Cupid's Soldier

Chapter 21

"Why didn't you tell us you were still having nightmares, Austen? You can't just hide something like that." Mrs. Hendrickson says to Austen, her slim fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. Alissa is sitting on Austen's desk chair, in the corner of his room, one of her legs is crossed over the other, her elbows are resting on her knees, her hands covering her eyes, and I sympathize with her. I know how it feels to find out that someone you admire and inspire to be like has been hiding something from you. Especially when it's something that has something to do with you. She probably thinks that it's somehow her fault. too.

"I couldn't tell you guys, Mama. I can trust you guys with a lot of things, but if you guys thought that something was still wrong with me then you'd all be even more careful around me than you already are. I was a scared kid who bullied people and lashed out at other's but that doesn't mean that I was dumb. Lissa already blamed herself for what happened and if she saw that I wasn't healing she'd think my brokenness is her fault. Newsflash, Lissa, it isn't." I grab his hand again, looking straight in his direction. His angular jaw clenches, his brown eyes dart from his mom to Alissa, and he grips my hand.

Mrs. Hendrickson nods her head in understanding, she seems to ponder over the information for a couple of seconds, and then she smacks him upside his head. Austen yelps and Alissa muffles her laugh by covering her mouth with her hand.

"We will always love you, you stupid boy." He scrunches his nose up, and I giggle when he looks at me and sticks his tongue out. He's adorable. "We're family, we would've found a way to help you Austen, we would've protected you. You were a child, we were supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around. It would've been easier for us to help if you would have told us sooner, but thankfully, it's not too late. You're going back to therapy if I have to drag you there."

Mrs. Hendrikson glances at me and smiles, her familiar brown eyes light up. She taps her fingers on her full lips and smirks.

"Now, Seline, isn't it?" She asks, and I nod.

"Yes, Mrs. Hendrikson."

"Please, don't call me that," she says. "That was my mother in law's name." My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, then what should I call her? I don't know her first name, and even if I did I wouldn't call her by it, and I can't just come up with a name to call her.

"Just call me Lia or Ms. Lia." Her bright smile is back, but this time, it seems a bit forced. She walks closer to the bed, and puts her soft hand on my shoulder.

"It's good to meet the girl my son's so in love with." I glance at Austen from the corner of my eye. He shrugs and shakes his head at me. I dismiss the little pang of disappointment inside my chest. I don't think I'm in love with him yet, I have no right to be sad that he isn't in love with me. Ms. Lia glares at Austen and scowls.

"What did I say about lying? Tell the poor girl the truth."

Austen's cheeks turn into this adorable scarlet color, I resist the urge to reach out and pinch them, grinning at his cuteness.

"Mama, stop being ridiculous. This isn't any of your business."

"Shut up, Austen." She says, glaring at him. "He's never brought a girl home before. He would claim it was because girls were scared of him, which I assume is partly true, but I don't think he was very interested in dating either. Now look at you, Seline: you're inside of our house, you're getting him to open up, and he hasn't said a bad thing about you once. He loves you. I'm his mother, trust me, I know."

I laugh, my voice breaking in nervousness. Her determined gaze on me is confusing. What exactly is she gaining from telling me that he loves me? If he feels that way, shouldn't he tell me himself?

"We met each other about two month ago..." I trail off, unable to put our relationship these past two months into words. The time that we did spend together was either stressful, amazing, or some combination of the two. Every time that we weren't together, I never stopped missing him. "Austen, isn't in love with me Ms. Lia." My voice cracks into nothingness and the room becomes eerie and silent. I glance at Austen, and I know exactly what I feel: love. Our gazes lock onto one another's and I gulp, nothing is safe about how I feel, even though, as I look at him, I feel safe. His dark brown eyes burn into me, unknown emotions swirling inside of them. He squeezes my hand again, and I look away.

"I'll see you later, Austen." I lean towards him and kiss his cheek, lingering there for a little bit just to feel his skin against my lips. "I should probably leave now. It was nice meeting you, Ms. Lia, I'll see you at school Alissa." I jump off of the bed and I walk around Ms. Lia, to leave the room.

"Little Sel, wait!"

I start running down the oak stairs in desperation. Three men are sitting on couches in the cozy looking living room, and I try to run out of there unnoticed by them. The door is only a couple feet away from the couches, so it shouldn't be that hard. I run my fingers through my hair and my pulse races.

"Seline, wait up!" His voice alerts the three men of my presence. They all turn around to look at me and I gasp in astonishment. I didn't really take notice of the way he looked before when he opened the door but Mr. Hendrikson looks exactly like Austen, except his eyes are a bright blue. I thought Ms. Lia looked like Austen, and he does; he has her features, complexion, eye color, and disposition. The way that they hold themselves is basically the same. But Austen's father, he has his face shape, the intense stare, his jawline...

A hand grabs my wrist and twirls me around until I'm face to face with Austen. I'm staring into his eyes again, my heart is racing, and I can't breathe properly. My chest is pressed against his and his hand is holding mine against his chest. He leans down, his breath tickling my ear.

"I love you," he whispers into my ear.

I gasp and look up into his gorgeous brown eyes, and I grin. My fingers trail over his hard chest, to his slim neck, and then they run through his soft hair. I kiss him with vigor, slamming my lips onto his full ones, my heart flips inside of my chest. A cough breaks through the air, and I pull myself away from him.

"Can you please find another area in the house to make out with your girlfriend?" Austen's dad asks, and my cheeks warm.

"Can I leave now?" I ask, my fight or flight instincts kicking in.

"Actually, no, you've already met my mom and my twin; now, I would like you to meet the rest of my family. The guy pursing his lips like he doesn't know how to smile is my pain in the ass older brother and the scrawny blonde guy he's got his arms wrapped around is his boyfriend. You can just call him scrawny or blondie, that's what I do. I don't know his name just yet, it's irrelevant. And my dad's the old looking guy on the love seat."

I run my fingers through my disheveled hair, and gulp. I'm scared.