I'll take care of you

Chapter 12

Ola fam. How u baes? Penny and Addie, hi babes  <3 my favs. It's Elle's pov. That's all I got enjoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 

I heard the door downstairs open, and Walker suddenly looked very exited.

"Oh! My dad's home! C'mon, Elle!" He was so happy about it as he grabbed my sweater and dragged me down the stairs to meet his dad.

I smiled, I couldn't help it! Walker was so happy about this, and it made me happy. 

His dad stood at the door, getting tackled by Tanner. He was wearing a baseball hat backwards on his head over his long-ish brown hair. He had a huge smile on his face, partially hidden by his facial hair. He hugged Tanner back, and Walker rushed over to give him a hug as well. Jackson stood awkwardly against the wall, watching the sweet family reunion. I shuffled to stand next to him.

I did that half-smile thing where I didn't show any teeth, and it was obvious I felt awkward. Jackson just smiled back, amused.

"Did you want a hug too?" he playfully teased.

"Oh shut up, Jax," I rolled my eyes just as playfully as Leena came down the stairs to hug her father.

Matthew stood next to me, smiling goofily. 

"Someone is too happy," I stage-whispered to Jackson.

"Shut up, Elle," Matthew said, not paying attention to us.

"Someone is in loooove," Jackson drew it out, poking Matthew in the side.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door behind Mr. Scobell.

"I'll grab that," He opened the door to see a tall-ish (5'7) woman with ginger hair, brown-rimmed large glasses, green eyes, and she wore a brown cardigan, green cargo pants,  and a black and pink melting face emoji on her shirt. She smiled warmly at Pete.

"Hello! I'm Penny from CPS and I'm here about the Solace kids?" She said in a warm tone.

"Umm, one second, I'll ask my wife. Heather!!" Mr. Scobell called into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" Mrs. Scobell walked into the entry room, sizing up the situation.

"Hi, I'm Penny from CPS, and I've heard that the Solace kids are here?" Penny re-introduced herself to Mrs. Scobell, shaking her hand firmly.

"Yes, they are. Three of them are actually standing right there. Where's Noah?"

"I think he's still upstairs, I'll grab him," Matthew said, rushing up the stairs.

"Hi, I'm Penny, what are your names??" Penny came over and shook mine and Jackson's hands.

"I'm Jackson and this is Elle," Jackson said awkwardly.

"And you have two more siblings?" Penny asked, mentally taking notes.

"Yeah, Noah and Matthew,"  I said.

"Awesome, okay, I'll just have to have a word with all of you guys outside, okay?" Penny turned around and looked at Mrs. Scobell. "And I do have to have an adult present, so would you mind being out there as well?"

"Oh, not a problem," Mrs. Scobell said merrily as Noah and Matthew came back down. Penny of course had to introduce herself to both of them, then we went into the kitchen.

"Okay, so you guys all know the situation and I've been called here to ask you guys some questions. And if you don't feel comfortable answering a question, you can just skip it, Okay?" Penny said. "How many times a week would you say you average getting abused?"

"1-3" Noah said.

"Okay, and is your broken wrist a result of that?" she asked Jackson, who nodded. "Have you ever been neglected or not fed?"

"Yeah.." Matthew trailed off, nervously scratching the back of his neck.

"How often?"

"Nearly every day," Noah said.

"Alright," Penny straightened up, writing on her notepad very fast. "Due to what you have told me, I will be conducting a search of the house with your parents knowledge, and here is my card."

She handed Noah a small business card, and he took it, nodding.

"Alright, that's all I got. Call me if you need me, and Mrs. Scobell, I'll be back around 8:30 to 9 to take them home. Is that okay or should we take them to a group home in the mean time?"

I tensed up.

"No, no need. They can stay," Mrs. Scobell answered, making my shoulders relax.

"Perfect! I'll be back! Bye Noah, Matthew, Jackson, and Elle!" She shook each of our hands, and walked through the house to the front door.

We walked in, and I started shaking. 

What if she found something? What if we were separated?

As all of the kids sat on the couch, Mr and Mrs. Scobell walked to the kitchen to talk. 

I sat next to Walker on the couch, leaning gently into him. I could tell he noticed me shaking, but didn't say anything; he just wrapped an arm around me.

"What did she say?" Leena asked in a small voice, and Noah told her everything. I hugged my knees into my chest and rested my head against them, trying to hold in my tears. I didn't want to cry again, I really didn't, but the tears just came. I cried quietly into my knees, and Walker pulled me into a hug. 

"I'm sorry, Elle," he whispered into my ear, resting his head against mine.

I just focused on taking slow, deep breaths. No anxiety attacks. None. Not while I wasn't home. I started shaking badly, and I could tell it was coming. I stood up, and mumbled something about using the bathroom, and walked away.

I quickly walked to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me. Immediately, I sunk against the door, sobbing uncontrollably. My chest closed up, and I felt like I was going to die. I thought I was going to throw up. I clutched my stomach, trying to keep it down.

"Elle? Lemme in please.." I could hear Noah knocking impatiently on the door.

I tried to respond, but couldn't. I couldn't get any air. I just cried more, trying to unlock the door.

My fingers fumbled around the lock, and it felt like years until I got it. I slumped back against the floor, curling my knees into my chest. I sobbed uncontrollably, continuously saying I was going to die.

"Elle, relax, you're not going to die. I'm here, you're fine." Noah closed the door, hugging me. I buried my face against him, drinking in his smell. He rubbed my back, trying to calm me.

"Elle, you're okay. You just panicked, okay? Can you tell me what's wrong?"

I tried to choke something out, but couldn't. 

"Alright, I'll guess." He paused for a moment. "You're worried about us getting split up?"

All I could do was nod.

"Elle, look at me." I looked up at him, wiping my face. "I won't let that happen. I promise I'll try to keep us all together, okay? Just calm down" He hugged me again, and we sat like that for a good few minutes.

I had stopped crying, and I felt okay. 

"C'mon, I'm starving." Noah said, walking out of the bathroom.

Srry if it was too sad/ off, I wrote half of it then didn't write any for like a week. And I'm in a mood today so it's a bit sad. BYE BAES