Please Don't Leave Me Behind Again (Completed)

Chapter Twenty-Two

A thanks to sinder-char and their awesome observational skills. So I got it into my head at some point that Nathan's house was two-stories. I know I started out thinking of his house in this story as a one-story but in one of the chapters, I turned it into a two-story. It is not. I'll eventually go back (someday) and fix that little oversight in the past chapters. Just know for future chapters that he has a one-story house. (If anyone else caught that little mistake or even care.)

Thank you, everyone, for your support with my story. If you don't know, then you should know that all your comments mean a lot to me. They make me smile, laugh, and even think about what I'm writing, what has happened, what I plan to happen, and what probably should happen. I listen to guys. And sometimes I really want to give out some spoilers or let you know how close you are to the truth. But don't worry. I'm learning to keep my secrets until they are ready to be revealed. Anyways, as always, comment and let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy North's POV.

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**| North's POV |**

"Are you okay?" I asked the tiny girl standing before me. She was so small and looked like a wind could knock her over. I wanted to reach over and check to make sure the injury underneath her bandage was healing well but forced myself to keep my hands to myself.

She nodded. "Of course," she said in one of the most beautiful voices in existence. When she was humming to herself earlier, I nearly got lost in the sound, needing to stop and listen to her before I chopped off a finger.

The moment Sang opened her mouth, I wanted to call bullshit. Something was definitely bothering her and it wasn't just her injuries from the past week. I got my answer when she glanced at something. I followed her eyesight.

My confusion only increased. An older man sat there, probably late twenties. Dirty blond hair, blue eyes. I knew right away he had the potential to be dangerous and all he was doing was sitting there. Something about him was contained. The way he sat and ate reminded me of Mr. Blackbourne. He was a man who needed control and who thought through all his options. He knew patience and he knew how to observe.

"Do you know him?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the stranger.

"No. I bumped into him at the mall on Sunday. I was just thinking that Charleston must be one of those small world after all type of cities."

I nearly snorted at her answer. Charleston wasn't such that small that you would run into strangers repeatedly. So running into a man in a mall across the city and then again in a small diner only down the road from where she lived was reason enough to be alarmed. But I couldn't tell her that. She had enough on her plate, especially with this Volto fucker after her and the abuse she was trying to hide from us. We may not outright know who or how or why but we weren't fucking idiots.

All she had to do was trust us and tell us and then we could take care of whoever was hurting her. A couple of us thought it was her dad, others thought it was her mother. My money was on her fucking mother. Her dad was never around enough. I heard about the bruises she tried to blame on the accident or the attack but Doc knew abuse. He's treated it enough times at the hospital.

And the scar on her back. When I was told about the story behind the scar, I saw red. How does someone fall onto a glass table, slicing themselves open, and still not go to the hospital? What kind of parents lets their children bleed all over the place without proper care?

I unclenched my fists, reminding myself to remain calm around her, to control the anger that was slowly building up inside of me.

I wanted to so badly shake some common sense into her. Instead, I said,
"Sometimes. Will you help me carry the drinks over?"