tomboy ▪ hemmings

9.

(kiss me, like you wanna be loved. this feels like falling in love, ---)

as she left the table half an hour ago, she stayed with Adam, watching some weird movie about some yellow aliens and as bad as she felt weirded out with it, Adam seemed to be enjoying it and that was enough to make her pleased.

Barry came back to call her to the front, and she sighed before kissing Adam's head and walking beside Barry who didn't ask her anything about it. but before she left his side, Barry whispered something to her.

"they seem like nice people, kid. a miracle could happen." Barry winked before leaving her to walk over to them. Liz was there with the boys, and she frowned when she saw that Andy walked over alone.

"where's Adam?" she asked, making Andy confused.

"in the kitchen, why?"

"bring him up front, let him talk to the boys." Liz grinned, obviously proud with her own suggestion. Andy felt like it was outrageous, but it wouldn't hurt no one.

so after asking Adam to follow her, he obliged happily saying that his butt felt numb. Liz greeted him with a hug, and gestured him to walk over to the other lads who seemed to treat them nicely.

"how old are you Andy?" Liz asked, now back at the corner table they recently sat in. Andy knew this was going to happen, and she should've thought better then to fall for her trap.

"why do you want to know?" she asked, her tone slightly annoyed from the question.

"well, you're working here and you seem young. how long have you been working here?"

"I started when I was sixteen. it's legal okay?" she said, trying to calm herself.

"how old are you honey?" Liz asked, her hand slowly placing itself on Andy's hand, but she flinched away from the touch.

"I'm eighteen next month alright!" her voice attracted Adam's attention, and he quickly turned away from talking to the boys to watch his sister. the other boys followed after, but decided to push Adam's thought away and attracted his attention by showing another one of Calum's tattoo.

"okay Andy, I was just curious. if you don't mind me asking, when did your parents pass?" she asked unsure if she should. Andy looked at her surprisingly, maybe shocked to the fact that she knew.

"how did you know that?" she hissed.

"Adam told me, I'm sorry." she started, but decided to push the topic away. Andy struggled to keep her emotions down.

"look, you're still seventeen and you need help to take care of Adam. what happened to your house?" Liz asked, and Andy felt stressed out with all the questions. that was when she felt the salty taste dripping against her lips.

"stop it! okay, just stop! I'm sick of people telling me how I can't take care of Adam because I'm not legal to do so but I've been doing it the past four years! I just lost my house this morning because of some fucking generous buyers but they took my whole past with them okay! I'm lost and I don't need your pressuring and it's just too har-,"

Andy sobbed and her body shook in Liz's arms as she broke down in the middle of the diner. Barry walked out from the back only to rub Andy's back as she sobbed in Liz's arms.

Adam watched from afar, and he felt a few tears dripping against his cheeks, before he leaned against the arm of the nearest lad that he sat to - Luke.

the scene that happened made all of them silent, slowly feeling bad for the girl who had to put up such a tough surface but all of them knew that she was a fragile person deep inside.

Luke didn't know how to comfort a crying boy but as Michael gestured for him to help Adam calm down, so he did as told. he rubbed his back and he heard the constant hiccups of his and he swore he felt his heart shatter a bit.

shut up Luke.

the silence was immediately broken when Liz said something that changed Andy's life. it could change her life, and even Adam's life.

hell, it changed Luke's life too.

"I want to help you, Andy. let me help you, please. you can bring Adam with you, just let me take care of you both." Liz said, her lip quivering from the sight of Andy breaking down in her arms.

Andy wiped away her tears, and let some flow down her cheeks some more. she looked at Liz, her eyes widened and her mouth slightly open.

"are you serious?" she asked, finally finding the strength to say something.

"I know it's hard for you, and I totally understand why you keep exploding at me. but I want to help you out, and I want you let me help you."

Andy blinked her eyes rapidly, slowly letting everything sinking in.

"I c-can't, I don't know you."

"I know, but we can get to know each other. I mean, it gets awfully lonely sometimes, Luke isn't always home cause he can't seem to stay there, and I can use some company."

god, Luke was another chapter to talk about. could she stand that inconsiderate jerk? he'd be blaming her for taking his mother away or some kind of other crap. she didn't think she could handle him.

"I'm sorry, but I think you should rethink this." she said, her tears slowly fading.

"but why Andy? I mean, you need somebody to protect you and Adam. I can be that person, can I? let me prove that to you, let me care for you, let me love you when nobody will."

she dropped her gaze to her fingers, and she thought hard about it. she missed the feeling of being cared for, of being taken care of. she was too busy taking care of Adam, she even forgot her own feelings.

"this is just too much, I mean everything is just too fast. why aren't you pissed at me? I mean you should," she stuttered, her words not seeming to find themselves in order.

she looked over to the other boys, and they were watching over at Liz and her. Barry also kept rubbing her back, making her feel calm somehow. she noticed Luke wasn't watching them, but he was instead comforting Adam who was sobbing too.

"Adam," she called out to the kid, who looked up at the familiar voice calling out for him.

he ran out of Luke's arms and smashed into her arms, gripping tightly against her body. Andy returned the gesture, and she kissed the top of his head repeatedly, tears flooding her eyesight again.

"don't leave me Ands," he said, his eyes looking into her green ones and she immediately shook her head. "don't leave me alone please, I need you."

"I'm not going anywhere Adam, I'm going with you always okay?"

Adam nodded, and Andrea looked at Liz who was wiping away some tears from her eyes.

"Adam, do you want this?" she asked him, and tried to pull out his thumb from his mouth - a habit he never left behind.

"I don't care Ands, as long as you're there." Andy nodded before kissing his forehead as he sat on her lap.

"promise?" she asked, her pinky hanging in the air.

((1223)) -is that such a drastic change? hope the story makes enough sense for yall. x