Faking Love (Complete)

Chapter 25 - Big Changes

Colton cleared his throat and said, "I don't ask you guys for favors very often, but I'm gonna ask you for a really big one now."

"What is it?" his Mom asked, looking back and forth between us, with a worried look on her face.

Colton looked over at me before looking back at them, saying, "Sydney's going through a lot right now. You guys know her Mom was an alcoholic, but it's a lot worse than that now. She's a full-blown addict and she's never even home. Sydney had to give up all the money she had saved up for our Senior trip to keep the water and electricity on and now her Mom's gonna start charging her rent too or she's gonna get kicked out. But the worst part is, when she got home today, she found out her Mom had invited two convicted felons to move into the house where Sydney lives by herself."

"What?!" his Mom gasped, looking at me and then back at Colton.

"Yeah, and they were both homeless and one of them just got out of a gang. Sydney said the way they look at her gives her the creeps and she barely made it out of there. It's not safe for her to be at that house and she has nowhere else to go." He hesitated, looking at me before looking back at them, asking, "Is there any way she could move in here with us?"

My heart skipped a beat as I looked over at Colton with wide eyes. I had expected him to ask his parents to give me money or something, not for me to move in with them. That was asking way too much.

His Mom didn't even hesitate. "Of course she can. Oh my goodness. You poor thing," she said, coming around the desk and pulling me to my feet to give me a tight hug.

His Dad spoke up and said, "Your Mom's right. There's no way we'd send her back to that house. She can stay here in one of the extra guest rooms."

I was in shock. I couldn't believe he asked them and I really couldn't believe they agreed to it.

Colton looked relieved that they agreed to it and so was I. Relieved, but surprised. His parents were good people.

"Thank you," Colton told them, getting up and giving his Mom and Dad a hug.

"Why do you look so surprised? Did you really think we were gonna turn her away and make her go back there?" his Mom asked, looking offended.

Colton shrugged and said, "No, I figured you guys would say yes. I was just nervous about what I'd do if you didn't. I would've had to figure something out because there was no way in hell I was letting her go back there."

Colton looked at me and said, "I'll go get your stuff outta the car and bring it in," before walking away.

His Dad followed him out of the room and his Mom turned and looked at me.

"And I'll help you get set up in a room. You can have the one with the balcony and french doors that open out to the lake. It has the nicest view and the softest bed," she said with a smile, hooking her arm through mine and leading the way out of the room.

I smiled back and said, "Thank you Mrs. Crawford. I'm not picky though. I'll stay in a closet if it means I don't have to go back home," I laughed, as we headed up the stairs still arm in arm.

She gave me a sympathetic look and said, "Awww I'm sure you would. I'm SO sorry you've had to go through all that with your Mom. I bet it's been tough."

I let out an exhale and nodded. "Yeah, honestly it's been REALLY tough. Pretty much from the time I was twelve, I've had to raise myself cause I couldn't count on my Mom for anything. There was never any food in the house so in the summers when I couldn't count on school lunch I had to ride my bike all the way to the food pantry and then cook, clean and do the laundry myself."