Saved//Green Day

Chapter 23

Adie's POV

Once Andy came back into Chelsea's room, I said goodbye and went back to Billie's room. Joey, Cole, Seb, Max, Tré, Mike, and Billie were crammed into the room.

"...And then, this f*cking dumb*ss driver t-boned the car and then I passed out," Billie explained the crash, completely unaffected by the fact he could've died.

"Hey, Adie," they all said at once, each voice piling over each other. "Hi, everyone...um, we have a bit of a problem," I stated. They immediately looked at me and Billie asked,"What is it?"

"Chelsea has a boy in her room, and I think he might be playing her," I admitted.

"SHE HAS A WHAT IN HER ROOM?!" Billie questioned very loudly.

"Wait, wait, wait. The first day she's outside the house she gets a date, but it takes me, like, two whole months to get a girl's number?! What the hell!" Joey thought out loud.

"Hold up. It's her first time outside of the house?" Cole asked. The room fell silent, but not for long once Billie said, "Yeah. It's a long story..."

"Oh...sorry I asked," Cole apologized.

"Let's get back on topic," Mike began, "She's fourteen. When I was her age, I was allowed to date, but I never dated anyone who was into me for money or whatever I had."

"Okay? So what are you saying? I shouldn't let her date him? Because I agree with that idea...maybe she'll never date anyone ever, and she'll just be my daughter," Billie mumbled the last sentence.

I walked over to Billie and sat at the edge of his hospital bed. "Billie, we can't keep her sheltered from everything in the world like her parents did...you know it's not right," I told him.

"I'm so lost right now," Seb "whispered" to Max. "I know. Her parents died in a car accident.... Maybe, they were abusive?" Max whispered back to Seb. They both shrugged their shoulders and divided their attention back to the conversation.

"I've got it!" Tré began. "Jakob or Joey finds someone better for her, and then we make the other kid disappear."

"This isn't The Godfather! We aren't gonna go make people disappear," Mike said.

"I mean, we could make him disappear, y'know..." Billie trailed off.

"By the way, there's no one who would be good enough for you, Dad...you would hate all of them," Joey stated as he rolled his eyes.

"Here's a thought; Why don't you just tell her she's not allowed to date until she's sixteen?" I finally speak up.

Billie thought for a moment. "But then she'll still be able to date someone," he whined.

"Well, yeah. Eventually, she will, and you're gonna have to deal with it," I spoke softly.

"Allow me to educate Beej!" Tré began, "I wasn't happy when Ramona(Tré's daughter) started dating, but you've gotta deal with it. Plus, most of them are only around for a short time before our daughters find out that the guy is a d*ck. So, yeah. It sucks balls, but you've just gotta roll with it."

"Having a daughter sucks!" Billie complained even more.

"Let's not forget that she has the best brothers! We aren't gonna let her date anyone! Especially, if they go to our school," Jakob commented.

"Wanna know what'd be hilarious? If Chelsea dated one of us," Cole joked and got a laugh from Jakob, Joey, Tré, Mike, Max, Seb, and I. Billie , on the other hand, wasn't laughing at all.

"Oh, c'mon! Lighten up! That's not gonna actually happen," Mike reassured Billie.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go meet this kid," Billie said as he attempted to get up. He fell back into his bed and everyone, in unison and including me, rolled their eyes at his attempt. "God dammit! Why do I have to have broken ribs?!" he added.

"Don't worry, Dad. We've got this," Jakob said, motioning for Joey and his friends to follow.

Once they left the room, the rest of us talked about Chelsea's case that was slowly approaching. I'll save you the boring details and tell you the important things. First of all, we needed to make sure that Chelsea spoke to our lawyer and gave him the full story. Next, we needed to cut off all contact with her mother and sister, no matter how hard that would be on Chelsea. And, the hardest part of it all, we had to convince her mother to give up all of her rights. Technically, at that time, Chelsea's mother didn't have most of her rights, but neither did we. Mike, Tré, Billie, and I agreed to keep the secret from the kids, especially Chelsea. Because, in all of this madness, we were only Chelsea's foster parents, but we planned on adopting her after the case, so we called ourselves her adoptive parents. We should've just told her, but we didn't plan/think ahead. I think that was what hurt the most.

The door opened, and it was almost as if I knew what was about to happen. Sabrina walked in with a pitiful expression across her face. "Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, I need to talk to you for just one moment...and I think Chelsea needs to be here as well," she stated in a monotone voice. Mike and Tré left the room, and we waited for them to bring Chelsea. Billie grabbed my hand and drew circles with his thumb. Chelsea walked into the room and sat next to me with a smile upon her face. It killed me to know that her smile wasn't going to last for long.

"Chelsea, there's no easy way to tell you this, and if I could choose, I'd choose the right thing. But I'm sorry. It's just not going to happen," Sabrina began as Chelsea's smile started to fade, "Your mother hasn't given up all of her rights, therefore, she's going to take you back. I wish so much that things were different, I really do, but this is the way it has to be. None of us have control over it."

"I'll leave you alone to say goodbye," Sabrina said, leaving the room. Chelsea looked up at me, and was looking for help to get out of it. I shook my head and pulled her close as she cried in terror. Billie used whatever strength he had left to sit up and comfort her. He rubbed her back and we both began to cry lightly. "I don't wanna go with her! She's going to hurt me all over again, and she'll end up killing me. Please, please, I'm begging you, don't make me go," she begged.

"I wish we could, Chels. We don't want you to go either, but I promise that I am going to do everything possible to get you back permanently. And you are still an Armstrong, even with a different last name. Don't you dare forget that," Billie told her before kissing the top of her head. "We can walk you to her if that'll help," I offered. She nodded her head with one final request, "If she kills me, or if I get sentenced to prison for her crime, please don't forget that I existed...just forget the fact that you knew me."

Billie stayed quiet and looked at me as if he'd just got a piece of his heart ripped out. I stood up and pulled Chelsea into a proper hug, already preparing for the absolute worse. It was almost like I was saying my final goodbye, good riddance one might say. To this day, I always remember that moment where everything felt numb.

Soon enough, Mike and Tré walked in and once we told them what happened, they grabbed Chelsea and hugged her as tight as possible. "Listen, kid, we will get you away from her as soon as we can. I promise," Mike had told her. "Your mom will lose the case and Billie and Adrienne can adopt you permanently. You can trust that we will make that happen. Okay?" Tré promised her.

A few minutes later, the boys(Jakob, Joey, and Joey's friends) came into the room. They seemed more angry rather than sad, which was understandable. Cole, Max, and Seb didn't need to know the full story to know how terrible we all felt. Sabrina eventually walked back in and told us to follow her.

That was it. That was the last few moments where I felt numb. As we walked, I wondered how someone who never talked, and practically lived inside her room could somehow find a place in my heart. Then, it all made sense. She was the daughter I've always wanted. And when you love one of your kids, you don't care about their imperfections because you love the hell out of them. That's how I felt about Chelsea. 

A/N: Heyyy beautiful people!!! Sorry to update w/such a sad chapter! Trust me, it's worth it(not really but whatever).

Anyways, please comment and vote if u enjoyed this chapter! I read every comment that u leave(even though there's only 7 lol). Ilyasm! XOXO
-Victoria