Transitions

It's Okay To Be Broken

He stopped drumming and looked at me as if he had a brilliant idea. He was looking at the map on his phone and discovered we were about a 20 minute walk from the harbor and the boardwalk.

"If we walk for a mile, we can reach downtown by the harbor. There's a firework show tonight too. Let's ditch Luke since he's still in that stupid meeting and go on an adventure."

I texted Luke saying that Nate and I were going for a walk and that I'll text him if I need a ride home. Nate and I got out of the Jeep and I locked the doors behind me. We made our way out of the parking lot and down the road, following the signs to the harbor. I could hear music playing in the distance. As we were walking we talked about the tour and our lives.

"What brought you to Sydney anyways?" he asked.

I sighed, "It's a long story. It's a complicated one at that."

I began to explain the whole story to him, "My sister and I spent 90% of our lives in and out of foster care and shelters. We got placed in a group home, and we were there for about 5 years before getting adopted by Michael and Ashton. Our case manager, I guess pulled strings and let me audition for X-Factor and I finished 9th, so that's how I know Austin. My sister's legally adopted by them. I'm almost 18 so I'm basically free. They brought us here to give us a better chance at succeeding in the performing arts and just in general."

His jaw dropped, "Riley, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. What, um, put you two in the system to begin with?"

My heart dropped into my stomach once again and I felt my body begin to shake. My eyes started watering and the warm tears started to fall down my face despite how hard I tried to hold them back.

"My step dad beat my mom to death, and then killed her. I was able to pull my sister out of the house and run for safety before he could touch us. It doesn't really bother me. I was only 8, so I don't remember it. It just sucks because my sister was only 2 and she adored my mom. I was the 'problem child.'" I explained, using air quotes around problem child.

We had finally reached downtown by the bridge when I was finished telling him everything, and at that point I broke down. I sat down on one of the benches at the pier and put my head in my hands. I felt him sit down next to me and the heat from his body weigh down on me. He was rubbing small circles on my back, trying to calm me down.

"Love, look at me. You're way too beautiful to be this upset. Look around, what are 5 things you can see?" he said in a calming voice.

I looked up, trying to visualize my surroundings, "I see you, I can see the bridge and it's lit up. That's three. I can see the stop sign on the corner, and I see a happy couple on the bench over there."

He asked me to tell him 4 things I can touch, 3 things I can hear, 2 things I can smell, and one thing I can taste. After we completed this routine, I felt slightly more grounded.

"Why do you care so much about me? I'm just a broken kid from a broken world."

Nate stood up and grabbed both my hands, pulling me up with him. He released my hands and put his hands on my shoulders, pushing down on them, "You are broken, and you know what? It's completely okay to be broken. We're all broken to some extent. You're a beautiful, slightly damaged princess. I want to take care of you. I want to save you from the darkness you're visioning. Now let's go watch some fireworks."

We made our way to the end of the boardwalk and sat on the bench facing the harbor. Shortly after, rock music started playing from the radio station booth that was nearby on the boardwalk, and there were loud bangs from the fireworks shooting out of their cannons. I wrapped my arms around the boy I have fallen for so quickly. We watched the fireworks contently and sang along to every song they played. During the finale, Nate pulled me into him and wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Thank you. I think this is going to be the start of a wonderful thing."

He lifted my head with two fingers and I watched as his blue eyes stared into mine. He slowly leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, allowing all of my senses to explode. Before this exact moment, I was torn between a rock and a hard place and now I think I have found my rock. This tour was going to be amazing. We finally separated, gasping for air. He lightly touched his forehead to mine, allowing our gazes to meet. I reached down and grabbed his hands tightly. There were cheers from every direction as the firework show ended. We sat on the pier and talked and laughed until every last single person disappeared into the dark of the night. We finally got up and walked the length of the pier back towards the main road. I decided to quickly text Luke and tell him to pick us up and bring us back to Nate's hotel and I'd come back home at some point tomorrow to help unpack.