Summer Romance #wattys2017

Chapter LVI

 Tommy was discharged the next morning and they went home. Tommy walked inside the house with Shelby on his arm. There was nobody at home. They went straight to his room and Shelby started gathering things up off the floor. Tommy sat down on the bed and watched her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I need to clean things up before your parents get here." she said. "We don't want them to know what's been going on, do we?" she asked.

"Screw them. It's none of their business anyway." he said.

"But they're your parents." she said.

"They'll just have to get used to it. I don't care if they like it or not. I want you here." he said.

Shelby stopped cleaning up and sat down beside him. He kept grabbing at his side. He still had the bandages wrapped around him. He only had a band-aid on his head to hide the stitches.

"You look like hell." she said.

"Thank you. I really needed that. I feel like hell, too." he said.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to get you to laugh." she said.

"I don't feel much like laughing. My side still hurts." he said.

"I guess that beats a spliting headache." she laughed.

Tommy just looked at her and said nothing.

"You know. You got your head split open last night. I'm sorry." she said. "Not funny, huh?" she asked.

"Not funny at all." he said.

"I won't do it again. I promise." she said.

"Yes you will. Just give me a couple of days to recuperate." he said smiling. "It hurts to laugh."

"I wasn't thinking." she said.

"Seems like we both do that a lot." he said.

"Yeah, that's what makes us compatible." she said.

Tommy took her hand and held it in his then said, "There's so many things I want to tell you. I don't know where to begin."

"Why don't you start at the beginning." she said.

"I need to explain what happened last night. I don't want to upset you or scare you for that matter." he said.

"Just tell me. I'm a big girl. I'll be fine." she said.

"Ok. Here it is. Derek's friends were waiting on me in the bathroom. They threatened to hurt you last night after they finished with me. They had plans to catch you coming to look for me not John. They may still have plans to do something to you. Now, I need you to listen to me. I know you said you were going to talk to your dad about staying. I don't think that would be a wise idea right now. If they're let out, there will be more trouble. It's not me they're after anymore. It's you. They want to take you away from me where I can't be with you ever. This isn't about Lauren anymore either. I don't think she had any idea what they had planned. I do know that as long as you're here there will be trouble." he stated.

"So, you want me to leave and not come back?" she asked.

"That's not what I'm saying." he said.

"That's what it sounds like you're saying." she said.

"Listen to me. If it was just about me, I'd say stay. But now they want to hurt you and I can't let that happen. It would kill me if they hurt you." he said.

"I understand." she said. "What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"It's not about what I want you to do. It's about what you need to do. If you leave for awhile, maybe, just maybe, they'll leave me alone. Then when you do come back maybe they won't even care anymore." he said.

"Ok then. I'll go back home but you have to promise me you'll call or text me. You have to keep in touch so I'll know you're alright. I don't want to worry about you." she said.

"I promise I'll keep in touch. I need your number though. I can't call you every day if I don't have your number." he said.

She got a pen and paper then wrote down her number. He put the number in his phone then called it. Her phone rang in her purse and she took it out to check it. She answered and Tommy was on the line.

"Just checking." he said when she answered the call.

She hung up and said, "Very funny."

"I thought it was. Anyway now you know my number so be sure to save it. You won't have a reason in the world not to answer when I call cause you'll already know it's me." he said.

She hugged him gently and said, "I love you."

"I love you too, babygirl." he said.

Tommy's parents made it home and they wanted to have a sit down with him alone. Shelby grabbed the things she had left in his room and left for home. She walked slowly across the yard listening to him being yelled at about what happened.

She started to cry because she caused so much trouble for so many people. She didn't mean to get Tommy beat up. She definitely didn't mean to get him thrown out. She didn't mean for any of the things that happened to happen. She just wanted to spend the summer with her brother.

John was sitting on the porch watching her. When she got closer he spoke.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"I don't know. I think that they're upset because he got beat up over me. I'm not sure. Something really strange happened though." she said.

"Yeah, what was that?" he asked.

"Tommy wants me to go home so nothing will happen to me." she said.

"See I told you, he loves you. Nobody in their right mind would let you go." he laughed.

"That's not funny." she said.

"It is to me. And besides, he took an ass whooping like you wouldn't believe. I wouldn't do that. Hell, nobody would. Unless the girl was really worth it." he said.

"Thank you. Now, all I have to worry about is what his parents are going to do to him." she said.

"Oh he'll be fine. They never let him leave for long. They always take him back in. This time I think maybe, just maybe mind you, that everything was worth it." he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You won't have to worry about him forgetting you anymore. He has broken ribs and a concussion." he laughed.

They walked into the house together. She went straight to her room. She looked around and thought about everything that she had done that summer. She went back to the living room and watched some TV.

The phone rang hours into her watching. Joyce handed her the phone. It was her dad. He would be coming for her next weekend. She had less time than she thought. She wasn't happy about going home but she wouldn't forget this summer.

"Hey Dad. Can I come back next year?" Shelby asked.

She smiled at the answer and said, "Thanks Dad."

She hung up and nobody asked.