209-Dizzy

Give Us A Chance

"First and foremost, restraining order." Michael said, with a firm and serious tone, a big contradiction from his normal playful demeanor.

"Will that even work?" Luke asked, shoving his head into his hands and groaning.

We were all sitting around the kitchen table in a circle. Everyone was sipping coffee and trying their best to have a calm conversation, despite the current heaviness that overtook the room.

I felt nothing but guilt for what I'd brought them into.. it was my fucking mess, but I really couldn't handle it on my own anymore. I needed help.

"It's something we can try, especially with an admittance of abuse and a written psych report from Ashton confirming it." Michael replied, acting as the voice of reason among the group.

"I can get started on that today, but I'm not sure how to handle the current marriage situation." Ash replied, drawing in a breath.

I cringed and pulled myself further back into the wooden chair, hating this entire exchange.

"I'll do some research on how to get that situated, and get back to you guys tonight after my shift." Calum pipped in, taking on some responsibility of his own.

A familiar nauseous feeling erupted in my stomach, and I shut my eyes tightly to keep the panic down and away. I needed to stay here and present in this conversation. It was the only way I could ensure that they didn't make any decisions that could end up coming back and hurting them later on.

I felt a nudge on my arm and I glanced over to my left, seeing Luke shooting me a goofy ass face. I kicked him under the table, trying to not interrupt the others. He didn't stop though, rather he slowly crept his arm out under the table and created a sort of puppet with his hand, making it mock each of the guys as they spoke amongst each other.

I shot my hand down and stopped his hand from moving anymore, and in return he started making strangled muffling sounds, causing everyone else to look toward us.

"uh.. Luke, ya good?" Calum questioned, quirking an eyebrow in his direction. He simply shook his head and continued the muffled yelling causing me to laugh let go of his hand.

"Ah holy fuck, I didn't think she was ever gonna let me breathe." The hand puppet said in an incredibly high pitched Luke voice.

"Alright, which one of you gave him drugs?" Michael asked, slamming his hands on the table, startling a snort from Ashton.

"Listen, I'm high on life baby." The puppet said, before transforming into a middle finger and flipping off Michael.

"Aye, watch it." Mike threatened back playfully.

"Alright, alright. In all seriousness, we'll meet back here tonight and discuss what we've figured out, deal?" Ashton asked, taking over the leadership position.

A combinations of agreements came from each one of the guys and slowly everyone pushed themselves away from the table and went on to continue about their day.

Everyone except Luke.

"You good Ali?" He asked, ruffling my hair a bit and turning his full body toward me.

"Yeah, I'm good.. it's just a lot to relive you know?"

"I understand." He confirmed, nodding. "You can skip the meetings if you want, just let us handle it and get everything fixed." He offered.

I shook my head no, and crossed my arms.

"Someone has to make sure you guys don't get hurt, or get off into something you can't handle."

"Alice." He interrupted me, using his hand to turn my face toward him. "I know you're used to having to take care of everyone else, and yourself, but it's not going to be like that here. We're your family and those roles are all about to reverse. We can watch out for each other, and most importantly, we can keep you safe too."

"But Luke, you guys don't even begin to understand what you're getting yourselves into. This isn't going to be as easy or as straightforward as your thinking." I argued, defensively.

"No one expects this to be easy, and we understand that you're definitely the expert when it comes to this topic out of the four of us. But, we're going to get professional help. A lawyer, the cops, security, all of it. We'll still need your help and guidance here and there, but you don't have to carry all of this yourself. Let us help you, so you can take a step back to breathe and heal."

I groaned aloud, still not liking the idea of taking a backseat and letting them control this.

"Just give a chance kid." Luke said, reaching his pinky out toward me to seal a promise. "We're not going to let you down."