that didn't really make any sense, since what she had just announced was so confusing.
